Friday, June 15, 2012

History and Heartstrings

I don't usually say much about my Etsy store.  I have the link on my sidebar, of course, but my blog is more about connecting with the like-minded folks who "get it" and feel compelled to rescue the little pieces of the past and respect them and move them forward.  I listed this 1947 pattern in my Etsy a couple of days ago and it still has me wondering, like things do.
I slipped my hand inside the envelope and pulled out the pattern pieces to count and my heart beat just a little bit faster.  The last person to likely touched those pattern pieces was another creative and it was 65 years ago.  Somehow, I felt honored.  She was making a little dress for her DD who, if she still lives, is approaching 70 years of age.  She was a Baby Boomer. Was her Mama a "Rosie"?  Did she grow up to be a hippie?  You know I wonder about things... 
Did she make the little dress from sack cloth or could she afford to pick the perfect fabric from a local store?  Was it a labor of love or did she sew from the necessity of the times and the expected skills of a homemaker in that era?  The pieces were carefully folded and inserted back into the envelope.  Was there a little sister following behind and she knew she would use it again?  I wonder about things...

7 comments:

My Vintage Mending said...

Kathy. You nailed it. These are the things I cannot get past. I feel like they are the little scrapbooks to the sewing days of the past. How could we not save them. Sometimes there are notes on them, little pins in the patterns where they hemmed them. I love them. Thank you for putting words to my actions...smiles..Renee

Annette said...

Yes, exactly! It's why I love old things and can take hours going through the antique mall. Everything I pick up, I wonder about it's history and who used it.
And that is an adorable pattern by the way!

vintage grey said...

You definitely did nail it like Renee said! Saving one piece of history at a time.I love knowing the history of items, and even if I don't know it, my little imagination explores what it might've been. Thanks for sharing and have a lovely weekend! xo Heather

Andy's Attic said...

Me, too.

Diane said...

....and me too!!!

Cheryl ~ ZanyMayd said...

Great Post, Kathy... I think that same way, to be the fly on the wall back then & oversee what was happening~ What an adorable pattern~
Thanks for the sweet comments, Have a Blessed & Beautiful Day
xox
Cheryl

Betsy@My Salvaged Treasures said...

Oh look at those sweet little dresses and the matching bonnets. I still remember going to the fabric store with my mom and picking out patterns and then the fabric. I think patterns were $2 back then which seemed like a lot. Even at .25cents I'm sure that pattern was used over and over again.