Pioneer women unite

[Marcy]

Goats' milk soap is fabulous! I've only purchased a few bars here and there but my skin has never been so soft.

[Marcy]

Does anyone use a treadle sewing machine? I have my grandma's (actually it was my great-grandma's) but it needs a new belt. I learned to sew on it when I was little, but it's been a long time.

[bridgierapa]

Nope Marcy, I've got an elna. I had an old singer with a large number of cogs you would insert for fancy stitches which must've been made long ago but I traded up years ago.

[preparedmama]

earth2 - i live in the middle of a rougher part of downtown in a midsized city with pain in the a$$ neighbours on each side - you can do it all except for raising the animals. you can make soap in the backyard or in the garage...everything else is safe to do inside.

you can make jam, can etc..i do it on a small stove and have no issues...dont dispair!

bridgie i so know what you mean about backwork. i swear sometimes i am more obssessed about that than what is on the front

[Campbarlow]

You guys all have me out of breath! I am amazed and truly happy to know that there are people like us out there! I have been reading up on all of this stuff for so long, and it is good to know we ladies can handle whatever comes along! Any of you in VA>? I REALLY need to learn textiles...Knitting etc...I have books but I get so impatient. I would rather cook a nine course meal over a firepit for 20 hungry guys than knit one purl two...LOL. No one has ever sat with me to do it though. If any of you are in Va, we should try to set up a camping week and share knowledge!
Thank you all for...well, being you!

[bridgierapa]

Hey campbarlow - a long and possibly quite mad shot, but if I wanted to learn to knit, I'd go to the local medical centre. Okay I admit at mine they sell free range eggs so maybe I'm completely off base but old people are there, and old people know these things and are sad for their passing. There's bound to be a women's institute somewhere or group of older ladies who meet to do crafts and such who would happily teach you. I'm on the other side of the world otherwise I'd visit!

[Marcy]

That's a fabulous idea, Bridgie! My grandmother is over 90, blind, and can STILL knit! I bet there are plenty of older women in nursing homes who would love the company and the opportunity to pass down a lot skill. Also, knitting has become quite the hip thing (I love the fact that I started before it was cool), so check your local coffee shop for a knit-together.

[go player]

One cool thing a person a can do is to make their own bio diesel/fry grease fuel.

You can siphon off that veggie il to make soap too.

I typically like to use olive oil so the stores I go collect used oil from use lots of it. that way I know some of the used oil is olive.

I use tangerine essential oil and throw it right in with the Red Devil Lye and the oil.

What comes out is an extremely hard, long lasting soap. It has to air dry for a week or two. the lye can be extremely caustic if used too soon. Air drying helps neutralize.

[Ezra]

I really enjoy knitting,ever since my daughter was born and I managed to knit her a pram suit(trousers and top),I was so pleased I could keep her warm myself with just some needles and a ball of woolI have made jumpers,socks and blankets.I also plan to buy some wool every time I go to the shop,its cheap and I want to have a stash of it so we will never be short of a warm top

[Purdy Bear]

I can knit, make my own clothes, scarves, hats, handbags, shopping bags (totes) and Iv tried making gloves. Iv also made dog coats. Im doing a Cross Stitch German Sherpherd at the moment, but thats the second one Iv done (I inherited a lot from my mother).

I do English (paper template) patchwork and quilting and finished a King size, double, singles, lap quilts and various pet sized ones. Iv also made a shopping bag, and cushion cover out of patchwork.

I can cook from scratch and have experience with rice/soya/rye flours.

I cut my Dads hair, but Im no hairdresser.

I have had dogs all my life, so know a bit about their behaviour and training. Im doing research into Schutzund training at the moment. I can cut claws (including dew claws), trim beards, eyes, and tuffties on legs. I also have experience with cats.

I was First Aid qualified for 6 years (now lapsed), but look after my Diabetic Dads various injuries (grazes etc) when needed.

Through photography, Iv learnt a lot of UK flora and forna. Its very good for making you see things as they are and not as you perceive them (including camouflage colour etc).

My area of expertees is Metaphysical studies (ie meditation, psychic, intuition etc), and have an interest in Survival Psychology. Through intuition practices I have improved my awareness and very little gets by me these days.

I can draw, sing, play the orchestral flute (learning to play the keyboard).

Got lots more to learn. Id love to know of a good soap that can be used on really sensitve soap, to make handbags from soft leather and shoes and try gloves again. I also need to do the food preserving bit. I cant crochette at the moment, it looks like total gobbledegook at the moment.

[go player]

Is worth far more than ones who can't make a decent meal, sew a hole up, or make halloween costumes for their kids.

Costume crafting is great fun, but alas I have NO patience for a sewing machine.

Tiddly, fiddly bits of work, piece work, etc.. I just can't do it.

