Family Treasure: Sewing Machine

My mother, Alberta Joy (Gardner) Brown, always sewed, having learned from her mother. She made most of her own clothing in high school. She sewed her own wedding dress, gathering yards and yards of white organdy. She sewed pajamas for my brothers from soft flannels printed with tiny cowboys. She made me little pink or yellow dresses with pretty buttons shaped like flowers or kittens. My mother secretly sewed doll clothes for Christmas for my cousins and me. Everything looked like it came from an upscale store.

This is my mother’s Singer sewing machine which was equipped with the very latest options. The drawers of the cabinet had a wide array of thread colors, buttons, pins, snaps, zippers and scissors.  I remember the hum of this machine as my mother’s hands guided the fabric pieces under the needle. Her head would be bent as she watched her most recent creation come together. She never had a sewing room, just a spot in the hall or the corner of a bedroom but it did not stop her from making delightful original items. She was always happy when she could find time in her busy schedule as mother of four children to sit & sew.

My mother’s machine has not been used in many years but it has a safe home in our house along with her mother’s sewing machine and my own sewing machines. 

The sewing machine cabinet