Patching and Sewing and Making Do

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters, April 2012.)

Part 1 - Patching and Sewing Sheets

Ya know..After my Grandma died we found some old sheets she had
made,,They were made from feed sacks..You cud tell where they were ripped
up ,,,Like one had a big hole in the middle ..And she just patched it with
a big piece of cloth,,You cud use the old sheets as just a frame and put in
some material and patch it all again,,Thats what my Gramma did,,Well too
the flour sacks they made the sheets from were not big..So they had to sew
the pieces together anyway,,i am sure it was alot of work..It was sure
easier tho for them to patch the sheets rather then to have to make them
all over again,,One year when Jim and i were young,,he had to work outside
all winter,,Iowa winters can get bad ,,And that year it was very cold..Jim
had a pair of gloves that he had worn out..The palm of the gloves were
ripped..Well i sewed them up..We didnt have any money for gloves..And each
evening after supper we wud watch tv..And i wud get out my sewing basket
and patch Papas gloves,,Because every evening he came home with holes in
his gloves..i cant remember where he was working then,,But wherever it was
it caused the gloves to rip..But by the time winter was over Jims gloves
had 100s of stitches in them,,I was happy to sit with
Wildman in the evening and repair his gloves,to get them ready for him to
wear the next morning..,i loved hand sewing ..Sissy Joy hand sews the
outfits she makes..Just think of the Pioneer Mothers who made all of her
families clothes without a sewing machine....i was sitting in a chair of
Marys a few yrs ago..And i saw where she patched a hole in one of her
chairs..The chair was blue and it looked like the dog had ripped it,,She
took another material but the same color of blue and she patched it..i thot
that was really a good idea.

Part 2  - Makin' Do

Eat it up..Wear it out.. or Do without ..This was the motto for the
Depression era families,,But i can imagine the Mothers especially thot of
this motto daily..During this era folks had cars but had no money for
gas,,,They cudnt afford a postage stamp that cost only a few cents,,One
housewife reported that the letters wud stack up on the cabinet in the
kitchen waiting for 2 cents to come in from somewhere..so she cud mail a
letter to her folks.. One way i used to stretch our butter was as
follows..Well most of the time we ate margarine,,But if butter was on sale
this is what i did to stretch it..You can take a pound of butter and bring
it to room temp..Then put the butter in a bowl and pour in a can of
evaporated milk and beat it together ,,Then refrigerate it and use it as
you wud any butter,,i had an old-time crock i used to use just for this
butter,,This crock had a nice lid and i always used this only for
butter,,This crock was really old,,probably an antique,,i got it at a Garage
Sale.And ya know on the internet they have alot of Depression era
recipes..simple and good..i was watching a video of a woman making bread
from the 1930s..She made it from only flour and yeast and water,,Man i thot
you wud have to put in some kind of oil or salt at least..and some sweetener
to make the bread rise,,??? But this lady Clara who is 96 just made it so
simply..She made about 8 loaves of bread that afternoon,..The mothers back
then made bread twice a week..and then biscuits and pancakes in between...

Part 3  -  Rag Rugs

The Mothers in the olden days saved every bit of cloth they cud.The
smallest pieces they used for patching or quilting,,i remember my
grandmother making my brother and i rag rugs to put beside our beds,,The
mothers wud save their material in strips to make a rag rug..They wud wait
until they had a huge ball of strips and then they wud braid the strips
and coil them around and sew them into place..Or they wud crochet the
strips and coil them around and sew them ..i have seen crochet hooks for
rag rugs,,they are about a foot long,,i have made small ones to use for
chair cushions,,but not in a long time,,i just had to try it as it looks
fun, and it was. . . i braided mine,,You can get really creative with these rugs
and use them for alot of things,,Mothers always had button boxes ,,They wud
take the buttons off of any garment to use again...Also they wud take out
the zippers to use on another garment too..No one threw much of anything
away,,They wud save different wrappers from the store to pack a lunch..Its
fun to get creative and save things and try to think of different ways to
use them,,The old time mothers saved bread sacks and they even made the
crocheted rugs out of these bread sacks,,nothing was ever wasted,,And every
housewife had a ball of string to wrap things in,,These were the days
before scotch tape...love connie

 

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony!* 

Mother's Home Sewing

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters, November 2005}



Ya know, in the old days, the Mothers sewed all their families’ clothes. And when a garment would get a hole in it, the holes were patched.

