Our dogs have been a bit rambunctious of late and have been playing tug of war with their toys. Naughty doggies!
We bought them some tough organic cotton eco-toys to play with for Christmas, this one stuffed with recycled fleece made from PET bottles. Inevitably, with enough tugging, the fabric tears.
So what to do? Well it was off to Kim’s Dolls Hospital for repairs.
Dog toy as good as new!
Kim learnt to sew back in High School and hasn’t forgotten how to throw a few stitches around. She fixed up this toy, repaired the hole in the neck, and fastened the ear back on. It only took her about 10 minutes and in that time she also repaired another toy in the same sorry state of affairs as this one.
Out of curiosity, I asked my daughter Amy (a High School teacher) if the kids learnt to sew theses days. She said that it was an elective at her school, so that is encouraging. It would be sad for these very simple skills to be lost to the consumer culture.
By the way, I can also sew. I was taught in the Navy out of necessity more than anything else, because when at sea there is no one else to sew a button or a patch on for you. Each Sailor was issued with a housewife (what we called a sewing kit) and you soon learnt how to use it or get a dreaded Kit Muster (lay out your entire issued kit on a blanket in straight rows) if you turned up on parade with a missing button or ripped trousers etc.
The simple skill of sewing by hand is something that I believe should be passed on to our kids, so next time Ben loses a button Kim and I will teach him how to sew.
Anyway, getting back to the story. Both our dogs watched Kim intently as she repaired both their toys. They sat patiently for the entire time it took to sew the limbs back on. You can imagine their delight when Kim gave them back their toys.
Teddy loving his repaired toy!
Well done to Kim for opening up the Dolls Hospital and taking the time to repair the dog’s toys. That should last them another few months of tug of war!
Have any of you passed on hand sewing skills to your kids, or recently been taught by a family relative? It would be interesting to know how many still know how to sew and teach others the art of sewing. Chime in with a comment to add to the conversation.
My kids have seen me darning socks and mending holes. On my daughters leggings I add a crochet patch to cover the stitching. My daughter (she’s 6) has also plied her needle and thread to create a bonnet from fabric scraps and my son has also demonstrated how handy he is too so I will be teaching them both to mend and sew buttons soon.
Nice one Jessie. Great skills for the young ones!
I taught all three of my children to do simple sewing. Two sons and a daughter, all in their late twenties, early thirties, now. It never goes out of style, in my opinion.
Nice one! It is a skill worth passing on.
killer TED