Mom’s Sewing Basket

 

9/2/25 My mom's (and now my) sewing basket

During some recent reshuffling of stuff *, I unearthed my mom’s sewing basket. It was one of few things I had claimed for purely sentimental reasons after she died. At the time, I was a fiber artist, so I had some vague ideas of using the basket as part of an art piece. Mainly, though, I was still grieving too much to even look at it, so I simply wrapped it up to keep it clean and stored it behind a pile of other stuff. Out of sight, out of mind – for 16 years.

When I unwrapped the basket, I knew instantly what I would do: Use it! My own sewing basket had been an ugly plastic bin that you get at craft stores. Made of a woven material that was getting a bit shabby, my mom’s basket wasn’t anything special except that she had used it for many decades. I kept her notions and sewing tools that were still inside and added my own sewing stuff (which I rarely use except to mend or hem, but everyone needs a sewing kit, right?).

At some point, the basket’s clasp had broken. Child of the depression and of farmers, my mom wouldn’t dream of replacing the whole basket just because the clasp had broken. She rigged up a Bic ballpoint cap to replace it – so practical and utilitarian! That’s my mom. I know she would be pleased that her basket is still being used.

9/3/25 Cloud City Coffee

* Downsizing, Phase 3, has begun! My original plan was to replace the carpeting upstairs after I finished clearing out the last two attic areas that need to be downsized. I’m proceeding with the attic tasks, but I’ve decided to defer replacing the carpet for a while. Instead, I had all the existing carpeting deep-cleaned – which was just as tedious as getting new flooring because every single, tiny thing had to be removed from the floor! That meant that all the remaining random dribs and drabs in my studio/office that I hadn’t brought downstairs or gotten rid of in the spring now needed to be moved or removed permanently.

The good news is that the carpet is now cleaner than it has been in 35 years (even a sizeable Platinum Carbon Black ink spill and numerous small paint stains came out)! And instead of dreading it, I’m actually looking forward to the remaining downsizing tasks because now I know the deep satisfaction that awaits me when I’m done. My goal is to finish by year’s end. Of course, I’m also looking forward to the small celebrations along the way!