Craftaholic

I am a craftaholic.  I think I always have been.  When I was a little girl, my mom taught me to sew.  My mom sewed almost all my clothes, and so I learned to sew by making doll clothes.  I even got a child’s chain stitch sewing machine for Christmas one year.  I remember when I was about 7 years old doing embroidery, mostly freehand, while waiting for my mom at a church meeting.  As I got a bit older, I loved to go to the library at recess to look at the craft books.  My favorites were the books on making dolls and dollhouse furniture.  I loved dolls and enjoyed making clothes, furniture and other things for them.

My mom crocheted and embroidered as well as sewed. She liked to buy craft kits, which we enjoyed putting together.  Her sister, my aunt Dortha, also did crocheting and many other crafts.  Her husband, Uncle Lee, made knives with bone and antler handles , used wood slabs to make tables and clocks, and for a while they even did rock jewelry.  You can see that I came from a line of crafters. 

When I was a teenager, I learned to do macramé. My grandmother gave me a macramé necklace, and that sparked my interest, so I got books from the library and taught myself the knots.  I even sold macramé items at a couple of craft fairs. 

When I was married and was able to be home with my children, I again started crafting.  Over the years, I have knitted, crocheted, embroidered, made jewelry, quilted, sewed, done ceramics, tole painted, and more.  When my girls were growing up, they tried some crafts, but I feared they were not really interested.  Then, as they have had children and their own homes, they have taken off with crafts.  We often get together to paint, do vinyl, or create other fun projects. Now my grandkids like to do some crafts.  They like doing the rubber band loom bracelets, painting, and drawing. My mom and aunt would be proud of this newest generation of craftaholics.

~Gayle