Kathleen, when did you learn how to sew, and then embroider?

I learned to do a bit of hand sewing and to cut little tops and skirts for my tiny baby dolls before I went to kindergarten. I must have been four when I started. Then I learned hand embroidery around six or seven and did quite a bit of that. I loved the results; but have always hated the tedium of the process. By age eight I was making my own skirts and crop tops. If I didn't make them, I wouldn't have them. There were four girls in my family and I learned to sew from my oldest sister. My mother had no sewing ability whatsoever. Out of necessity, we girls learned to sew; all except the youngest. She was the beneficiary of so many hand-me-downs she didn't need to.

Ah yes, many of us began to sew out of necessity and perhaps a desire for fashion beyond the basics. I was the youngest but sewing still held out something special. Were you able to join any sewing groups or have some outside influences?

We joined 4H and had some sewing instruction there from age 9 or so until about 15. In junior high school I had a few quarters of sewing in home economics, but the teacher never liked that the other students came to me for advice and she was quite hard on me. Oh, well, I had the better looking clothes!

I can just imagine the scene – a great story today but you must have been in a tough situation. Did you think about becoming a home economics teacher after that experience, or maybe something else sewing-related?

I thought I might become a clothing designer when I grew up. I like having nice clothes that didn't come from the Sears catalogue, although at the time I thought Sears had the top of the line of manufactured clothing. The Sears catalog was two inches thick and came out twice a year and we drooled over each one. They were the closest thing to fashion magazines for us.

Overall, sewing made it possible for me to have my own clothes, without patches, and not some color and style my older sisters had worn out first. I also loved all the colors and types of fabric. Even then I wanted a huge stash. Didn't have it; but I wanted it!

What other challenges did you have?

I didn't like cutting out fabric; we had to do it on the floor and it was hard to find a straight line to work with.

Is there anyone else in your family who enjoyed sewing?

I never had the impression that any of my sisters enjoyed it. A couple of them were truly horrible seamstresses, but you either sewed or wore the older sister’s worn-out clothing. 

What kinds of items were you making back then?

I made prom dresses, swimming suits, wool coat with bound buttonholes for myself in high school. Of course I made jackets and skirts and pants for school. I did a bit of sewing for money for others as well.

It’s always nice when a hobby brings in a few dollars. Did you work in any sewing shops?

There weren't any sewing shops to work in, and I wouldn't have brought any money home if there had been. Fabric was found in an after-thought department in a clothing and furniture store a little over 20 miles away, and in that venerable Sears catalogue.