I was just curious to know how many sewing years we have together as a group.
I invite all of you to write add your years of sewing. I will put the results together & post it.
For me, dsrtrt2=40 yrs.
Terry
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Replies
interesting concept.
I have been sewing 49 years
Daughter has been sewing 15 years
Total for the two of us = 64 years
If you add my mom who is now 88 that would be 78 years for her and would bring the grand total to 142 years for our three generations of sewing skill.
LSC
I have been sewing since I was twelve, and I am now Sixty Four.
That makes a total of 42 sewing years.
You've shorted yourself 5 years of experience, lol!
Actually I shorted myself 10 years, but then I did not sew every day, so
maybe 42 years is more like it................
I'm much better at sewing than math, lolol. I will claim 44 years of experience, although I've "played" with needle and thread for longer than that.
Great question - I can't wait to see the tally!
I began to sew on and off 25 years ago, but did not buy a machine and start to sew seriously until 16 years ago. You may take whichever number feels the most applicable to your question. :)
:) Mary
So far we have 215 years!
Terry
Well,
My aunt has 70 years of sewing experience, my mom has 60 years, I have 35 years, so the "grand" total for us is 165 years. This is a fantastic idea! Can't wait for the results! :)
Like you, forty years with a sewing machine. Four more if you include hand embroidery and making doll clothes and crafts.
Dear daughter does not sew. My son has done mostly hand sewing but this year he and his wife have both started machine sewing! Needless to say I am thrilled!!!
Grandson#1 has five years, Grandson #2 has two years, grand daughter has three years but many more projects. All do hand and machine embroidery and handsewing and beading.
The two oldest grandkids were blessed with a wonderful teacher who had the entire class make a quilt togeather. These hang in the school. We all hope the youngest will have that same teacher next year. She is so creative and patient!
Interesting idea, can't wait to see the tally.............wow!!!
Edited 8/24/2006 7:58 pm ET by MaryinColorado
52 years and counting...
35 for me
30 for my DS
60 for my DM
=125 years
Then maybe I have to deduct 14 for my DD who refuses to sew.....I've failed-so far(there's still a chance!!!) ;-)))))
34 years for me, 77 years for Mom, 111 total?
About 40 years, but there are gaps where I didn't sew.
Nancy
42 years for me
15 for DD1
10 for DD2 (DD3 discovered paint and gave up the needle)
2 for Son who must sew on his own Scout badges
My mom started 4H at age 9 and is now 72 so that makes 63.
total 132 years
This is great! So far we have 857 years of sewing experience!!
Please feel free to post your sewing years whether it's 1 month or 60 years.
I will post the results by Sunday 4:00 p.m. MST.
Thanks again for your input.
Terry
15 years for me + 30 years for my sister = 45 years.
Mark me down for 49 years!
49 years for me, too--pretty much non-stop despite jobs, commutes, family!
Had to think about this. The answer is 46 years sewing.
52 years ago I completed my first sewing-machine-produced garment!
43 years of fabulous fabrics and projects and a few skeletons in the closet!
50 years for me (eeek...that makes me so old!)
Hi! I'm a new UK member but an old sewer. My tally is 69 years.
count me 42 dd1 12 dd2 11 sister 48 dd1 12 and dd2 8
Hi all - I can't figure out how to post to ALL and I believe this is my first message to this forum. I have been sewing 60 years, not consistently every day or even month, babies got underfoot for awhile as did career activities, but have always sewn when I found time or need. Like many of us oldsters I started out hand sewing - doll clothes from scraps my seamstress grandmother dropped on the floor. She gave me her Singer Featherweight when I went off to university and it literally travelled the world with me. I foolishly traded it in when stretch fabrics came out in time for me to make infant sleepers and wanted a zig zag and a few decorative stitches - which I did and still use regularly on my new machines. Just last year I bought a Featherweight for 5 times what I got as a trade in, 10 years older than the original, but the same age I am! I took it with me across the continent when my daughter had a baby this summer. You wouldn't believe the women who approached me in the airports I passed through carrying it. In the long run, I still like hand sewing and while my current Janome has I don't know how many button holes, I still make mine by hand.
