Senior women: How many of you taught your daughters needle work, crochet, knitting, tatting, sewing?
January 28, 2012 - 6:56 am
Question by Life in the slow lane: Senior women: How many of you taught your daughters needle work, crochet, knitting, tatting, sewing?
Do YOU know how to do these things? Are these lost arts that will never return? Your thinking please.
Best answer:
Answer by NanaT
My mom never taught me any of the above. I’m 45. I can’t even sew on a button that doesn’t immediately fall off.
I never had a daughter. Only a granddaughter. She’s three and God help her. It would be the blind leading the blind!
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January 28th, 2012 at 7:26 am
Yes, I DO know how to do these things…yet I won’t unless I absolutely am forced into doing it. I don’t know what tatting is, but I can do everything else on your list & so can my adult child. I prefer macrame & Chinese knots.
My thinking? I think there will always be a need to have a seamtress or alteration shop to allow our Daughters, Sons, & ourselves the time to do other things that we find more to our liking.
No need to clutter up modern furniture with doilies. They look better on Antiques! I made many of mine into wall art & framed them! Sewing is a skill that an artistic person can do wonderful things with! I can’t see well enough to thread a needle…that’s why I enjoy making decorative knots.
January 28th, 2012 at 7:53 am
My mother & grandmother tried to teach me knitting, but since they are right handed & I’m left handed, I never caught on. Finally my mom got me a book called Knitting for Klutz’s-which was so detailed that I finally caught on. Now my mom can show me how to do more advanced stitches. I’m 34.
Also at work there are several girls younger than me that crochet-they are in their 20′s.
We all agree that knitting/crocheting gives us more options with our own fashion & makes presents people really like and use.
January 28th, 2012 at 8:37 am
My daughter was never interested in any of these arts or in cooking. She was always more interested in painting and drawing and writing. I suppose it paid off because now she’s a copywriter, a skilled photographer, and my walls are decorated with her paintings.
Edit: Many of her friends knit and crochet; a couple of them sell hats and scarves online to supplement their incomes, so I don’t think they’re lost arts at all.
January 28th, 2012 at 9:02 am
I had two boys so no I did not teach them these things. But my two son’s are excellent cooks that is a good thing since their wives aren’t good cooks. And I did teach them how to mend cloths like putting on a button and hemming there own pants.
January 28th, 2012 at 9:11 am
I taught my girl to sew, crochet and do embroidery. She liked sewing the best and made quite a few clothes. Crochet and embroidery is probably on the way out along with home cooking, baking, and candy making. It’s a shame.
January 28th, 2012 at 9:56 am
Well, I’m 23 and my grandma showed me how to crochet when I was 4, my cousin taught me to knit at around 9, needlework, sewing, tatting, and netting I pretty much taught myself. The knitting and crocheting I was only taught the very basic stitches, and over the years I’ve become an expert at all forms of it.
January 28th, 2012 at 9:57 am
when i was in 8th grade i made my mom teach me i dont know y but i love crocheting, im not a big fan of knitting but sewing is fine but i learned that in skool im only 18 i know u wanted seniors but i did teach my friend of the family which is like 38 crocheting.. and i think it will always be in our future
January 28th, 2012 at 10:11 am
my mom has not taught me how to work the machine, but it is SOOO boring, and I hate it
we will always have it around because sometimes our things need mending, but it won’t be as common as before
January 28th, 2012 at 10:27 am
I didn’t have daughters but one of my sons can use the sewing machine. My mother taught me to knit the european method and I have taught myself afghan (with one long hooked needle) Enjoy it but of course should do more. Both sons can make excellent cakes when we purchased our first microwave and it was so quick and easy. My mother was a really good knitter and I got her some extra work knitting very elaborate garments for the boutiques. She found it to be rather hard work but I am sorry I didn’t take photos of her finished garments.
January 28th, 2012 at 11:20 am
No kids here, but I’ve taught a number of people (some older, some younger) to sew, basic knitting, hand embroidery and needlepoint and dyeing. I’m pretty hopeless with tatting and crochet, but some year I’ll give it a try again.
Judging by the numbers of questions I answer here from young people who want to learn to sew, the creative urge is alive and well, and the needle arts are doing just fine.
BTW, about a third of my students have been male. And my MIG welding teacher won’t take you on as a student until you’ve learned the basics of machine sewing — it’s a good way to train eye/hand/foot coordination that’s less dangerous than a welding rig.
January 28th, 2012 at 11:31 am
My grandmother taught me to knit, crochet and tat when I was about 10 or so. . . I haven’t tatted in years. I taught my daughter to crochet and knit, but she doesn’t do any of it any more, and the granddaughter who is 17, has no desire to learn ! I have made afghans, sweaters, scarves, hats, mittens, baby blankets booties, and my favorite. ..doll clothes ! It is a fun and relaxing hobby !
January 28th, 2012 at 11:37 am
I learned them all except tatting from my mom and passed it down to my daughter. Now she has a daughter to pass it down to, or I can help her.
January 28th, 2012 at 11:59 am
hell yeah i taught her all dat shyt
January 28th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
I taught my daughter to knit.
I think they will stay around, but not as many people will be doing it. I started knitting less when I got my computer.
January 28th, 2012 at 12:41 pm
Even though my Mother knew all you listed, she refused to teach me when I asked her. I learned to sew & embroider on my own. My daughter sews but didn’t like embroidery, she will only do cross stitch, & does it beautifully. My Christmas gift from her this year is a full apron she cross stitched, I have to finish the embroidery on it yet. Including myself, I know several ladies who would love to join a crochet class. Problem is, we know of no one who would teach us. My 3 granddaughters know nothing, they are too busy with school activities, church, and homework. Never seems to be enough time for their working mother to teach them what she knows. One is a teenager that only loves sports & reading books. But I’m sure there are girls out there still willing to learn, it won’t be totally lost.
