Thursday, October 16, 2008

Men and Sewing!

In my last post, some of the comments illustrate the realities of men who sew and cook. I guess this shows that we still live by preconceived notions of gender roles and sterotypes. And as a male, I can now begin to understand what females have had to contend with down through the years. I don't mean to make light of this, but when it happens to me, I cannot help but laugh.

I do quilt, and the females in my family do sew (well all but one). Therefore, I not only, know how to do lots of things in the needlecraft world, but I also am exposed to lots of things in this area. It is just so much fun to drop some of the sewing and needlecraft words when at the fabric store; and catch the reaction of the clerks. Words such as DUPIONI and BATISTE, cause all kinds of interesting reactions to a male uttering such words. My favorite is ENTREDEUX. But my wife explains to me that the funny looks I get are probably because the clerk has no idea what I am talking about.

There is one word from the area of heirloom sewing, that I am really hesitant to drop in the fabric shop. No! I take that back; I will not utter. That word is FAGGOTING.

For those who are not familar with heirloom or fancy sewing...........
CHECK the comments for what DUPIONI, BATISTE, ENTREDEUX, and FAGGOTING is.

5 comments:

Tracy said...

ROTFL!

Deb's Posts said...

LOL Tom, you lost me with those words LOL!

Tom H said...

Entredeux: Decorative chain/ladder stitching between 2 pieces of fabric.

Dupioni: Rougher silk fabric, woven of 2 different silk threads.

Batiste: Soft, light weight opaque fabric.

Faggoting: Open decorative fabric where thread is drawn in criss cross stitches across an open seam.

Tom H said...

Deb, You'd have to be into heirloom sewing to run into those words.....My wife is, and subscribes to magazines. I'll read anything....

Holee said...

I am know dupioni because I crazy quilt and have used it for it's texture and eye appeal.

Batiste is a fabric I know through my Lancaster Pa. Amish friends who use it for making their prayer caps.

I've read faggoting but couldn't remember what it was and Entredeux I've never heard of.

I guess I'm not as surprised as some when men use female words. I raised 4 boys alone and they had to learn to cook and sew among other household jobs.

Recently my son helped me repair a quilt. We bent over my pinning frame for 60 hours together ripping stitches. I think he can quilt, just doesn't want to admit it!