Hemming My History
I picked up this statue at a thrift store, and she made me think of my mother and all her sewing projects. While the statue is signed, the signature is a mystery. The details on the statue are quirky – her hair, her top, her wide hips and the mystery item in her right hand (any ideas?!). The colors are charming: the spaghetti hair is a riot of pink, purple, yellow. She is 5” tall but she is heavy – 1.5 pounds. I sense she was made in South America although I have no evidence of this. Her clothing seems modeled on old Spanish culture. She may or may not be an immigrant to this country, but she recalls my German sewing grandmothers and I adore her charm.
My great grandmother was Katherine Becker (1854-1932) who arrived in Canada from Trier, Germany around 1875. The family story is she was an orphan and convinced a family to present her as their servant so she could immigrate. The tale also says she arrived with a sewing machine, though I would love to know if this is accurate. A sewing machine in 1875 would have cost roughly $3500 in today’s dollars so I am skeptical. While the back story is unknown, I do wonder if possibly her parents died of a smallpox plague that ravaged Germany in the 1870s and she was left an orphan. I am going to take that story and suggest her mother was a seamstress - or father a tailor - and thus she came into possession of a sewing machine. So, voila! She immigrated to the United States through Canada, and married another German immigrant in Chicago, Peter Hermes (1854-1931). They had 6 children (4 more died as infants) and my grandmother Frieda was the youngest (1898 -1961). Frieda’s full name was Frederica and I was named after her.
Frieda was a talented seamstress and milliner, and decorated hats for clients in Chicago. My mother would deliver these hats by bicycle in the 1930s. In addition, my mom always said her mother had “champagne taste and a beer sized pocket book” which seems to be genetically inheritable! My grandmother would take her two daughters to Marshall Fields to purchase expensive dresses. Frieda would use those dresses as a pattern, and recreate the dresses herself, and then return the purchased dresses. My mother in turn sewed her own clothes all through her life, even when she had the financial means to purchase items. Sewing became a creative exercise for her, and she took me with her while searching for wonderful fabrics throughout my childhood.
One of the difficulties when home sewing is making your hem even. While you might think you could simply measure, turn under and sew, you would be neglecting the effect having curves would cause on the draping of the clothing over your body. Picture holding a piece of fabric up straight. Now, hold it up straight but put a ball in the way – the fabric would ride up much like the back side of your dress due to your curves. Thus a “hem marker” was used. The wearer turns while the pinner sits on the floor, using the adjustable measuring stick, determining the final length and pinning all around the skirt. My mother had me pinning her skirt hems throughout my life.
Ok, a sewing lesson no one really cares about, but the point is my mother was a talented seamstress and taught me from a very young age how to do these things. She made my high school graduation outfit (I still have it), my wedding dress (ditto) and many other items both for me and my children. Few people (including me) make their clothing anymore and the need for these sewing tools is fading. I recently discarded the hemming stick I had for years when I realized I literally never used it.
While the charming statue cannot tell us who made her or even where, I love the idea she too was an immigrant to this country, much like my great grandparents. And darn is her hem nice and straight!