For my mother. happiness was stitching. To go into a fabric shop was like going into a jeweller's. If she sat down, she was rarely without a needle in her hand. She was a creator in patchwork, crochet, collage, knitting, embroidery, smocking, dolls and dresses, with dabbles into millinery, lampshade making and china painting.
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| Kathleen & Edith Danson |
My mother Kathleen (Kay) Weston, nee Danson was born in 1908 in the small town of Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire. Her older sister Edith was equally talented and from their photographs they clearly enjoyed fashion. At the age of 14 Mum was apprenticed to be a tailoress and was still making her own clothes in her 80's. In the 1950's she set up her own dress-making business from home, working in the spare bedroom which was icy cold in winter and hot and stuffy in summer. I benefited from cutting up old Butterick and Simplicity pattern books and creating characters and "schools" from the fashion figures.
As a child, I had the best dressed dolls on the street and especially remember my Coronation Doll of 1953 with its white dress and long embroidered purple velvet train. My Sunday coats always had velvet collars, embroidered with flowers and a matching bonnet. 
Thirty years on, my daughter was the recipient of nursery collages, soft toys, a Cindy wardrobe, costume dolls, crochet waistcoats and fashion jumpers.
I don't have Mum's skill, but I have inherited her love of handicrafts and she left me with tangible memories of a very talented lady.
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| An upside down doll - Cinders |
My mother was also a skilled self-taught dressmaker and ensured we were kept well turned out. She too did smocking and loved craft but never did much knitting -don't know why. She also loved doing flower arranging in her younger days. Thanks for sharing this great post about women's skills and heirlooms which are so easily undervalued.
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