There is something really Jane Austen-ish about doing needle work don’t you think?

That’s what I caught myself thinking as I looked up from my cross stitch at my 9 year old daughter who was sitting next to me concentrating on her cross stitch project.

Times have certainly changed.

Like the fact that often, sewing is done more as a hobby than out of necessity. My mother used to sew our clothing because of lack of funds. She ran a sewing class out of our home while she was pregnant, in order to earn money for a new (old) car. But now, we can easily pick up an apron or a skirt and it will cost next to nothing!

I’m coming to realise that getting started with sewing isn’t cheap! I emptied out all of my pocket money today at Spotlight in order to establish a sewing kit. The next step is saving and purchasing a sewing machine…but for now I will be borrowing my mother’s. Thanks mum!

Another difference that we face today is that we are time starved. Back in Jane Austen’s day, the richer folk had plenty of time to pass, so they would take up needle work, paint, learn the piano forte, languages and travel. Now we have so many things that fight for our attention!

I’m not sure why these arts are lost to some and so alive with others. Is it because they always loved it while others had different interests? Or perhaps you needed a mentors who always had their hands busy with some craft projects, and you couldn’t help but to learn from them?

Maybe you can enlighten me, but for now, I am enjoying re-teaching myself how to do some of the crafts that were taught to me a loooong time ago. What’s interesting is that my daughters are really enthusiastic about learning as well!

I almost feel like I am turning back the clock and returning to the 60s as I work away on the sewing machine making a new headband for my girls, or the 70s as I crochet a beanie or the 80s as I knit myself a scarf or the 1800s, as we work away on our cross stitch projects like today.

Lessons Learned:

• Since I haven’t done any of these “lost arts” regularly enough to remember how to do a lot of it, youtube and online tutorials have been FANTASTIC. If you don’t know the next step, you are bound to find out how to do it online!
• By late 8 or 9 years old, my oldest daughter could work independently on most things, but just needed me there when she got stuck.
• By late 6 or 7 years old, my second daughter needed careful instruction, close support and encouragement when things went wrong.
• Baby steps with knitting: For both my 7 & 9 year olds, I would knit one row, and then the kids would knit one row. That way I could check for any mistakes.
• Baby steps with cross stitch: For my 7 year old, she would do a row of diagonal stitches, and I would do the crosses. My 9 year old could do both. My 3 year old wanted to have a go, so I would put the needle in, and she would pull the needle and thread through to the other side.
• Sometimes I worry that I am not teaching them the “correct techniques”, since I am teaching them from memory, or from what I have interpreted from reading online instructions. When that thought pops into my head, I have to remind myself to enjoy the learning journey, just as my daughters are. (Gosh, can you imagine the odd things that are going to be passed down from generation to generation from now on?!?!?)