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Posted by ellice on August 21, 2009, 3:45 pm
*snip*
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>
> How old when you when you started stitching? I think a majority of us
I remember learning to hem, do basic hand sewing when I was about 6. I then
started doing embroidery at around age 8, more or less. Started with DM
giving me some stamped emoroidery to do while she was working on a
tablecloth. I wanted to "help" - so I suspect she wisely got me my own
piece to work on, while she did hers. My DA did great NP, and had done
petit point covers for her dining room chairs - it was kind of inspiring - I
remember her working on these for a couple of years when I was about 10-11.
Similarly I remember my other DA doing NP, as well as my cousin but I wasn't
really interested then. Kept it up until about age 20, put it away for some
time and picked back up about 15 years later. I did however a fair amount of
embroidery - shirts, jeans, jackets, monograms on hankies. Picking back up
stitching really came from my then MIL (the truly difficult now exMIL) doing
XS, and I thought it would be fun. My DM's best friend had also taken it up
- so well, it seemed like a good thing to do, that we could all sort of
share. But that was just a jumping into point WRT XS.
Garment sewing, been doing steadily since about age 8 when we moved to FL,
and my mom started. Her aunt sewed tons of cloths for my mom's cousins, and
got my DM started, and I wanted to do it too! Sewed steadily, regularly
until about the early 90's. Stopped for a few years, and then picked back
up with quilting in the late 90's, then back to garments, etc..
My Paternal DGM and mom were fabulous knitters and crocheters - I didn't
really get it, though I could muddle my way through crocheting - say around
age 16. But when I decided to learn to knit as an adult about 7 years ago
turned out that I had muscle memory and have to knit European style. Who
knew.
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> How to reach young people? Fun, quick INEXPENSIVE small stuff. At
> Wal-Mart, Target (*THAT* would probably get attention), maybe some
> boutique-y places. (Urban Threads or Pimp Stitch should look into
> this.) It should include EVERYTHING - needle, fiber, hoop,
> instructions. Those crewel kits from the 70s were perfect examples
> (sans hoop).
Good point about the crewel kits. I've done/will be doing some workshops
with kits for kids of cool bracelets that are dyed Aida with some XS & a
couple of other stitches, and some NP kits. Doing an NP class as a
mother/daughter activity for the synagogue sisterhood - seems to be a fun
way to get them involved. I think not only small, inexpensive, but also
things that are kind of fun or cute - like little boxes, or the friendship
bracelets, etc.
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> BTW - I don't think Lizzie Kate talks to the younger crowd that much -
> too soccer mom and predictable. While I know a lot of people like her
> stuff, I think it's boring and predictable.
Trite and cutesy. While some of it is cute, I find it so much of the same -
but OTOH, I've done my handful of L-K pieces, too.
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>
> Sorry so long - but it's an interesting topic!
>
> linda
It is an interesting topic, that so many of us picked up early. My mother
was quite fond of telling me that I'm really a very traditional woman -
because I do things like stitching and cooking. It led to many arguments of
her not understanding the rest of my life not falling into the "traditional"
path - that you could love the traditional female arts, but that didn't mean
I wanted the rest of the more traditional lifestyle. Not a right or wrong
thing - just made for some lengthy and frustrating discussions.
Ellice
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Posted by NDJoan on August 23, 2009, 7:25 pm
On Aug.20, Ellice wrote:
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> I think a majority of us tell of some experience in our youth that made u=
s familiar with it
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> when we were older. Do we do a terrible job in the needlework industry
> attracting teens and twenty-somethings?
And then on Aug 21, 2:45=A0pm, she wrote:
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> It is an interesting topic, that so many of us picked up early.
After reading all these responses, could it be as simple as that, when
we reach our teens, we need to "rebel" and broaden our horizons, as
teens are wont to do,or, are just so busy that something has to be put
aside? Not to mention the fickleness of those years. By the time
designers figure out what they like (if that's even possible!) and get
something designed and published, the fad has changed.
I'd hazard a guess that most of us did much less needlework during our
teen years and then picked it up again once we were in "settling down"
mode. I did a fair amount of stamped embroidery when I was young
(probably started around 6 or 8 yo) but don't really remember doing
much during my teen years. I was in college when I started knitting,
crocheting and crewel. I didn't discover counted stitching until a few
years later and married, when I saw something I wanted for our
bedroom.
Maybe it's just the nature of the beast... Maybe we just teach the
little ones when we have *some* control over them, so the basics are
there when they mature. The crux of that, though, is getting more
adults involved so they can then expose the youngsters.
