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ecrivan
Member Elite

since 2001-12-10

Posts 3923
my own state

0 posted 2002-02-02 08:06 PM

Remember how dressmaker would peddle at his bench
remember how cloth shops had that familiar stench;
an old singer workhorse had been used in the den
my auntie would stitch pleats and sew up family hems.

Choose the material from the dressmakers roll
it is the stuff that fine garments are made of
on clothes assembly, there is the thought of a dollar
your mind's eye would check the label on the collar.

the cloth must be worn from dawn until dusk
the corn on the field must be grown with a husk;
assemble the pieces; on a cutters plan, you lay
sew up the sleeves of the bodice you display.

wrinkle proof came after years of toil
you sewed up the sleeves, did you know they
would soil?
most great garments began in some hidden basement shop
and immigrant children assembled the pieces we had forgot.

My uncle sewed skirts for grandma, made to measure
he would assemble cut pieces and sew them with pleasure.
he would transform her into being the queen of her block
her brother-in-law would fit her with fine material stock.

So auntie is gone and the singer model has been passed down
My uncle's work has disappeared, that was his crown;
grandma too, walks the world no longer with uncle's clothes
where will garment inventions go, nobody knows.

[This message has been edited by ecrivan (02-02-2002 08:36 PM).]

Sunshine

Administrator

Member Empyrean

since 1999-06-25

Posts 63354
Listening to every heart

1 posted 2002-02-02 08:28 PM

We are too quick to throw away those things that still work...I like this piece, Sir...I like this piece very much...

ecrivan
Member Elite

since 2001-12-10

Posts 3923
my own state

2 posted 2002-02-02 08:40 PM

I twisted in a couple of themes here, but the change of homemade or early machine shop cloth to something less familiar is predominant...this was woven with the loss of my older relatives and their trade

Glad you liked this!

Silver Streak
Member Elite

since 2002-01-02

Posts 3625
FL, USA

3 posted 2002-02-02 09:32 PM

Thanks for bringing back old memories. My mother and aunt both worked in garment factories, over 50 years ago, sewing clothes, carefully, manually. Thanks for sharing.

-newell

Sharing God's Love through perfectlovepoetry.com

Copyright: 2002 Newell Elsworth Usher

RosePetal

Member Elite

since 2001-08-26

Posts 2985
South Florida

4 posted 2002-02-02 09:38 PM

awwwwww...I miss those machines so much too, it saddens me how ideas change so fast. Very wonderfully said, dear friend!

Joanna

Mistletoe Angel

Member Empyrean

since 2000-12-17

Posts 32816
Portland, Oregon

5 posted 2002-02-02 09:43 PM

(big hugggggsssssss) Such a beautifully bittersweet poem, sweet friend, such sweet memories of old seamstress work and cloth-making fill these words; I too miss the old styles so very much and only wish we could cherish the old ideas too! (sigh) We all love you so much, sweet friend, this is sooooooo wonderfully written! You have such a beautiful heart, sweet Martin, thank you for sharing!

May love and light always shine upon you!

Love,
Noah Eaton

ecrivan
Member Elite

since 2001-12-10

Posts 3923
my own state

6 posted 2002-02-02 10:51 PM

Noah and RosePetal,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

Madame Chipmunk
Member Rara Avis

since 2001-12-05

Posts 8296
Michigan

7 posted 2002-02-02 11:23 PM

Great job, Martin...I still remember the days when people wore homemade clothes.
Almost nobody wears them nowadays...I think people are too busy to sew. I know that I am a lousy seamstress.....I can sew on a button but will only do it if I absolutely HAVE TO....any other sewing goes to the tailor. Funny thing is that my great-grandparents were tailors, and it sounds like yours or your grandparents were too!