Goodbye Old Friend

When I was a little girl Grandma Doris made almost all of my clothes. She was a self taught seamstress. She sewed on a Pfaff sewing machine that was purchased in Germany when my dad, who was in the USAF, was stationed there. When Dawn and I were little girls we wore dresses to school. Everyone did. We weren't allowed to wear pants to school until I was in the 10th grade. If it was cold we could wear pants under our dresses. Thankfully, the winters in San Antonio were fairly mild, especially by Nebraska (where we now reside)  standards.

Mama always had her machine serviced at Grome's  Sewing Machine Co. in San Antonio.

When I was a girl I did not fully appreciate my mother's talent. There were times when I longed for store bought clothes. Now, as a mom and grandmother, I truly admire what she was able to teach herself. She never graduated from high school. It wasn't even until she was in her 40s that she got her GED. Yet, she was able to teach herself how to sew and use a complicated machine. For its time (late 1950s), her machine was pretty fancy. It had the ability to embroider designs. She figured out how to use it on her own. I stand amazed at the clothes she made for Dawn and me. Looking back, I wish I would have appreciated her more.

Mama made sure that I learned how to sew. It started with Homemaking classes in Junior high school. That's where I learned the fundamentals. From there I went on to make many of my own clothes, including my own wedding dress, as well as clothes for my own daughters. Somewhere along the way I stopped. Perhaps because I couldn't find time but more likely because my skills couldn't keep up with the newer patterns.  I had a very basic machine. That machine hasn't worked for years. So when I decided to start sewing again I got out mama's machine; the machine she used to teach me. The last thing I sewed on this machine was a lap quilt for Aunt Gail when she was going through treatment for breast cancer.

The old Pfaff stop working in the middle of this quilt. I had to finish it on Natalie's machine. Sadly, when I took the old girl to the shop I was told that her parts were no longer being made. They put her back together and I brought her home and set her on a shelf in my secret room where I can look at her and remember...