My mother was a fantastic seamstress, very talented. I was the oldest daughter, so you *know* she had to teach me. I was 4 years old, and she got navy blue gingham with the tiny squares, and we made matching mother-daughter aprons by hand. The gingham was to help me with even stitches. I still remember that apron. She gave me my first sewing kit, a wicker basket with the necessary stuff in it, and I still have that basket 45 years later, rather tattered and worn now. The local 4H group got me onto a sewing machine at age 8, but my mother was always there to teach me the fine points. I made a lot of stuff over the years, even her Mother-of-the-Bride dress when my sister got married.

We all know how to sew, by the way. My father, my sister, and all three brothers are familiar with sewing and know how to use a machine, but I'm the one who really took off with it. I'm supposed to teach my nieces how to sew, but it turns out that I'm not as good as teaching as my mother was.