I sewed a great deal in my twenties, making clothes for myself and my daughter, but that was the extent of my crafting ability. Shortly after I became a single parent, and struggling financially, I found a kit to make a Santa using something called latch hook. While I had never even heard of this technique, the kit was inexpensive and I wanted some decoration for our first Christmas alone.
Latch hook turns out to be quite easy, just using a metal hook, mesh canvas and many short pre-cut pieces of yarn that are looped through the mesh. This canvas even had color coding, leaving no doubt which loop went where. The directions on the box were easy to follow, and I created the wall hanging pictured above. I went on to do more latch hook projects, mainly pillows, until I left the craft for more challenging embroidery and counted cross-stitch.
Each year, as I hang this Santa in its place on the inside of our back door, I think back 41 years to that Christmas. I had needed to create a life from scratch. With $20 I scrounged the second hand store near by for ornaments. My daughter had her picture taken with Santa at day care and mounted in a gift frame for me. We didn’t have much, but we were safe and warm. It was a Merry Christmas in the end after all.
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Aw so sweet that you still have this crafted Santa! I remember back in the day we all sewed our own clothes.
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I enjoyed the very very short skirts in the 60’s since they were easy to make!
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Such a sweet, happy memory!
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Thanks.
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Sweet story. I love it. Merry Christmas! ~MB
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Thanks.
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That’s such a nice Christmas decor Elizabeth. Good thing you were able to save it all these years.
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It meant a lot to me.
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A lovely Santa picture, Susan. I used to do embroidery and applique when I was at school and in my early twenties. I also made some lovely pictures.
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I took up cross stitch after I no longer had chauffeur duty for kids. Maybe you will take it up again.
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This resonated with me Elizabeth…I too had one of those Christmas’ 21 years ago with my youngest daughter.
I remember the latch hook crafts too!
Merry Christmas,
Jennifer
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Glad that you remember those days too.
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I used to make all kinds of “crafty” things when I was younger. And some of my own clothes as well. Somewhere along the way I lost my patience. It must be this hurried-up culture we live in now.
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Also making things now usually costs more than buying them. That was not the case years ago.
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I think those simpler times when anything “extra” was a struggle” were the best. Didnt feel like it back then, but we truly appreciated what we had and each other.
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I agree. I certainly appreciate that $20 for decorations.
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