Keeper of the textiles

My mother had a cedar chest in her bedroom. The wool blankets lived there during the warm weather months.  There were also small shelves that unfolded inside that cedar chest when you opened it. On those small shelves were beautiful little sweaters that were made for my older sisters from some of the excellent knitters in Halifax.

There were some sweaters that I remembered wearing and others that my mother told us she was saving for our children. I gave birth to the first granddaughter so after my daughter was born several beautiful sweaters came my way out of that cedar chest. Several of them were too  brittle to wear, even after careful washing. the yarns just broke with wearing.

I loved the idea of my mother saving clothing so that our children could wear them. while I gave away most of my children’s clothing after they outgrew them there were some things that I kept for my future grandchildren. We were clearing out a storage locker yesterday so I brought the box of saved garments home. No, we are a long way away from grand children but I wanted to share some of the items that I decided to save.

 

This sweater  was one of a matching set made for my older sisters. I don’t know what happened to the other one. I love the classic stripes at the hems and the fact that it is gender neutral. All of my kids wore this one.

 

My college buddy Judy made this sweater. This sweater fits from new born until a child is about two. This sweater got lots of wear from all of my kids. I see that the ducky buttons have faded ( I believe that they were purple ) and one has gotten lost. I will replace the buttons when the time comes.You can’t get much cuter than this.

Judy also made this vest for my son when he was born.This was worn by both boys, often for shul. It looks great with a pair of chinos and a button down, sort of baby country club.

When friends would visit us from Halifax they  sometimes brought us  Nova Scotia tartan kilts.  I guess it is the elegant Haligonian equivalent of I heart NY  shirts.We had them in every size from infant hood through high school. I think this was mine in elementary school. My daughter still wears the larges one that I wore when I was in High School . My daughter will wear her kilt to make me laugh and when we have guests from Halifax joining us for dinner.

 

My youngest has always been crazy skinny. he also had trouble figuring out which way was the front on his pants. Zippers and pockets really didn’t serve as enough of a clue for him. I ended up making him lots of pairs of pants that worked either way. I made big patch pockets on the side seams so the pants worked worn either front to back or back to front. My son loved color and wild color combinations.

We were all quit fond of the tomato pants.

The following pair of pants is possibly one of the ugliest pairs of pants ever made, ever.They belonged to my cousins. They came with a matching vest which we did not inherit.

These pants were so ugly that they were laugh out loud funny.

Yes, that’s genuine double knit. Did you notice the patriotic theme?

Yes, I made my boys wear them. They look especially amusing when worn short. Bell bottom flood pants is quite the look. Granted I called them the ugly pants. My boys are good sports for being willing to make their mother laugh. Because the double knit is indestructible there might be a few more generations of boys subjected to wearing them.

My sister in law bought my daughter these two pairs of jungle themes short- overalls. They fit a two year old and are unspeakably adorable on. they work equally well worn with a ruffled blouse and with a t- shirt. They were well worn and loved by all three kids.

This beautiful blanket was a gift from our friends Allan and Joanne. It’s perfect for wrapping up a baby during the warmer months.

there are some other garments in the saved for grandchildren box, but I wanted to share some of the highlights.