Happiness is Stitching - Sepia Saturday

I knew straight away when I first saw the prompt picture what I would write about - my talented mother  whose motto and life  could indeed be described as  "Happiness is Stitching.

 

 

 

 Mum  - Kathleen Danson was born in 1908 in  the small town of Poulton-le-Fylde, near Blackpool, daughter of William Danson and Alice English. At the age of 14, she was apprenticed to be a tailoress. 

For her,  going  into a fabric shop was like going into a jeweller's.   She was a creator in patchwork, crochet, collage, knitting, embroidery, smocking,  dolls & toy making,  with dabbles into  rug making, millinery, lampshade making and china painting.  If she sat down, she was rarely without a needle in her hand - epitomised in the motto that sums her up - "Happiness is Stitching 

She then set up a dressmaking business from her home - the business card  below I only came across after her death.  She was still making her own clothes in her 80's - though on a much more sophisticated sewing machine than the old treadle she began on, for my grandfather's home did not get electricity until the mid 1950s 

 

                                         

Mum modelling one of her dresses  c. early 1930s

 

Another  1930s outfit. 

 

 Mum on he left with her sister Edith

She continued her home dressmaking small business   throughout her life.  In the 1950's this meant working in the spare bedroom which was icy cold in winter and hot and stuffy in summer.  I remember one time when my little brother - a typical boy into everything - got hold of her oiling can, filled it with water and proceeded to "oil" the sewing machine!.  He was not very popular!      

A formal photograph  of my brother and I.  We were both  wearing outfits made by my mother,  with Chris in a smocked baby top and myself in a blouse, with cross stitched  embroidery.

 I benefited from Mum's activities - I had the best dressed dolls on the street and enjoyed cutting up her old Butterick and Simplicity pattern books and creating characters and "schools" from the fashion figures.   I was also intrigued by her invoice book with carbon paper creating  copies - one for her customer and one to keep for her own records. 

Mum  was a typical homemaker of the 1950's and 60's -- and beyond.  She was always making something - cushions changed their covers regularly, new patchwork quilts appeared on the beds and new curtains at the windows, worn sheets were turned - the middles became the sides,  old bath towels were cut, and trimmed into hand towels, tray cloths and table cloths were embroidered.

    

  

 The junior dancers qt Staining  Gala -  a popular local event.

 I am the one  kneeling down on the front row  left.  Our dresses were apple greens satin,  with silver cardboard headdresses and our shepherd crooks garlandedwith crepe paper flowers. Looking back, this was c.1952,  not long after the war, with people still having to put up with rationing, but the gala days were a great tribute to community efforts, and my mother, as the local dressmaker, was heavily involved in making the costumes.   My dress was  later destined to be my party dress for the year. 

Below - my brother winning a prize in a fancy dress competition as a Yeoman of the Guard (Beefeater). It was a testimony to my mother's creative skills - adapted from a red suit of hers, my 1950's waspy belt and my father's war medals. I cannot imagine how my brother ever agreed to wear tights dyed red, and rosette garters.

Dolls were one of my mother's favourites  

A peg doll created from the old fashioned wooden pegs, with pipe cleaners for arms and legs.  

    

My daughter was 8 years old  and had a collection of Cindy dolls - the British version of Barbie, - with a lovely wardrobe of clothes. again made by  my mother.  Mum was in her mid 70's  and with fading eyesight, yet the small scale stitching on the clothes is so impressive

               

                  A topsy turvy Cinderella doll.   

 

I remember helping Mum making a collage picture of Queen Elizabeth 1st in all her glory - plenty of scope for using lots of fancy trimmings.   Below  a collage of a Victorian couple

 

An Alice in Wonderland collage, stitched   for my daughter, 1973.  

  

 

More of my mother's  creations:

                     

 

 

 

 

And finally below - My mother modelling an outfit she made in a big  event  organized by the Scottish Women's Rural Institute (SWRI) - 1968. 

 

 

 

Mum died at the age of 91  and was still making her own clothes in her 80's as well as a patchwork quilt for the bed.   These heirlooms here, may not be all that old,  but they are precious to me and a potent visible reminders of my mother - a very talented lady.  And  of course she made my wedding dress.  

 

 

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.

 

 

(Adapted from an earlier post with some new photographs)

 

 

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 Sepia Saturday gives bloggers an opportunity to share 
their family history and memories through photographs. 

 

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