Did you ever see something that brought back memories so strong it made you cry?
I found this sewing box at a yard sale today. My grandmother used to have one just like it. Its just plastic but I "had" to have it. To me it was well worth the $3 I paid for it.
All the stuff that came with it
This is what made me cry and laugh at the same time, Grandma had one of these needle tomatos and I used to do this with it. See the outline of the pins around the green? It was upside down when I picked it up, turned it over and this is what I saw.
This simple box brought back alot of great memories I had forgotten about.
My kids didnt know what to think of my outburst. LOL
That is so great for you not bad for 3 dollars for it and I have one just like this one but green color.
The strawberry attached to the tomatoe should be filled with sand. My mom has the same deal and it's to clean rust off needles. Mom doesn't sew much anymore. She knits like a vice though. If I visit she makes a pair of mittens in an afternoon. A sweater might take a week. She gets free yarn from a charity to keep her busy. They get her mittens, hats sweaters. Excess yarn goes to stuff for her 3 kids, and 3 grandkids. Trying to get her to knit a dog sweater. She thinks we spoil our "kids" as it is. Frank
Thank you Frankay, I always wondered what that thing was for. Wish I could knit or crochet. I cant seem to keep it in my head.
Redrose, the box itself was worth it to me, the stuff inside was just an extra bonus. : )
Yes! I remember the tomato pin cushion with the attached strawberry from my mother's sewing notions! She was a wonderful seamstress.
My grandma had one of those tomato pincushions, too! I loved her sewing box.
I still have my tomato pin cushionwith the strawberry filled with emery. it cleans and sharpens the needles so they slide through the fabric easier without snags.
I am glad you found this box and all the memories it brought flooding back of your grandmother. That was probably the best spent 3 dollars you have spent in a long time.
The funny thing is, since this is the first box like Grandma's Ive seen since hers, I would have paid $10 for it and hardly complained.
Do they even sell the tomatos still? I havnt seen them in years. Maybe Im just looking in all the wrong places.
Search Google for vintage tomato pincushion. You'll be delighted by the results. :)
They had them at JoAnn's Fabrics last time I was in there. They are a true classic!
WoW! What a set to have and enjoy nostalgia!
I love it, I have to remember to post a pic of a wooden tool? thats also in the box, looks like a maraca(sp?) but its solid.
Darning egg?
Oh hey, I think thats it, BRB while I take a pic.
those work great - I have 2. My mother kept me occupied while recuperating from foot surgery by darning dad's big gray work socks! We didn't have tv back then. I still use them once in awhile.
Dang it, DH took the camera to work with him, ggrr. Well I sorta get revenge, he didnt bother to look and make sure the film thingy was in, LOL Gonna be hard taking pics.
Now that I know what it is tho it makes sense and why didnt I see it before. I can think of at least several times when it would have come in really handy.
Here's a pic of my favorite 'egg' altho it's not egg shaped. I like this one better than my egg one, the metal ring snaps on the edge to hold your sock in place. In HS my mom gave me a coffee cup (not mug) to use to stretch the sock over - worked good too.
That looks like a dandy, Kooger! There's lots of enjoyment in an old sewing box. Buttons and notions are fun, too.
I know the exact feeling. I inherited all my Mom's sewing supplies and there are certain things I'll never part with because the connection is so strong and they always bring tears of joy and sadness to me. So - I know how you feel.
Who's Mom DIDN'T have one of the tomato/strawberry pin cushions. I still have Mom's.....
(((dc)))
I just love picking up a box of notions and other stuff at auctions...sometimes you get sample bits of tatting or crocheting, etc. Once I got a whole bunch of samples of knitting and I sewed them into a lap-robe size blankie the kids loved in the toyroom.
Oh yeah, love getting boxs of stuff that you have to look thru to see whats in it, always something neat. Another reason I love attics, people forget what they put up there and things drop. Almost alwyas something neat in an attic
Well...this old lady now sits in her computer/sewing room...using her Tomato pin cushion she has had for years. I'm glad mine is old as the new ones are not as good...IMHO...I think they must use some inferior stuffing...pins don't go into them as easily....the little "strawberry" needle sharpener is long gone...I wish I had it back!! Thanks for the memories! I'm going to swing around in my nice computer chair and continue doing some sewing! Jo
Hmmmm. I may have to find some stuff for darning. I have these great (and expensive) wool socks that are very worn on the heels from my work boots. Rest of the sock is fine, and too nice to become part of our throw-away society.
My great-grandma (Lotusblossom & Whiterose's grandma) had an old treadle sewing machine with a stand full of little drawers for notions. She had a big jar with different buttons in it, too. All of this was out on the back porch of her home, and I remember playing with the buttons and such when I'd visit.
I maybe shouldn't admit I learned to sew on a treadle machine :) - will probably go to my older sister but that's ok, the memories are still there.
janet the tomato got me-my mom had that one-thanks for makin me cry-LOL
(((((((((((((((US)))))))))))))))
I learned to sew on an old Singer treddle machine. The bobbins were these bullet like things, as I recall. It was 1965, and I was young and stupidly in love with my first husband. We were teenagers. I wanted to make him a shirt. I cut it out from a pattern, and at each new task, I'd run downstairs to ask my mother what to do next. That was some 40ish years ago, and that boy for whom I made the shirt brought us to Alaska, fell in love with someone else, died at 50, and I'm still here. I seldom sew these days, though I still have my sewing machine and my boxes of notions.
LOL Dori, I think I cried and laughed for about 5 minutes or so after I picked that thing up, glad Im not alone.
I always thought it would be so cool to sew on a treaddle machine, I know my great grandma had one and I used to play around pretending with it. By the time I thought about learning to sew on it GG was bedridden and couldnt sit up by herself anymore.
My old Treadle Sewing machine still works. I got it when I was a child and learned basic sewing on it before I was allowed to use my Mother's electric machine. Over the years I managed to locate extra bobbins and bobbin casings for it and a selection of special needles for sewing leather. With proper maintenance, cleaning and oiling and an occasional leather belt replacement the old gal will still be out sewing my newer machines a hundred more years at least.
The belt is a strip of leather that is put on and then wet down to shrink it to size. I use to order them from Sears but they don't have them anymore so now we get the strips from a leather tanner and trim them to size ourselves.
My daughter will be the next to use it and then her daughter.
