Passing Down a Sewing Legacy:
My grandmother Elsie taught me basics of hand sewing. My mother sewed clothes and doll dresses for me, and then taught me sewing on her Singer treadle machine. I still remember the pump of the metal foot pedal, the soft hum of the mechanics, and the smell of machine oil. When she upgraded to an electric sewing machine, I resisted because it didn’t feel the same, and it fed so fast! Before long I was making dresses, patchwork skirts, tops, as well as patching well-loved jeans for myself and my high school boyfriend.
When I married in 1976, my mother gifted me a Kenmore sewing machine. It was my workhorse for decades.
In 2010, I bought a Husqvarna because I needed a Teflon presser foot to sew vinyl for album cover purses. It was a lovely upgrade and served me well until the pandemic. During those frantic early months when masks were scarce, I sat down to sew dozens upon dozens of face masks for businesses, friends and family. Wouldn’t you know it, in the middle of all that work, the Husqvarna gave out. Repair shops were closed.
So, I dragged my old Kenmore from the closet. After sitting untouched for years, it hummed to life as if brand new. The stitches were smooth, steady and perfect. I felt as if reunited with an old friend. That heavy metal machine carried me through those days of mask-making without a single hiccup.
Teaching my granddaughter and letting go of the Kenmore
The passing of skills began when I taught my granddaughter to sew. Even at age eight, her imagination and construction skills impressed me when she showed me how to make a 3-D bird. I helped her sew cats as well as clothes for a doll.
Now, the torch has been passed: I gave my Kenmore to her. Seeing her excitement (at age 17!) over this sturdy old machine excites me. Knowing she’s carrying on the sewing tradition that started with my grandmother, continued with me, and now flows through her touches me deeply.
For me, that ’76 Kenmore is absolutely more than a just a machine. I cleaned it, oiled it, and saved the original guidebook, bobbins and buttonhole accessories. It connects four generations of women in my family.
Still, it’s a little bittersweet. With the closing of JoAnn Fabrics, my granddaughter and I agree it feels like the end of an era. We had wandered those aisles together for fabric, buttons, trim and inspiration more times than I can count.
What really hurts is JoAnn’s shuttering wasn’t about sewing falling out of favor. It was the result of a corporate buyout and liquidation.
Keeping Sewing Alive
While corporations treat creativity as a line item on a spreadsheet, the rest of us keep it alive one handmade stitch at a time. Grassroots sewing traditions with passing along skills, recycling fabric, and sharing patterns online are what really sustain the craft. Sewing has never depended on Wall Street to thrive. It depends on people.
And ironically, just as JoAnn closed its doors, sewing is on the upswing among a new generation. Online communities, like the garment sewing category on Bluesky, are thriving. Sewists of all ages share their creations, trade tips, and cheer each other on. It seems the pull is stronger than ever. Online retailers have gotten savvier about how to communicate the feel and stretch of fabrics and hopefully more opportunities for local businesses will come into play. There’s also so much repurposing that can happen. My granddaughter made a blouse from a stack of women’s cotton handkerchiefs. I just made a jumper dress from a handful of old jeans.
Do you sew? Did someone in your family teach you? Do you have a sewing machine with its own history? I’d love to hear your story.
Thank you for visiting!
Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a wrangler of words and big messy feelings in fiction and poetry. Her second novel, Love and Other Incurable Ailments, is coming October 27, 2026 from Regal House Publishing: When love letters from a despondent stranger land in her lap, an anxious overthinker becomes convinced she’s the cure, and sets off to save him, and herself, blissfully armed with nothing but magical thinking.
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