I raised my first 3 children in the 1970′s. And, ya know, back then the boys just had about 2 pairs of jeans “for good” that they wore each week. Little boys love to play in the floor and the knees to the jeans often wore out long before the rest of the jeans did. So I had to patch their jeans. Then, if it was a big patch, the jeans would just be for play, not for school. Then the stores came out with the iron on patches, and they were nice, and the boys could wear these patched jeans to school. But most of the mothers sewed back then and we all had to do mending. There wasn’t the garage sales, etc. like they have now, or the second hand stores. I mean, there were a few. But once you bought your children’s clothes, you took really good care of them. And we always mended socks and underwear.

Often, after supper in the evening, I would do my mending. I just had a little basket I put my sewing in. At the Dollar Store, they have all kinds of needles and thread for cheap. You can buy all you need for a couple bucks there. They have light and dark thread to match anything ya need to mend.

Also, the old time mothers had boxes they put their scraps of material in. Like when a garment was old, then they would use the good unworn pieces for quilting. They always cut the zippers off and the buttons to use on other sewing projects. Or they would cut an old dress or boys’ shirts up in strips. And then they would sew the strips together and make long strips. Then they would braid the strips together and then sew it in a round flat coil. You can make a rug this way or little mats for your dinner table chairs. You can make little ties to hold them on the back of the chair. Or make a small mat to put hot dishes on the table. This would be a good project for the children this winter, to make these braided mats. Or you can crochet them, too.

My children all loved to sew and collect buttons in their own little button jars. I taught Christian Joy to sew at age 3. Well, Mary, too. Mary’s dog bit a hole in her couch and Mary just patched it with a little piece of matching material and needle and thread. My grandma taught me to mend and I taught my children. They all loved to embroider, even the boys.

Jim’s father, back in the late 1800′s, was 25 when he married his wife at 14. He taught Jim’s mother to crochet, knit and cook. She was almost an orphan and she married, really, to have a home. But Jim’s father was a good and kind man and taught his wife how to set up housekeeping. And all of Jim’s sisters also loved to hand sew and do crafts.

So way back in the old days, the mothers didn’t usually pass clothes on to another family because the clothes were too raggedy once the family used them. But like in the 1950′s, folks began to pass clothes on. And the clothes were in good condition but maybe were out dated or out grown. So mothers would take an adult winter coat and cut it down for one of the children. This is how they would do that. They would take the coat and carefully rip out the lining. I mean, on the seams, with one of those little tools to rip the seams out? Then they would take the wool coat, after the lining was out, and carefully take the seams apart. So the coat would then be in parts. Like maybe two front panels and one back. Then they took the sleeves off and took them apart in 2 pieces front and back. Then the cuffs came off and the collar to the coat. So you end up with about 10 pieces of the coat. Now, I am talking about, like, a woman’s wool dress coat or a man’s simple long wool coat. Then they would take newspaper and pin each piece on the paper and cut around it, making a pattern to follow. Then they would take each paper pattern and cut it down carefully to fit the child they were making the coat for. So the child would have to stand still and let mother pin the paper pattern to her sleeve to make sure it is long enough. So then, after making your pattern, you just sew the coat back together again. Now, I guess you would do the lining the same way. But, if it is a nice silky lining, I wouldn’t bother too much with it. If the coat is heavy wool, then the child could wear sweaters under it. But the wool cloth that you cut off the coat could be used to make a scarf or fancy muff to put cold hands into.

You need to draw your pattern on the newspaper and then cut the paper. This way you have your pattern to use again or to pass it to a friend. Make sure you write on the paper what is the front panel or back panel and left and right sleeves, etc. Then just carefully fold your pattern up and put it in your drawer.