Joan
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Posted by Cheryl Isaak on August 24, 2009, 8:07 am
On 8/23/09 7:25 PM, in article
5dd1b1f4-788f-4218-beaf-f19798bccc5e@k19g2000yqn.googlegroups.com, "NDJoan"
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> On Aug.20, Ellice wrote:
>> I think a majority of us tell of some experience in our youth that made us
>> familiar with it
>> when we were older. Do we do a terrible job in the needlework industry
>> attracting teens and twenty-somethings?
>
> And then on Aug 21, 2:45 pm, she wrote:
>
>> It is an interesting topic, that so many of us picked up early.
>
> After reading all these responses, could it be as simple as that, when
> we reach our teens, we need to "rebel" and broaden our horizons, as
> teens are wont to do,or, are just so busy that something has to be put
> aside? Not to mention the fickleness of those years. By the time
> designers figure out what they like (if that's even possible!) and get
> something designed and published, the fad has changed.
>
> I'd hazard a guess that most of us did much less needlework during our
> teen years and then picked it up again once we were in "settling down"
> mode. I did a fair amount of stamped embroidery when I was young
> (probably started around 6 or 8 yo) but don't really remember doing
> much during my teen years. I was in college when I started knitting,
> crocheting and crewel. I didn't discover counted stitching until a few
> years later and married, when I saw something I wanted for our
> bedroom.
>
> Maybe it's just the nature of the beast... Maybe we just teach the
> little ones when we have *some* control over them, so the basics are
> there when they mature. The crux of that, though, is getting more
> adults involved so they can then expose the youngsters.
>
> Joan
I stitched/knitted/crocheted A LOT through high school and college, but did
much less when I got out of school and had to earn a living. And learn to
live with the now DH ;)
In fact several of those uncompleted projects still live in my hoard. One is
a scrap blanket I must of started in HS with all sorts of yarns knitted in
stockinette and a huge granny square piece (also blanket sized now) of
pieces of crewel yarn leftovers. I really should finish both pieces.....
Cheryl
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Posted by 1961girl@gmail.com on August 24, 2009, 9:14 am
I had just this conversation yesterday - commenting on how in your
teens and college years (and often the early years after you have
kids), you don't have time/interest/money to stitch. You need to be
exposed young from someone (scouts, parent, grandparent, etc.), then
later you pick it up again. I know that was true of me!
Alas, Girl Scouts has moved to this new "leadership" emphasis which is
going to leave little room for learning all the stuff you *used* to
have the chance to learn.
And Joan's point about taking time to catch up to the fad is well
taken - it does take time to get the production up and going. It's
also a chicken and the egg question though - companies produce what
sells. What sells is what's available. If I go in, am interetested
in taking something up and it's not there (steampunk for example), I
may not come back. By the time it is available, I've moved on or
resigned myself to not being able to find it.
linda
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Posted by 1961girl@gmail.com on August 24, 2009, 10:03 am
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> 1961g...@gmail.com wrote:
> > I had just this conversation yesterday - commenting on how in your
> > teens and college years (and often the early years after you have
> > kids), you don't have time/interest/money to stitch. =A0
> You make time for what is important to you. =A0I could stitch a nice gift
> for a couple bucks (including 25c thrift store frame) versus spending
> far more than that to buy something. =A0Never admitted to my cousin that
> her kids got hand-knitted sweaters because I couldn't afford to buy
> ready-made.
> One of my former co-workers was watching me crochet at lunch hour and
> whined "I used to have time to do that". =A0My life was busier than hers,
> so I couldn't understand why she didn't; it had never crossed her mind
> that she could crochet and watch TV at the same time! =A0Whereas I was
> taught never to sit down without something in your hands.
> Another, who blows $1000 a year going to the movies (and soda and
> popcorn for each one), couldn't figure out how I had the money to spend
> on stitchy stuff. =A0Um, because I don't go to the movies (too dark to
> stitch!), don't get my hair done, don't indulge in mani/pedi/massage
> every Saturday...
When I was younger, there were times when stitching was important and
times it wasn't. It didn't even occur to me to make stitching as a
gift at a younger age (college) - don't know why, it just didn't.
Furthermore, not all of us had access to a kit or thrift store - I
went to college in a very, very small town (Mount Vernon, IA -
population 3,628 - and probably less when I was there). And frankly,
when money was so tight it was sometimes a choice between tampons and
course books, even a couple of skeins and cheap frame would have been
too much.
As to the time factor, you are right - I listen to a book or watch TV
and stitch. But there are those who can't do it - they can't
concentrate well enough. And as you said, they make time for what's
important. Maybe watching Susie practice is more important to them.
Or seeing a movie. Or whatever.
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> How old when you when you started stitching? I think a majority of us