Thread: Remember when?

We only had scissors to cut fabric with?

Sewing machines only sewed straight lines?

Electric irons were only "dry"

We "made" starch at home

Cotton, wool, silk, and linen were the only fibers available for fabric? (also jute for burlap)

Fabrics and thread came with a "boilfast" label?

Pieces were cut out one at a time - templates were not made of plastic - cardboard, metal, paper

Yes, remember when...and that makes me appreciate all the newer conveniences even more! Can't imagine cutting everything with scissors anymore! I bought one of the first rotary cutters that came out (and it sat in my drawer for quite awhile as I was scared to use it and no one I knew at that time had one to show me how to use it!) I did quilting many years with scissors, templates, and hand-stitching. Quilting has come a long way!

I remember my mom cooking starch. It came in a powder and was added to cold water and stirred constantly until it came to a boil so it wouldn't lump. Then the starch was thinned with water in a tub, and the clothes that needed starching were put in the tub, thoroughly soaked, then sent through the wringer (yes, we had a wringer washer with two tubs) to squeeze all the starch out. Then the clothes were dried outside on a line, then brought them in and sprinkled with water, wrapped in a terrycloth towel and put in the back refrigerator until we had time to iron them.

I made all my buttonholes by hand. There were no fabric stores in my home town. Fabric was sold at TG&Y and at Woolworths, and Coats & Clark was the only thread they sold.

I still cut templates out of cardboard.

Because I'm cheap like that.

I use a dry iron with a spray bottle of water. Too cheap to replace my steam iron that started vomiting rusty water. (shudders)

But I only use scissors anymore for odd shapes.

LOL you sound like me but if it works why spend you hard earned $ if you can do it yourself cheap. I make templates from cardboard as I can't see spending for a template that I may not use again or would rather put that $ into material for something else. I also use my scissors at times and also copy patterns from children's coloring books.

Oh YES, I do remember all of these things, we also had the wringer washer and tubs for rinse. We always started with white close and finished with jeans. Everything was washed and rinsed in the same water. We also made our own starch.

We also made our templates with cardboard and later with sandpaper. Boy does this bring back a lot of fond memories.