January 28th, 2012 at 1:12 pm
I learned these things from my mother. Not tatting, but I learned the rest.
My daughter couldn’t be bothered with learning any of these things. Too “boring” to sit and do that.
Now, my granddaughter eagerly wants to know how to do all these things. I am teaching her. She was delighted on Christmas, when I gave her 6 children’s beginner counted cross kits.
January 28th, 2012 at 1:32 pm
My sewing skills consist of just the basic straight stitch on a sewing machine. I made all the curtains for our house because the windows were so long. We couldn’t justify the cost of buying as opposed to sewing them. I learned to cross stitch but haven’t picked up a project in quite awhile.
My oldest daughter learned to sew from her grandmother. She can shorten sleeves on blouses and add darts to them for a better fit. She received her Grandmother’s sewing machine when she passed this year. She had spent the last year of her Grandmother’s life with her as much as possible to learn the art.
Are these lost arts? I’ve found that whenever the economy takes a down turn the arts and crafts business booms. When I bought a wedding/craft shop in the early 80′s, the economy was down but our craft business thrived. When the economy turned around in the 90′s we adjusted our business plan because the Walmart came to town. We carried only things that they failed to carry and offered classes.
January 28th, 2012 at 2:15 pm
I taught her everything except tatting which I did not care to do myself. She has excelled (much more than I have)in all of them.
January 28th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
I can do these things – except tatting ! But my mother didn’t teach me – she wasn’t “that kind of mother”….I learned to do these things from other girls, and at school.
Regarding my kids, well my daughter took absolutely no interest, and today at 32 she can sew on a button, that’s about all. I’ve known her to use a staple gun to put up a fallen hem. But, she keeps the local dressmaker in business, or me if she is visiting !
My son, incidentally, taught himself how to sew after leaving home, so there is hope for him yet ! His girlfriend would not have a clue !
PS I don’t think these things are going to end up as “lost arts”. I believe that knitting has had a resurgence among younger women, and maybe other domestic arts will follow. The craft industry is booming, and I see quilting classes popping up everywhere. People like this sort of thing, so I’m sure it will survive.
January 28th, 2012 at 3:02 pm
I don’t think they are a lost art in that it seems they are coming back.
My daughter wasn’t interested in any of this. she didn’t want to know how to cook either. But, learning to cook when you needed to sift flour and hand mix is no longer taught either.
It is a very different world for them.
January 28th, 2012 at 3:37 pm
My partner and I both crochet, in fact last year we gave crocheted vests and shawls and throws to several of the family and friends. My daughter picked out one of the throws we made this year for her birthday and was always having to hunt for it. Seems the grandsons loved it and she would find it one of their rooms. Problem solved, for Christmas this year they each got their own throw, made to match something they liked. The youngest is a Raider’s fan, and the oldest one got one in navy, light blue and white. His favorite colors. I sew and know how to make patterns, embroider, do hucking, a very old way of putting patterns on cloth and actually paint on clothes. My daughter knows how to sew, make a pattern and can embroider. What is great is my grandsons are also being taught to sew, cook and bake, and the proper way to wash and iron and clean. Like my daughter said she doesn’t want them dependent on anyone. If a zipper breaks she wants them to know how to fix or repair it and she like me, hates seeing something fixed with a safety pin. My oldest grandson was looking at a pattern book and asked if we would teach him to crochet.
Then my daughter said well she better learn to do it too so I guess we’ll teach them both. The youngest says he want’s to learn too but I don’t think he’s old enough to have the patience. I regret my grandmother never taught me tatting, I have some of the lace she made and several beautiful collars and dress cuffs. My partners mother can make anything, she used to crochet tablecloths, and made several bedspread coverlets. We are lucky enough to have several sets of dolies she made including one set with full sized roses that stand alone or can snap to the dolies. The thing I always found amazing is for those of you who remeber them, the little tiny rubber or china baby dolls that were only about an inch and a half tall. Their arms stuck straight out and so did their legs so they were sitting. Liz even crocheted clothes for them out of button thread. Talk abiut patience. If we don’t want these things to disappear we need to be passing it on. One of my friends in Ca, does volunteer work with single teen mothers-to-be. While they are expecting she teaches them sewing and pattern making, she shows them how to take an old throw away dress or blouse apart and make new clothes from them. She tells them there is never a reason to look shabby because people (even though it’s wrong) judge you by your looks. She also teaches a cooking class on things you can make that is good for you and cheap and how to make baby food for when they are big enough. If we pass one thing on to one and they pass it one it will never be lost, but it’s hard for so many because they lead such busy lives. My grandmother said it was a wonderful way to relax and you still get something done at the same time. We crochet while watching tv.
January 28th, 2012 at 4:05 pm
I taught my niece how to do cross-stitch and hook rugs. Her grandmother taught her how to do quilting. Always fun and enjoyed each others company. Hope these arts never go away.
January 28th, 2012 at 4:17 pm
My grandmother taught me how to crochet. My mother taught me how to do needle work and to sew. I have two daughters, one knows how to do needle work, crochet and sew. The other has no interest in learning. Hopefully someday she will want to learn. I do not know how to knit but would love to learn. Maybe I will try that book knitting for dummies and see how that works. Mom knows tatting but I have no interest in learning that which is a shame I guess.
January 28th, 2012 at 4:49 pm
I taught my daughter and my nieces how to do needlepoint. I really enjoyed teaching them, and I know they also have fond memories of that time.