Friday 11 September 2009

Nanna

I went to my local wool shop for something completely different yesterday. I am in there quite a lot as there is no sewing/ haberdashers in my little city, and the wool shop is your best bet.


Whilst I was having a rummage, for it is the sort of shop that warrants a rummage, I found an embroidery thread box. Now, I have been hankering after one of these for a while and at £3.95 I was sold.

I have started doing a little embroidery, so this was very timely. My post, however, is not about this learning curve, but about my Nanna.

My Nanna was a very special lady. She died a few days before Mil was born, two and a half years ago. A few weeks after this, her descendants gathered at her Yorkshire home with the sad but necessary task of re homing what we could. One of the things I took away with me was a small sewing chest with all sorts in it.

And, in that chest was a book of embroidery threads. An old guide called 'Canada Today' published in 1954 by the Bank of Montreal. The pages had been used to keep her threads organised. All the colours ordered with 'palest', 'middle' and 'deep' tones marked out on separate pages with the colour codes recorded.


I took this book apart today and put all those lovingly ordered and referenced threads onto my brand spanking new spools, and felt like I was losing a small piece of social and family history. But I think my Nanna would have been impressed with how it all came together.


I won't forget, so there is no reason to hold on. Only reason to move forward. Yes?

3 comments:

dottycookie said...

I have exactly the same box, but mny threads don't have such a romantic history. How wonderful to be able to remember you Nanna every time you use them.

JuliaB said...

ahhh ... she would definately approve! And you can always keep the book and use it for something else ... make the marked pages into little envelopes perhaps ..? xx

Unknown said...

my nana was an amazing seamstress. she died when I was 16 and had no interest in sewing or anything crafty... I soooo regret not having anything of her.

I could have learned so much too from her too.

Sad.