Wow!

Mama Alanna · 07-22-2012, 10:32 AM

Have a look at this lovely sewing basket, then look at the spoiler for its secret:

CanadaSue · 07-22-2012, 10:39 AM

WOW! Indeed... I certainly didn't expect that spoiler.

Feather · 07-22-2012, 09:10 PM

I kind of thought it was cake when I looked at the thread spools. The thread on them just does not look right or thread. Very good detail though.

kaneohegirl · 07-22-2012, 09:24 PM

for me it was the basket itself not enough rough to be a real basket but I thought the thread was great

Feather · 07-22-2012, 09:30 PM

The one spool of peach that is on the left side of center. That's the one that looks a bit off. The needles look a bit off too. Buttons are perfect. Excellent shape and color.

D. Gale · 07-22-2012, 09:43 PM

Everything fooled me except the leather straps at the top. I thought, "They just don't look right."

CanadaSue · 07-22-2012, 09:51 PM

It's not perfect but my goodness - the effort! I'm still trying to pick out my favourite element.

Potemkin · 07-29-2012, 02:08 PM

Wow you guys are tough!

Of course most of you have extensive exposure to sewing.

I wonder how many nationwide people can sew on a button or G-d forbid hem trousers?

flourbug · 07-29-2012, 04:16 PM

Quote:

I wonder how many nationwide people can sew on a button or G-d forbid hem trousers?

LOL... timely.

Jason growled about the cost of room darkening drapes for Mike's room. So I bought fabric and lining, and asked him to help me measure everything out then hold the excess material as I fed the hems through the machine. It took about two hours, total, both of us working side by side (it would have gone faster except SOMEONE doesn't know how to measure).

Ask him if he wants to make more drapes. Go ahead. I dare ya. hehehe

NowVoyager · 07-29-2012, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Potemkin

Wow you guys are tough!

Of course most of you have extensive exposure to sewing.

I wonder how many nationwide people can sew on a button or G-d forbid hem trousers?

Grew up when they still taught 'home ec' in school (along with drivers ed with behind the wheel driving, in fact

) ..... The home ec presumed most of the girls had been exposed to / helping with, the cooking and such, for a household. Most of us had to some degree or another.

Still by the end of the year we were supposed to be able to plan, budget and prepare meals (from scratch, nothing out of a box) as well as do basic sewing (simple dresses, skirts and such).

Can't recall anyone failing, though some were more talented in some areas. But I can honestly say that the girls would at least be able to cook well enough to not have to rely on frozen tv dinners and could at least mend a ripped seam or torn hem.

I'd already been helping my mom at her cafe for a couple years and in junior high I would help her open up before school and after school, in between doing homework, I would bake the pies and cakes for the next day.

And I also recall that back when my stepfather was pushing recruits, they had to keep their uniforms in shape and that meant replacing buttons, etc.

Granted I haven't been able to make heads or tails of an engine since the slant 6, but I do think that it's not unreasonable that the average person know how to prepare food for themselves, do basic mending, have a rudimentary understanding of what to do if a breaker blows, replace a faucet, unclog a sink or toilet, replace a window....... Helplessness is not attractive, IMO.

Feather · 07-30-2012, 08:02 AM

Our home ec had to be pass/fail. A friend had not learned to cook, her mom did it all and for some reson didn't teach her. I've never seen someone make grilled cheese and have the outside black with the cheese in the middle still cold. This same girl in the sewing class sewed her finger to the dress she was making.

flourbug · 07-30-2012, 08:08 AM

I didn't learn any Home Ec type stuff in school. What my mother didn't teach me I learned on my own.

I gave my daughters Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook - Amazon

I was so proud when they said, "Thanks Mom, but we know most of this stuff already."

Feather · 07-30-2012, 08:22 AM

That's wonderful FB. My Dad and Grandma taught me to cook and Mom taught me to bake. I taught my boys, plus they now have Life Sceinces class here that is manditory. DS#2 took culinary arts at the local technical high school, same one I went to for training in electronics. Both kids are excellent cooks.

flourbug · 07-30-2012, 09:18 AM

Don't get me started.

< soapbox >

IMO Life Sciences should run at least two periods every year in middle school and high school. Kids should learn personal grooming, everything about clothing (fabric, construction, fit, sewing, fiber arts), food preparation (everything from boiling water to choosing quality ingredients to preparing a dinner party for 12), how to furnish and decorate a home, how to clean and repair and care for possessions, personal finances (make a budget, balance a checkbook), the value of education (is a college degree worth it?), investing and wealth preservation, how to purchase insurance, rent and real estate laws, basic human psychology, the value of building family relationships, the value of friendship, how to choose a mate (addictions, mental illness, inheritable diseases, abused becoming abusers, etc), child care (newborn through college age), legal issues one is likely to face in the course of a lifetime - contracts, traffic, criminal, etc., estate and life planning, dealing with illness in the family, becoming a caregiver, how to pre-plan a funeral.

You know, real life adult things we all have to do. It would be really nice to teach our kids more than how to sew on a button and cook a hard boiled egg.

< /soapbox >

Mama Alanna · 07-30-2012, 02:43 PM

Needs strong emphasis on budgeting. All too many kids don't make the connect between work=money. You need more money, you just go to the ATM and get some.

flourbug · 07-30-2012, 04:03 PM

I think it needs a strong emphasis on choosing the people you let into your life.

I was taught all human beings are alike. Color of your skin, religion, ethnic background, rich or poor, physical condition or mental health, we were all the same. In fact I was taught to be overly generous and compassionate, ignoring flaws in the people with whom I associated. Thus, I was a friend to anyone who smiled at me, and I married the wrong person. I had NO experience with mental illness, addictions, spousal or child abuse, infidelity, criminality, manipulative backstabbing, or any of the other unsavory aspects of human nature. Everyone was like ME. Right?

I learned the hard way that you have to be VERY careful who you hitch your wagon to, because close associations with the wrong person can negate everything else you do - not only in the present, but they can absolutely destroy your future as well.

Some people are very judicious - Jason and my oldest daughter have that talent. They can size someone up within a few minutes conversation and darn if they aren't always right on the money. Me? Heh. You could be an axe murderer and I wouldn't have a clue, because I simply do not know what to look for. I really wish they had a class for something like that - beginning psychology would work.

Feather · 07-30-2012, 11:00 PM

Life Sciences here covers sewing, cooking, cleaning up after your self in the kitchen, how to clean house, follow a budget and do laundry, sorting it and everything. I was amazed how well they did. The teacher asked each student what they know how to do when the class first started and both of mine already knew a lot of it because of the chores they did at home. When my youngest was living in his first appartment they had a break in and when the officer asked him if he was sure he locked the balcony door he laughed and told the officer that was one thing I drilled into their heads at a young age, lock the door before you go to bed or leave the home.