Stitches

Have you taught your girls to do needlework?

My niece just sent me three pretty hankies on which she hand embroidered my initials and some tiny flowers. I am so proud of her and pleased that her mother and I spent time when she was a little girl, teaching her needlework, just as our mother and grandmothers did for us. Are you passing those skills down to your girls?

Public Comments

1. THROUGH NO HELP FROM ME, MY DUGHTER CROCHETS AND PLAYS PIANO! YEAH
2. My Daughter does, she learned from My Mother. I never learned.
3. i wish i could play piano...i really want to learn
4. Sorry, I dont know one end of a needle from the other. lol.
5. I have forty of 'my girls' turning out monogrammed hankies in a hot factory in Ecuador. I taught my sons how to fish, hunt, cook and do their own laundry.
6. Yes, they know how to embroidery, quilt, sew. I have introduced them to crocheting. Since I am knowledgeable in those things I figured it was my duty to teach them....If they wanted to pursue it was up to them.
7. although I don't have children, I think those rainy days at home, or times when a child has the flu or is home because of a tooth extraction, or the child is simply home being watched by a babysitter....is the ideal time to teach that child needlework of all kinds (knitting, sewing, mending, crocheting, embroidering....and cooking or baking if possible). My mother knew crocheting, same for her mother (both were quilters. My sister did embroidery. I fussed with directions for knitting until I learned on my own. My next dream was to tat (and no, I don't mean a tattoo) but I couldn't get my crochet finger to stand up and hold the thread so that was a no-go. I struggled trying to learn embroidery on my own, didn't work. In high school I insisted on learning how to sew...my mom sent me for lessons rather than her teaching me herself. I have sewn for years and only now am machine sewing quilt tops (still haven't learned to do the entire quilt) after all these years. So yes, I strongly believe if you have girls in your house you need to take the time to teach them these things.
8. i needlepoint, cross-stitch, and embroider, when my girl was in her teens,i bought her a couple of small starter kits but she never finished them. now she does not have time. someday i hope with help from me she will take it up, it has gotten me through many a stressful time. when i work on a project, it just calms me down.
9. I taught, she was not and is not interested. Its too bad. I would teach the granddaughters if their mom would let me. She'd rather pay for them to go to a seminar on Saturdays! Go figure.
10. My daughter learned from me and she has surpassed my skills .
11. My mum is fab with needle work but even when I sew a button on I normally sew it to whatever I have on at the time .
12. no, she would never have the patience and still doesn't.
13. My mum never learned much of the female domestic things. I learned to knit and crochet by looking at books and watching my granny when I'd see her. I'm good at learning from reading so I learned to do the complicated things with knitting, weaving, crocheting, sewing, etc. I have shown my nieces and nephews how to knit/crochet but they don't have a lot of patience or time for doing these gentle arts--but they have been introduced so if they ever want to get into it again, they know they can.
14. Taught my daughters embroidery as teens but they weren't as interested as myself. One does crochet however. I even tried to get a Daughter-In -Law interested in counted cross stitch but she didn't have the patience either. I still do all 3 but takes me awhile to get projects accomplished.
15. my mother Apenia taught me to crochet, needlepoint and sew when I was very young, over the years she would make me keep it up by buying me a project at xmas or my birthday, we have done a few projects together. She has lived with us for 20 years, and has taught my sons and husband to sew and embroidery.
16. My daughter preferred cross stitch over my embroidery. Made me a pretty fushia flowers with hummingbirds sweatshirt for Christmas. She has 3 daughters of her own, one is too young, the other 2 haven't shown an interest yet. Church, scouts, t-ball & softball, & volleyball have taken over alot of their time. Plus the homework load they have nowadays! My mom taught me to embroider, but wouldn't teach me to crochet. I'd still like to learn.
17. I taught my niece how to cross-stitch and do hook rugs. We had a fun time doing that together. I couldn't have children so she was considered "my girl".