The old time mothers would take garments apart if they liked the material and would carefully iron it flat and store it to make other garments with. If a man’s shirt collar wore out before the rest of the shirt did, this is what the wife would do. She would carefully cut the collar seams from the shirt and then sew the collar back on the flip side where the collar wasn’t worn. An old worn out shirt that was still good in the back part was taken out to make a mother’s apron.

When my little children were young, they loved to play in the snow. And their mittens would get so wet and their little hands would be so cold. So I would make little mittens without a thumb just for second hand mittens to finish a snowman in. Just sew 2 pieces of material together in the shape of mittens. Just make them big and use really heavy material. I made mine out of heavy sweater material. You can just cut the wrist part off a sweater and make mittens out of them. And in the cold weather, I always made sure my children had a lot of stocking hats and the big scarves to wrap around their necks and faces. You can get these for cheap at the second hand store. But you could make them, also, out of old heavy winter clothes.

I read a story once about a lady back in the old days. And she had a room just for sewing. And she saved all of the old clothes she was given. And when a family needed something, she just went in her sewing room and took something apart and made something new with it. Once a new mother came to her home with her little baby. And the mother didn’t have a warm blanket for her baby. This lady went in her sewing room and cut up a worn blanket and made a nice baby blanket out of the cloth that was not worn out.

And if you need a big heavy blanket and you have several lightweight ones, just sew them together. Sometimes it’s hard to keep children covered up at night when it is cold if you have a lot of little blankets. But if you have a big heavy blanket, it is easier. Just take your blanket and spread it on the floor, cut the other blanket the same size, and then sew it together. Then just sew some seams in the blanket so it will stay stable.

Always use the unworn pieces of your worn out garment to make quilts, etc. Because you have to go to so much work, you don’t want the garment to wear out quickly all in one place. So, yes, just use the good parts of the clothing.

I used to patch and patch jeans for Jimmy, who is now 39 years old. But when they were too worn or had gotten too short, I would cut the pants off for shorts for the summer. Also, I did the same with his little button-down shirts. I would cut the worn sleeves off and hem them up for the summer. But, see, back then, almost 40 years ago, you didn’t have a lot of clothes. You just kept the ones you had in good repair.

Little boys always wore a suit to church with a tie. Jimmy went to a Christian school. So the church outfit he wore on Sunday I put him in for school the next day on Monday. Since he had only worn his suit for an hour or so. And kids weren’t picky back then as what they wanted to wear. The Mother always picked out their clothes.

The family’s clothes were always under the mother’s care. And they were precious to the mother, as they were too expensive to replace. Like I said before, there weren’t garage sales like there are today. It was only in the 1980′s that I ever shopped at a second hand store for family clothes. I mean, we Mothers would pass clothes on to each other. But you couldn’t really count on that like you can the Thrift Shops of today.

And, ya know, making rags, too, for household use is such a good thing. Why use paper towels and all? Just tear up the old T-Shirts the kids outgrow. I just use the back and front, not the sleeves. Just cut up the flat material and have a special drawer for rags. This is a good project for the older children. Give them some clothes to cut up for rags.

Cut up old bath towels with holes in them and make several good rags for diaper changes. I can’t use those disposable wet wipes. I always use an old wash cloth to change my grand babies’ diapers. If it’s poopy, rinse it out and wash it. Poop don’t hurt ya! And, of course, I always used cloth diapers — except for the last 3 children, I used the disposable when I could afford it. The paper diapers do hold more and are less messy. The cloth diapers, you had to change after every time nature called. But, heck, ya get used to it.

I used to use old receiving blankets for night time diapers. Cotton flannel is nice for diapers if you have to make them up yourself. It’s not hard to get a bunch of cotton flannel and make some nice diapers. I think the homemade ones would be better than the store bought gauze type. You could make your own diapers as thick as you wanted. Or just look for the little receiving blankets at garage sales. These little blankets are so cheap. Some at only ten cents a piece. I bet you could find a dozen of them or more at sales in one summer.