Welcome to Vintage Thingies Thursday hosted by Colorado Lady. Please visit her site here and check out all of the other wonderful blogs and their vintage items. There are some really interesting books and thrift store treasures featured.
Below is the only item I have from my maternal grandmother - her IVORY CROCHET HOOK.
All of the flooding taking place here in Atlanta this week made me think of her. She and her family lived in Covington, Kentucky just across the Ohio river from Cincinnati. In 1937 her house flooded and they lost everything. My mother was 8 years old. She remembered pinning the lace curtains up about 6 inches hoping the water would not reach that high. It did. So I treasure the one thing I have that belonged to my grandmother.
I think I take after both of my grandmothers because I love to sew. My father's mother hand-smocked little dresses for me. They are 54 years old now! Look closely at the smocking on the green dress and you can see little roses she embroidered.
I remember taking my smocking pleater to show my grandmother and she was so surprised. She told me how she marked the fabric with dots and carefully threaded and pleated each pleat with a stitch. She even smocked the tops of the sleeves.
She inspired me to learn how to smock for my daughter. This yellow one is another dress she made for me. They are all made out of very fine, thin batiste. I wish you could see the tiny, tiny stitches she used for the hem.!
The blue dress below, is one I made for my daughter. I'm sorry I didn't document them at the time and take photos of her wearing the dresses. I do remember the joy I felt making them and seeing her wear them. This was her first Easter dress.
I'll save them for the next generation.........
23 comments:
Your grandmother certainly did beautiful work, but she has nothing on you! You are as equally talented! Those dresses that you made for your daughter are just the sweetest thing, especially the one with the bunnies! It's so incredibly adorable! All of these dresses are little works of art! My favorite VTT today!
Oh my goodness, these dresses are so amazing. sometimes in vintage magazines there will be directions on how to smock and I realize how talented woman were. As a rule.
Woman could do these things, things people would never expect to know today.
Amazing.
Those dresses are just beautiful. Nice to have something like this that shows a pretty much lost art.
Those are just so delicate and sweet! I can't believe how much detail went into such a tiny dress.
These are the sweetest things...so precious. How wonderful you have the ones from your childhood and then have the ones your made for own daughter. Such talent....Have a great VTT and a wonderful weekend.
OK....I love your post. How special is it to have all those little dresses that your grandmother made and then to top it off you have the ones you made for your daughter!!! I see a pattern here....does your daughter sew too??? The crochet hook is a wonderful treasure as well.
jane
Beautiful dresses! I still have the dress that I was baptized in when I was a baby. It is hand made, probably silk, but I don't know who made it. You have a precious heritage having your grandmothers crochet needle. I know you will treasure it.
Jocelyn
http://justalittlesouthernhospitality.blogspot.com/
Kathi, your crochet hook is beautiful - a simply wonderful treasure to have! The dresses are priceless, too! I can just imagine all the work that went to them! How wonderful that you made smocked dresses for your own daughter as well! My sympathy goes to all those who have been affected by the terrible flooding.
Cheers!
what delightful treasures!!..i remember learning to smock at school,the old fashioned way with iron on dots..great fun!!
What beautiful dresses! I can't believe all the hand-smocking! I bet your daughter can't wait to dress her little girl the beautiful dresses you made. I love the crochet hook, too...so sad that she was in a flood event. I bet you are proud to have that crochet hook!
Priceless, beautiful dresses. I've never even tried smocking. Looks too hard. And thanks for visiting my blog & leaving me a comment.
Both you and your grandmother are very talented sewers! All your dresses are beautiful! Lucky little girls!
I really love these dresses! They SO remind me of what I used to wear when I was a little girl.
All the dresses are so beautiful. It's nice that you still have all of them.
What a sweet sweet memory and those are absolutely ADORABLE treasures!! I love to sew and stitch so why I never learned to smock is beyond me - probably because it looks really hard. I do need to attempt it in this lifetime. Thanks for sharing those great things ~ ♥
What beautiful treasures you have. I hope you passed the talent and knowledge to your daughter. Thank you for stopping by junkblossoms. Have you been away from Nashville for long? Pat.
what a precious keepsake! It is beautiful and it means so much to you! you are lucky to have such a treasure!
Hi Kathy, you moved out just as we moved into Nashville. It's changed a lot in the last fourteen years. I think we all have places where we want to live. Mine is Pensacola Fl. Wouldn't consider any other move. :-) I hope your daughter gets the job. Blessings, Pat.
What lovely handwork on all the dresses! I remember wearing lovely
smocked dresses in Spring and Summer.
The bunny trim is adorable!
These dresses are all so beautiful!
love the crochet hook.
I always loved making dresses and Halloween costumes for my 3 girls but I never tackled smocking. But I do remember admiring it in (now) vintage baby smocks. Beautiful and amazing.
Kathi,
What a wonderful story. Smocking is such an art and seems to be disappearing. Glad to see you keeping it alive. Beautiful work.
Thanks for sharing!
Living it up at Lakewood,
Cindy
What a beautiful gift of love and skill. You're very fortunate to have these dresses. What memories they must hold for you.
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