Treasured Finds

This was one of my first blog posts when I started blogging in March. Many of you have not yet read it, so I thought I would re-post it, especially as it pertains to this time of year, as the memories of our childhood Christmas' come to light when we think of those that we love.
Thank you for reading! :)
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Have you ever looked through a drawer full of old things; things that had been tucked away for years, and found a treasure (at least, it was a treasure to you) or maybe you were looking for a certain photo and started looking through a box full of old photos. As you started your search, you came across some very memorable ones. Instead of continuing your search, you sat down on your bed and spread the photos out before you. A smile came to your face as the warm memories flooded back to you. As you looked at the clock, you realized an hour had passed. You never found the photo you were looking for but what you found in memories, you carried in your heart for the rest of the day.

Something like this happened to me recently. I decided I wanted to learn to embroider. I had never embroidered before but my step mom is very crafty, so I asked her if she could teach me. We went to the craft store and bought a pattern, fabric, thread and a hoop. I found some old fabric to practice some of the embroidery stitches that she taught to me. When I had practiced for a few days, I decided that maybe I would try to work on a real project, so I looked at the thread we had purchased and decided I wanted a few more colors. I didn’t feel like going back out to the store so I went upstairs and got out my grandmother’s old sewing box. It was now MY sewing box. It was one of the items I had taken from her house after she passed away many years back. I didn’t take it because I am a seamstress (far from it ) and wanted to use the items inside the box, I took it home with me because of the memories it held; memories of seeing my grandmother with that sewing box sitting next to her as her sewing machine happily hummed away. My memories took me back to when I was a child. I remember her laying out her patterns and carefully cutting around them. Then putting the fabric under the sewing machine needle, her fingers nimble, as they worked the fabric forward. My grandmother was a talented seamstress and made many things for her grandchildren on that machine. She made us school clothes, Easter dresses (every Easter), doll clothing, and holiday crafts. When I became an adult, I remember the times when I would visit and needed a pair of my kids pants hemmed, or a button or two sewn on. She was always happy to help. My grandmother showed us love in so many ways and sewing for us made her extremely happy. I didn’t need a tag on my clothing telling me that grandmother made my dress; I knew that everything she ever made for us was made with love. If she could have put a tag on her creations it would have said, “This is made for you because Nama loves you”. There was a time when someone purchased some “Made for You By” tags with her name on them but I don’t think she ever really used them, we all knew whose hands had so lovingly created something special just for us.

Now, as I opened up that sewing box this particular day looking for embroidery thread, I instead found vintage supplies still in their original packaging. In those packages, I found needles, hooks, braid, bias tape, rickrack, buttons, pieces of lace, fabric, and tags that say, Hand Made By, with her name on it. These were all very cool finds but the treasure I found that day was an envelope, with the word “Pattern” written on it, in her writing. As I opened up the envelope, I found a homemade pattern she had made; it was of a Santa Claus she had made out of felt. This felt Santa Claus was made to go atop the lid of a round candy jar. It was then that the memories came flooding back to me and a smile crossed my face. It was our Christmas candy jar that was brought out for many a year. It was filled each year with Christmas ribbon candy, its stripes and colors still dance in my head. I can still see my grandmother bending over and opening that jar for me as I put my hand in to grab a piece of that delicious candy, neither of us aware that someday this memory would pull at my heart and make me wish for simpler times; the times spent with her.

Oh, and by the way, I did find the embroidery thread I was looking for. I put it back in the box…..at least for now.