Looks can be deceiving

I like to pretend that I have my supplies under control and organized.

 

As I come across scraps of lace and ribbon, I drop them in this biscotti jar.  My latest project had me rooting around for more than what was in here:

 

 

I remembered I had a box of ribbons, eyelet and lace from the days when my girls were little and I was sewing little girl and doll clothes.

 

Found it! It's the size of a large shoebox or small apple box.

 

 

Some of these were hand-me-downs from my mom's sewing room, which reminded - where did that tote go?

 

 

Some of these trims go back to the 1970's for sure, and I suspect the '60s are represented as well.

 

Here's a sneak peak at the project that got me hunting:

 

 

 

 

 I also have a smaller tote filled with bias tape, zippers, seam bindings, buttons and more.  My sister, her daughters, my daughter that sews, and my girlfriend and her daughter all come to me first before heading to the store.  I'm going to have to get them to start raiding this bin as well.  Either that or open an Etsy shop!

 

One of my other hobbies is genealogy, and last night I found information that one of my maternal great-great grandmothers was also a seamstress in addition to being a homemaker. That extends my sewing heritage back to 5 generations, 6 if you include my daughter and my nieces.

 

It's no wonder I have hoard all this, when it goes so far back in my blood!

 

 

Button, button - who's got the button?

One of my earliest memories is playing with my mother's button box so it wasn't surprising that when I had a chance to pick something from my grandmother's estate, I chose a battered tin full of buttons.  When mom passed away 10 years ago, one of the things I took from her sewing room was her collection of buttons.  They used to reside in an old tobacco tin and when her granddaughters were little (she had six!), she would give them muffin tins and let them sort the buttons to keep them occupied.  Eventually, she got rid of the old tobacco tin and left the buttons sorted by colour in old baby food jars. I had all my buttons in an old plastic basket, but now that I've got a sewing room, I'm sorting all those old buttons and putting them in jelly jars on IKEA shelves.  They are going to look so pretty up there!

I won't be letting the grandson play with them any time soon, even if he doesn't put things in his mouth.  After all, he is only 2!