Sewing blast from the past

The other day I came home and my doorman handed me a box marked "To Sarah from Esther".

Esther came into my life through my cousin Bonnie. Esther was a co-worker of my cousin's. Esther had a new baby and Bonnie thought that I would know of a good family daycare in the neighborhood.

Esther called. It was the first of many conversations. Her daughter went to the same family daycare my oldest attended as a toddler and then to the same daycare center my boys attended and overlapped with both of them and then to the same elementary school as my boys.

There are people from those years of being the mother of young children where you have an intense relationship for a few years and as life gets in the way, it becomes hard to schedule time together and eventually you drift away.

Esther has remained a friend, despite having moved to the burbs.  We usually get together when she has her haircut back in the old neighborhood. We generally meet for lunch and talk about our kids and caring for aging parents.

I no longer have aging parents or in-laws to care for, but Esther just moved her in-laws out of their home.

Esther's mother in law sewed.

The box that Esther had left off contained some sewing books and pamphlets that Esther knew I would enjoy. There was this classic.

This is the 1975 edition.

There was also a 1958 Singer sewing book that included these illustrations.

I was born in 1961 and these garments all look really familiar to me. I wore several versions of the little girl dress, many of them handed down from girls who wore them new in the mid-1950's. I own too many little cashmere sweaters with 3/4 sleeves like the one pictured here.

There were a few little booklets on how to decorate with sheets. Here are some illustrations from one.

This was supposed to be a nursery. Those swordlike canopy supports would have given me nightmares as a little kid.

I guess this room is for boys who like soldiers and pompoms.

At age 6 or 8 I would have swooned for a room like this. Not so much now.

Well, this room leaves me speechless.

If you had this pattern in 1974 you had most of your wardrobe covered.

This package of Dritz dressmakers carbon would be enough just for the graphics. but it comes with a tracing wheel and lots of carbon paper in the envelope.

To make things even better there were also the ads for other Dritz products on the back of the envelope.

There are a couple of other books in this haul as well. Some of this treasure trove includes duplicates. I am prepared to set up a give away if there is interest. Let me know