 |
Text By Ellen Gardner •
Photography by Robert Marrott, RPM Images
Most women born before the mid-1960s learned at least the basics of sewing
while they were growing up. Either they were taught by their mothers and
grandmothers, or they learned in once-required home economics classes while the
boys took woodshop.
Before that, though, some lucky little girls first
acquired sewing skills by using toy sewing machines, which started to appear on
the market in the late 1880s.
Sue Hausmann, PBS’s sewing expert, is one of
those women who started sewing as soon as they could reach the pedal on their
mother’s machine. Sue, whose toy machines are pictured in this story, didn’t
have a child-size model until she was an adult. She bought her first one around
1965—about the same time many women stopped sewing because they were working
outside the home or because, with a department store on just about every other
corner, they simply didn’t need to sew any more.
Today, she’s on the
education staff of SVP Worldwide, which manufactures Husqvarna Viking, Pfaff,
and Singer sewing machines. “I love, love, love what I do!” she says of
spreading the gospel of needle and thread. “I feel like I’m filling a void for
people of all ages who still want to learn the art of sewing.”
(a) Most toy machines, like this Lindstrom from the 1930s or ‘40s, sew a
straight chain stitch when the side wheel is cranked. (b) Other miniature
machines, such as the 1963 Vulcan Minor made in England, were marketed to
adults, too, as handy portables. It’s just 5 1/4 inches high, 6 1/4 inches long,
and 3 inches deep.
(c) Sue thinks this cast-iron model was a Singer made from
1914-1920. (d) The bright red Kay&EE was made in Germany right after World War
II. (e) A beautifully decorated 1930s machine by Muller, a famous German
toy maker.
Sew Adorable page
1 |
2
archive »
|