Edited 12/13/2006 3:14 am ET by Sancin
Edited 12/13/2006 3:29 am ET by Sancin
Above the section where you type in your reply message (or a new post), there is another grey coloured band. It says From: To: . Click in the white box next to To: and you will see a list of names of all the people who have posted. You can scroll up and down this list and choose the name you want or you can choose ALL which is on the list as well, usually near the top.
While I'm in this discussion I might as well add my 2 cents worth. I started out with hand embroidery probably at age 10 or so. I went on to crotcheting and knitting and had a mini sewing machine that I tried to sew Barbie clothes on. I was in the academic stream in high school and took maths, sciences, music, Latin etc. which meant that I could not take home ec or typing. In my final year of high school I convinced my mother to let me take a sewing course at night and she bought me my first machine - a Singer Fashion Mate. I took a typing course in the summer before I went on to university.
So add 40 more yrs. to the tab.
This really makes me feel as old as dirt, but I will admit to sewing for 44 years with a sewing machine. Add a few years of handsewing doll clothes to that, if you are feeling generous!
I have always been a fabricoholic, with no end in site. I work so that I can afford to sew!
mimi
That's ok, Mimi. Whenever I think of how long I've been sewing I always think of my Grandmother & when she used to tell me that she had sewn for 40+ years. I used to think "Wow, she's really old." Well I'm not thinking that now!
Terry
I forgot the rest of the family. The aunt who taught me to sew has been sewing for close to 65 years. My daughter learned to sew by age 8 and is now interested in really sewing now that she is an adult, so 17 for her! I hope to someday be blessed with grandchildren to teach to sew...:)
mimi
Put me down for 60 years. I can hardly wait to see the tally.
I will be posting the tally at 4 p.m. PST on Sunday.
Terry
43 for me.
Bev
I've been sewing for 40 years. My youngest daughter has been sewing for 3 years. My grandmother sewed for 40 years. That gives us a total of 83 years.
My mother claimed that sewing skips a generation. Her mother made all of her clothes. I was starting to think she was right when my two older daughters showed little interest in learning, but my youngest is proving her wrong.
Third times a charm! My grandmother made all her children's school uniforms and beautiful suits and everything on her prized treadle. My mother does beautiful hand work but never touched a machine even though I had one growing up. My daughter does not sew. My son and daughter in law are learning now. My three grandkids all sew.
Actually, my mother claimed she didn't sew, but the truth is she just didn't sew often. I remember her making matching dresses on a treadle machine for my sister and me shortly after we came to the United States from Australia. I must have been seven years old. When we moved to Maryland, she bought a sewing machine to make curtains for our home. She then started an outfit for herself, a skirt and matching unlined jacket, which she didn't finish.I was intrigued by the sewing machine and wanted to learn how to use it, and seeing the pieces of her outfit just sitting there drove me crazy. Until then, I had been sewing doll's clothes by hand. I begged my mother to show me how to use the machine and told her I would finish her outfit for her if she did.She told me that if I really wanted to learn how to sew, I would have to learn how to hand sew WELL first. She promised that if I made an entire garment by hand, she would show me how to use the machine.Well, I made a simple shift dress with a zipper all by hand from blue-flowered, cotton fabric my father had gotten from Hong Kong. I don't think my mother believed I would have the patience to finish! By the end, I certainly knew how to sew tiny, straight stitches.My mother kept her promise. I learned how to use the sewing machine. And I kept my promise, too. I finished her outfit. And she wore it! In fact, I remember her still wearing the jacket twenty years later, so I guess it came out okay. Those were the first machine-made garments I sewed, and I've been sewing ever since. It's funny, I don't remember my mother sewing much at all after that. I think it was because I was monopolizing the sewing machine!
Thank You for sharing that lovely memory. What an inspiration! Looks like you are a person who is willing to reach for the stars and do what is necessary to get there!
