Friday, January 8, 2010

reality has set in- and a FLASH BACK- learning to iron to television

If you are in your forties or older you may have had some of those nagging thoughts creep into your brain when you least expect them, no matter how young you feel (and I personally feel about 30!!) ... you know the thoughts. Like the one I had last week.
It won't matter how many more years I am on this Earth because it cannot possibly be long enough to use all my fabric!!!!!

I began to sort and evaluate my stash and thus have begun the DESTASH! Hopefully I will live at least 50 more years so I have enough time to freshly launder and press all the fabric I have decided must be gone from my space and sold to some younger (or just much more motivated) sewing person.

Yes I have a sewing room. I always dreamed of a sewing room. I had one made and then had my own sewing business for many years. The official business was dissolved. I still have the sewing room. It has become more of a catch-all storage space. I still have some baby and child sized dresses I made that I never tried to sell, beyond the hundreds I did sell. Following through and selling the rest of them should be a future goal. I still have enough fabric to circle the Earth several times. I am beginning to make a dent in that as an immediate goal.


Strangely enough, I actually enjoyed doing the first 2 batches of fabric washing loads. The smell is wonderful. I wanted the fabric to be fresh after sitting patiently, folded up and forgotten on a shelf. I very much enjoyed the ironing process too. I know, I need some serious counseling, right? But I found myself very relaxed while making the wrinkles disappear.

When I was little my Mom would iron almost daily. It seemed just about everything needed to be ironed, and even if it didn't, it was ironed anyway! I was the baby and only girl after 3 boys and a space of about 8 years, so I wore plenty of those non permanent press ruffly dresses from the 1960's, you can bet!!
I was taught to iron by pressing pillow cases. I loved it. I felt so grown up and important. Wielding a hot housewife appliance was apparently my idea of being grown up and important at age 7. Mom would iron in front of the TV and watch The Mike Douglas Show, or Dick Cavett (they came wayyy before Jay Leno), or The Edge of Night or The Secret Storm, or The Guiding Light (they came wayyy before The Young and the Restless or Desperate Housewives), or Phil Donahue (he came wayyy before Oprah. and he was first based in Ohio!)


What did you first learn to iron? What did your Mom watch on TV? Ok maybe those two questions only go together from MY CHILDHOOD. But I am curious about those two things anyway, so let me know!!


2 comments:

Betty said...

I can't remember what I learned to iron on. I do remember my mom doing lots of ironing while watching her "programs". I know she watched The Guiding Light. Did your mom roll the wet clothes up and put them in the fridge before she ironed?

Lois said...

I come from a large family. I remember my mom ironing while listening to the radio (we couldn't afford a TV). She always ironed on Tuesday. Monday was wash day and Tuesdays were ironing day. She had a coke bottle with a metal stopper that had holes in it that held water. She would sprinkle the clothes and then roll them up. As a child that part never made sense to me.
Why dry them on the lines outside and then bring them inside and wet them again. I understand now but back then I thought it was a very strange thing to do. I rmember that everything got ironed. Even the dish towels.
Lois