From here to there...

Its amazing... or maybe a little scary... how I get from here to there.

One day last week I was knitting out on the deck and I realized how chilly it was getting... which made me think of warm toasty things like knitting... and flannel... which got to thinking about flannel pajamas... for the kids... new flannel pajamas... I love to sew pajamas... flannel pajamas... for the kids.

So I went rummaging around to find my favorite flannel pajamas sewing pattern and ran across some of my other sewing patterns that I love so much. Patterns for things that have tiny little stitches and pretty little buttons. Things that spread across your lap as you stitch them on cool autumn evenings.

So by the time I left the basement I had a stack of paper patterns and notes on wrinkled pieces of paper and lots of plans.

A second trip downstairs yielded a stack of fabric.

A third an unfinished project with new potential.

Somewhere along the line I must have ordered some new things because the mailbox held some goodies this week as well. Old things for new things... crinkled paper things for dainty stitches things.

Of all the handcrafts I enjoy smocking holds some sort of allure that nothing else does. To sit and smock makes me feel like I've somehow wandered off and left behind heavy things in favor of light and gentle things. Like if I look over my shoulder while I'm stitching I'll see the piles and lists of things that need done but they'll all be a little distant and a little out of focus.

Maybe its because I get just as much enjoyment out of reading all the little bits and pieces I can find about smocking as much as I enjoy the actual smocking.

The following excerpt is taken from Needlecraft Practical Journal No. 141 originally published in 1917 by The Manchester School of Embroidery of Manchester and London, England (now in the public domain):

In some English countries the smock-frocks have remained more in fashion than in others. It is a great pity that they should ever be discarded as they are very hygienic, strong, and comfortable. Nothing could be more suitable for a shepherd or a milker as the garments are so easily washed.In Sussex and Wiltshire the older men still wear smock-frocks, but the younger ones refuse to do so. It may be that a revival of agriculture interest will bring back these useful overalls into favor, or that the smock will be once more essentially the woman's garment on the land as in the house.

Its so fascinating to me that something that a garment that started out as a good choice for a milker somehow became something considered heirloom and exquisite.

I'm also wondering if due to the "revival of agriculture interest" we'll all be running around in smock-frocks and day now. Wouldn't that be a sight!

From here to there... its all quite intriguing.

Comments

[Debbie]

I wish I had the patience to sew. I never have had enough to do it. I love what you make, however!

[Debbie]

I wish I had the patience to sew. I never have had enough to do it. I love what you make, however!

[Debbie]

I wish I had the patience to sew. I never have had enough to do it. I love what you make, however!

[Debbie]

I wish I had the patience to sew. I never have had enough to do it. I love what you make, however!

[Debbie]

I wish I had the patience to sew. I never have had enough to do it. I love what you make, however!

[Debbie]

I wish I had the patience to sew. I never have had enough to do it. I love what you make, however!

[Maria]

Did you make the doll that is in the last photo? It is very sweet something my granddaughter would love. May I ask the name of the pattern you used? I wish I could smock, no one around to teach it.