A Seamstress Shining Star : Fearless Females - 18

There could only be one entry for this posting on Shining Stars - my mother.    Kathleen (Kay) Weston, nee Danson (on the left in this photo)  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.

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.

"Happiness in Stitching" could be my mother's motto.  For her going  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, felt work, smocking, knitting, embroidery, smocking, dolls and dresses, with dabbles into  millinery, lampshade making and china painting.



My brother and I in outfits made by my mother c.1948
See the smocking on the baby dress
& cross stitch embroidery on my blouse.

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.  One of my favourite toys was,  a now very politically incorrect,  hand-made Golliwog. 

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.

See also my posting "Happiness is Stitching" - Dec. 2010.  



My stylish mother

 ************

March 18th  - Shining Star.  Did you have a female ancestor who had a special talent? 

Fearless Females is a blog In honour of National Women's History Month in the USA.  Suggested by Lisa Alzo of The Accidental Genealogist,  it provides 31 Blogging Prompts for March.