Sewing for the 21st century

My mother was my sewing teacher. Although she had a critical eye for detail, her work does not quite measure up to the finishing polish of some of today's seamstresses. Possibly the modern tools and materials make much of the difference.

The samples of the modern craft in this post were on display at the downtown library recently, courtesy of the American Sewing Guild. The intricate folded pieces (above) formed the border for the Japanese lady (below). Also in the picture: a custom-made fashion ensemble and bed jacket.

The exhibit included the beautiful old fashioned machine (above), a modern version (below)...

...as well as the carrying case for yesterday's Singer, at left. The old fashioned doll's dress is just one of hundreds of possible projects for the seamstress.

Here are others: a dress and handbags (above); cute quilted goodies (below).

Me? I haven't sewn anything major since I began my working career. One exception: four years ago when I threw out a lifetime's worth of boring white bedclothes to make way for vivid and wild colors, it was necessary to make three or four pillow slips to fill out the color palette I had in mind. Besides: bet that not many of the modern whiz bang dressmakers know how to make a classic bound buttonhole; I still remember that art from my mother's lessons.

Linkage: There's still a world in which time is a servant, not the master ... where, if you've got 10 years, you can grow a bridge across a stream using aerial tree roots. In our world, where we're still waiting for a proper monsoon season to arrive, we can keep up with weather wonkery focused on the west at one of the Accuweather blogs.