I am sure that your parents were very proud of your accomplishments. God bless you! Mary
I can truly say it never has occurred to me how long but here goes....
I Started at 3 (Barbie clothes with scraps) 42 years
Mother is 75 now (oldest of 8 in rural Texas) 70 years
Oldest sister (think summer of love flower child) 47 years
Middle sister (more Sandra Dee & Doris Day) 45 years
Grandmother (mother's side) 60 years
Great grandmother (mother's side) 57 years
Grandmother (father's side. Lived to 94 & taught dance until the last day!) 85 years
I could add try to my amazing aunts and cousins all of whom sew or embroider or .... well you get the idea, but I will stick to the immediate family for the sake of brevity. My mother was, after all, one of 8 children so I could only take a guess at the rest anyway.
Grand total 321 years
Great googa mooga!
For me its 60 years, not telling when I started. I've sewed for 3 children, my self and DH, 3 grandchildren. I now quilt and felt.
I have been sewing for over 37 yrs. I started out making maternity clothes, then kids clothes.
42 years here. My goodness! And still so much to learn.
52 years for me! It has been a long term relationship.
So how many machines have we had?
I believe that I have had 6 primary machines and a few collectibles. I began on my mom's Singer, purchased a Singer Featherweight in college for $125, which I later traded in for a Singer zig-zag( major regret) then Viking, Viking and Viking. And, I keep a Featherweight on the side! Sewing is a vital part of my life.
Fun topic!
Forty four.
20 years minus vaccation, moves, exams, etc.
I am posting the results early. Based on 36 responses, the final talley is.... (drum roll please).... 2174 sewing years!
If you put each year one after another we have more sewing experience that all of recorded history.
Attached is the breakdown is you are interested.
Again, thanks for all your responses.
Terry
Here's another 55 years.
I would just like to add one more thing.
To all the beginners & novices: We have been where you are and you will be where we are. We all have contributions to make.
Terry
Now just imagine how many yards of fabric that is!! We've probably wrapped the globe a few times:)
mimi
Add my 43 years and my daughter's 15 years. Yeah, I love this idea!
38 years
Handsewing for 51 and machine sewing for 47. I remember taking a needle and thread to school for an art project at the age of 7. I wove it through the zipper border so I wouldn't lose it ... something I still do when I need to take a needle and thread with me for sewing in the car.
My first big 'boo-boo' happened when I was cutting some material out on my lap and cut right through through the dress I was wearing. My mother put an appliqué over the cut and I wore the dress until I'd grown out of it.
I think it was this personal experience that made me laugh so hard at the 'I Love Lucy' sketch where Lucy took up sewing and cut her dress out on the rug and came up with two dress shapes - one of fabric and the other of rug!
Knitting/crocheting since 4 yrs old and Sewing since 9 years old (now 58)
Mother sewing since 8 yrs old (now 87)
Aunt sewing since 10 yrs old (now 75)
i have about45 year expernice.how i do love ewing,every thing in crafts,patterns in clothinglove to quilt,hope you get good result in this one . ellalouise
- interesting you should ask. I recently cleaned my sewing closet and found some doll clothes that I "designed" and made on the sewing machine when I was about five years old. That means I've been at this game for 68 years and still love it. I was encouraged by my mom, who was born in 1896, and my sister who is now 86 years old.
What a fun idea! I wonder how many years you'll tally before the question gets 'old'...
For me it's about 50 years of cutting, basting, sewing, gluing, pinning, stapling, tying, knitting, crocheting, knotting, riveting, nailing, screwing, drilling, casting, measuring, designing, re-designing, altering, repairing..... I'm not sure when I learned to 'make' things, and not just take them apart, but for sure my projects were not limited to fabrics!
Thanks to all who share tips!
My Mom was sewing, knitting, and crocheting since she was a child, so probably 78 years for her.
42 years
I have been sewing for 50 years. I am 59 and I have been sewing since I was 9. WOW. Went you write it down that is a long time.
