A tribute to this day

Cinqo de Mayo, May 5th, First Saturday in May...no matter what you call it, this day has extra special significance for me because it marks the 100th anniversary of the day my Mother was born.  It's my "Mother's Day" and if she were still alive, I would probably be gifting her with some buttons, or some other creation so she could add it to her own work. 

My mother was such a fabulous artisan...in the fibre sense.  In her lifetime, I can recall her making or creating every article of clothing and accessories from shoes to hats and everything in between, from her own hands.  Some of the items that I can recall seeing her make ranged from shoes woven from raffia, knit slippers, many pairs of knitted socks; skirts of every variety from 50's poodle-type skirts, to kilts, golf "skorts" worn by myself and our Manitoba Golf Team,  to velvet circle skirts worn by several teams of cheerleaders; all sorts of pants, trousers, capris, even some "strides" that my sister wore; and up through blouses of every genre: embroidered, smocked, tatted, with pintucks and 'roushing' (I don't know how to spell it but I can say it); knit sweaters of absolutely every variation, design and type, hand woven fabric which became dresses and suits; bridal and prom gowns in every luxurious fabric known to tapissieres; and all sorts of accessories including scarves, leather gloves, pillbox hats, tuques and every other type of head covering including a heart 'crown' which I wore to a dress-up golf day while masquerading as the queen of hearts. 

Her creations didn't end at clothing...she knit, sewed, wove, leathered and fancified all sorts of purses and other accessories for homes and for other decorative purposes. If it was doable, she was the woman who could do it.  Her talent superceded the 'crafts people' of today.  She was a designer...professionally unschooled, but with such a natural bent for creating out of 'stuff' that, had she been so inclined, she could have given every designer alive today something to strive for. 

But she wasn't out there to seek 'followers'...she was a sharing, giving woman, who gave of her talents and abilities for free.  During the thirties when she was first 'acknowledged' as a fine craftswoman, many people in our city sought her out to make bridal gowns, as she could make whatever the person wanted, sans pattern, and it looked gorgeous.  She just had that know-how knack of taking a flat piece of 'schmatta' and fashioning it into a fabulous creation that FIT!!! How many times did brides-to-be come to her, seeking out a gown, and because money was so tight in those days, my Mother would make the gown as her 'gift' to the couple.

And in her giving, she gave me life.
 
They don't make them like that anymore.