Mom's Sewing Trunk

Today is day one of my clean out the attic project.  When we moved in to our house four years ago we put everything we didn't know what to do with, in the attic.  Guess what?  We still don't know what to do with it, and it's still in the attic.  It's an attic that keeps me awake at night.  The space up there is big, and it's easy to get to....but that also makes it easy to put more "stuff" up there that we don't know what to do with. Anyway, you get the idea.  Big attic.  Too much stuff.  Cleaning it out.

Shortly after we moved into this house I acquired many things that belonged to my mom, that I just didn't know what to do with.  Or, I just wasn't able to part with it yet.  My mom's sewing trunk was one of those items.  It sat in my parent's bedroom for as long as I can remember.  It contained mom's sewing boxes, material, patterns, and any item we needed mended.  Well, here's the thing....my mom stopped sewing sometime in the mid-80's....save the occasional button, hem, or zipper repair.  As I began cleaning out the trunk it became very clear that my mom also had not cleaned out this trunk since the mid-80's....perhaps even the 70's.  It made me laugh to go through this stuff.  As a kid/teen I used to joke that if we put anything in the trunk that needed repaired, we might as well kiss it good-bye forever, since she wasn't quick to get things fixed.  I inherited that trait.  My poor kids.

Here is a sample of some of the material I came across while cleaning out the trunk.  The gold, rust and green upholstery is perty, huh?  It was from an old rocking chair that I have since recovered, to bring it up to date.  A box of sewing patterns from the 70's and 80's.  Mom's sewing boxes.  A jar of buttons, and a "congratulations on the birth of your new son" card that was lying at the bottom of the trunk.  The envelope says, "To Little Dougie."  I'll have to pass that on to "Little Dougie," who's now a 33 year old man.  Oh mom....I spent more time chuckling as I went through this trunk today, rather than having any heartache. Yes, I miss her, but going through the things she saved, made me laugh.  I wonder if she even realized how many brand new zippers, and packages of elastic, were in this trunk?

I've decided to make this trunk a "keepsake" trunk.  I will keep her sewing boxes in here, along with some of the material that's still usable.  But, I have added in the baby clothes of mine that she hung on to, as well as the baby clothes of my kids, that I am hanging on to.  Someday my kids might go through it and laugh at the things I thought to save....or the things that I forgot I even had.  

Thanks for the laugh today, Mom!