Mum

Readers who are kind enough to visit this blog regularly (thank you) will know that my mum has been unwell for some time. She defied expectations by surviving the double pneumonia she developed in February, but it left her very frail and she had to move into a nursing home in April. Sadly, she died last week. I had visited her during the day, and she was weak but able to chat a little. It seems to have been very quick.

Mum, aged 21

Mum made the dress she is wearing above, and it was clearly a firm favourite - it appears in lots of photos in the family albums. That this blog exists at all is down to her. I would say that she taught me to sew but, apart from how to thread her (now my) Singer 99, I don't recall her ever sitting me down and teaching me something. Mum making clothes for herself or me was just part of my childhood, and I seem to have simply absorbed her skills by being around her as she sewed. There are no photos of Mum sewing, but this image which I found online brought back happy memories.

This will be familiar to anyone who had a mum who sewed

My interest in vintage dressmaking began with one of her old patterns, and her knowledge was invaluable when I was first navigating the world of unprinted tissue pieces and terrifyingly scant instructions.

My first vintage sewing project, many years ago

Mum always took an interest in what I was working on, and more than once I threw a troublesome project onto the back seat of my car and drove over to ask her advice. It always helped. Even when she was in the home, she was still asking about my sewing plans. It seems odd that my 1915 ensemble will be last project that I was able to discuss with her.

She did knit a few things for me when I was very small, but she wasn't really a knitter. However she absolutely loved the cardigan that I made for her, and wore it almost all the time. It’s good to know that I was able to pay her back even a tiny amount for everything she gave to me.

With Mum in (clockwise from top left) 1986, 1991, 2020 and 2024

Mum was 95 when she died, lived independently until last summer, drove until she was 93, was happily married for 66 years, travelled extensively, and remained interested in life and the world pretty much to the end. It was a good life, well lived, and I was hugely lucky to have her in mine for so long. I shall miss her enormously.