My paternal grandmother taught me to sew when I was very young, around age 6 or 7. She hand sewed all the hems in my dresses (yes, when I was a child, girls wore dresses even to play in) and repaired my grandfather's clothes, and she made me learn how to hem handkerchiefs. She had a very fine hand since her father was a ladies' tailor and she learned from him. I learned to sew on a machine in 7th grade Home Ec. My mother also sewed beautifully, but had no patience to teach. She had a treadle sewing machine that we were forbidden to touch as children so, unfortunately, I never learned how to work hands and feet together. I am the last of the line of sewers in my family, since neither of my sisters (now deceased), nor my daughter were interested.