A Sewing Table Full Of Treasures

Hello and thank you for stopping by.

I seem to have acquired a lot of fabric and sewing goodies over the last few weeks but yesterday I received something extra special. My friend Laura recently inherited a small sewing table from her Great Aunty Eva and kindly gave it to me. It’s such a generous gift and I plan to treasure it for ever.

I think all sewists are fascinated by other sewist’s sewing boxes and tools, and when these tools have been amassed over a lifetime they become even more intruiging. I already knew Aunty Eva was a talented seamstress as a few years ago Laura gave me one of her handmade dresses that no longer fit her. It’s beautifully made in a eyecatching emarald green wool, and I always receive compliments when I wear it. However, as I sorted through the contents of the sewing table it I felt like I got to know her a little better.

Aunty Eva was in her nineties when she passed away, and was of the same ‘make do and mend’ generation as my own grandma, Ethel, who died last year. Just like in my grandma’s sewing box there were darning threads, zips that had been cut out of old garments and neatly pinned bits of ribbon kept as they were sure to come in useful at some point. All of the tools look well-made and well-used. This was very much a no nonsense sewing kit and I’m sure Aunty Eva would be very surprised at the fact I’m writing a blog post about it.

There was also a magazine cutting from the early 90s about Yves St Laurent, marking the 30th anniversary of the launch of his fashion house. This made me like Aunty Eva even more as I loved the recent exhibition of his work at The Bowes Museum which I attended with Laura and her mum, Maureen.

One of my favourite items in the sewing table is this cute little souvenir from Blackpool. How adorable is it?!

Once I finished looking at all of the items, I gave the table a good clean and polish. It looks lovely in my bedroom and I hope to use the tools when working on my own sewing projects in the future. I hope you enjoyed sorting through the treasures with me 🙂