I've been sewing for one year and I love it. I love my teacher, Bryn Seebury. I am just about finished making a coat!!
45 years sewing for me. Gee, no wonder I know so much stuff, still love to read every sewing book I can, sometimes I still can learn something.
Good idea!
52 years on 3 continents.
Now I am sewing 13 years. I have been sewing since I was seventeen.
Sometimes Iwas really desperate but now i start to become a good sewer and...
WOW!!!!! There is so much to learn about needlework.
Forty years, I started when I was five. Dad gave me my first (and only) sewing lesson on how to operate the machine. He needed patches sewn on his uniform. And, we needed clothing repaired. He couldn't do it all. Mom had split by then. I've sewn on three continents, europe (grew up there) north america and south america (worked there for awhile). Also central america but that's an isthmus, not a continent.
Are you still trying to tally this up? It is funny we go from one type of sewing to another over the years; I still feel like a beginner in so may ways. I have 45 years and so much to learn when it comes to sewing for myself, embroidery, serging, sewing with fleece. I guess I will never run out of new things to try.
jane
What a great question!!!!
I started at 12, but it didn't take until I was about 16. I'm 56 now, so I guess 40 years. But then I kind of set sewing aside for about 10 years while I worked at a really stressful job.
Let's call it 30 for me.
Gail
I started sewing at age 9 and I turned 60 this year..........so, I guess that makes 51 years..........with a few interruptions for babies, work, etc. Any downtime I had I have more than made up for the past 10 or so years. With 9 (blended family) kids and 22 grands, I have done lots.
This is really interesting...........lots of us out there with 50 plus years under our belts! Amazing!
K
I still vividly remember my father teaching me to thread a needle when I was about 3. That was 39 years ago. He was a dentist and I think he knew a bit about stitching, though I have never seen him sew.
I made my first garment (with assistance) at age 11 (31 years ago) and have maintained my passion ever since.
Had a dentist work on me below the gum line at the other end of the tooth. He had to stitch the gum line when done. Not fun.
Dennis
I did a little sewing at a girls catholic school, as usually we had a volunteer lady, In those days that was all the school afford, she was a wonderful seamstress but had little in the way of tools to help us she would bring her sewing machine along and we would have a little turn, aprons oven mits, not much else. Then my parents moved to a warmer climate for a while and i had to leave my then boy friend behind, my mother had an old signer, so i bough fabric and pattern to fill in my quite week ends i sewed, i can still remember fabric that looked a little like a chess board was in fashion and i made what i think we called 'Mu MU' short dress with the baby doll top very short.
Then of course i moved back to the south of Australia and my mother in law was a dutch immigrant that was a trained tailoress she had trained for 11 years in Holland and had also travelled a lot to Paris she had her own business, till the war came.
They lost everything and moved to Australia in 1950 bringing with them her tresured Singer sewing machine and my future husband.
Well i did not sew a lot then as she just did it all for us, the entire wedding outfits
baby clothes to school uniforms.
Then stretch fabric came in and i did what we call in Australia a Knitwit course it changed my life i loved sewing with stretch and was even able to show my beloved Nolly how to do this. Work intervened for me i was a very successful Tupperware Manager and very busy with our three children.
The years went by and she passed over and i am now a retired and a Oma of two years and i have started sewing again. I took up patchwork which i adore, and then back to sewing baby overalls etc. Now i am sewing for my self and my daughters.
I once said i would throw my machine over the harbour bridge before i sewed again but after a gap of 16 years i now own a Janome 9700 which i love, and i am getting there, I know my limitations though and i think it may be skirts pants and baby clothes but i love beautiful fabric, i was looking in stores yesterday at skirts that would be no more than half a metre for 200 dollars and i thought gosh I am glad i can sew. I still think Nolly helps me at times and her 1915 Singer sewing machine sits proudly in our hallway as a reminder of hard work and love of her trade and family.
Lorraine
Lorraine
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