But still, I am all eyes for any woman with these skills.

They just dont make em like they used to.

[caltrop]

I'm not all that crafty but I can handle a sewing machine for repairs and cook for myself. I grew up for the most part in the country except for that start in the city.

I once had a pharmacist tell me 'YOU CAN'T DO THAT!' I laughed . It was about making your own eye wash, something my mom & her mom did for years. There's nothing to it, a little salt & some boric acid powder in water and boil it and you have sterile eye wash.

I've been trying like to get another job in engineering but 'GIRLS CAN'T DO THAT!' Yah, right... I can run a milling machine with the best of them and I can even use a screwdriver . I can see why my sister switched from engineering to lab work; engineering & shop work is pretty much male dominated.

I can even drive a tractor. It's not that different than a riding lawnmower, it's just a lot bigger.

The government likes us to be dependent on someone else and not knowing what to do for whatever. The government is trying to take it all away so we can't do it for ourselves anymore. Some changes are good but there's some stuff that just isn't right; one example is that it is getting hard to get vaccinations for animals, 'THEY' want you to call in a VET to give a simple injection - 'NOPE, YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THAT!'

Then there's the latest scare that 'THEY' are going to outlaw ammunition. Sure you can own a gun you just can't shoot it anymore.

Oh well, I was born in the wrong time. I like some modern inventions like this computer but I don't LOVE it and I can live without it!

[BlueRidgeGal]

I've been told that I'm a throwback, a pioneer, Pollyanna, old-timey, old-fashioned, but it hasn't stopped me!!

We are homesteading and debt-free. We live on one income and it's more than enough to enjoy living well.

I've been a quilter for more than 30 years. I don't buy patterns because I learned how to draft everything with a compass and a ruler. I have owned my own quilting business (mostly selling hand dyed fabrics) and have been a regional fiber arts/quilting teacher, but don't have a need to work any longer.

I have been sewing since I was 8 -- no doubt because my mother loved to sew. Then I began making all of my own clothing. Now I don't need much in the way of clothing, so most of the sewing is for purses, wallets, cloth grocery bags, and other home items like curtains or pillows. Or quilts, of course!

We raise most of our food, organically, so if we aren't eating fresh, it is preserved. I love canning, drying foods for use later in the year. I have a fully-functioning greenhouse, so I grow a few edibles during our winter season. We also have hardy greens growing during the fall and winter months (under protective cover).

This year, I want to learn to make my own bar soap. I've been making laundry detergent for years, but never had the need to learn basic bar soap making because a friend would give me some of her soaps. She has now moved, so I need to learn this craft.

I'm planning to learn some basic basketmaking this winter, too -- using oak splints. The need to learn this craft is due to the need for some more produce baskets. Since we have an ample supply of white oak trees on our property, it made sense to use oak for the baskets. I'm pretty excited to learn the basics of this old skill!!

I love to garden, quilt, enjoy working cross-stitched samplers (mostly reproductions from the 1800s), sewing, cooking, enjoying nature.

I agree with Caltrop about the ammo issue....that's why reloading and making your own bullets is important.

There are some wonderfully talented and skilled gals on this thread. Please, let's keep our dialogue running, perhaps with some specialty posts on certain crafts/hobbies/domestic skills.

The way I see it, American society is just now waking up, realizing money is not everything, but skills to keep a home running smoothly are!

[Storm62]

Great post!!! I am definitely a wanna-be pioneer woman. I love to sew, quilt, can, garden, make soap (although I cheat and bought lye in bulk to last me a lifetime), just finished butchering a deer, raise beef, chickens, goats. I can milk our Jerseys, make butter and cheese. I got some beeswax yesterday so I can try my hand at candle dipping. I also know how to tear down my handgun and clean it. Just learned this last week. We also grind all our own wheat and corn for our bread. Still need to learn to bake and cook over fire. It's so nice to find so my other ladies who enjoy these skills. Sometimes people look at me like I'm crazy to do these things.

[craftymama]

Originally Posted by Marcy

Does anyone use a treadle sewing machine? I have my grandma's (actually it was my great-grandma's) but it needs a new belt. I learned to sew on it when I was little, but it's been a long time.

You can get a belt from Lehman's

[Storm62]

Originally Posted by bridgierapa

Hi, What a brilliant thread! I've never seen it before...

My Great grandmother used to judge the Farmers' institute needlework comps so Mum taught us all that rather early in a fairly fascist way. You'd show her your lovely little hollie hobbie crewel pic, she'd turn it over and look at the back. LOL! So womanly pursuits:

sewing incl patterndrafting; maching & hand
Crewel, cross, various embroidery techniques, quilting (old style template & new machine) my favourite is crewel. By a country mile but I'm not finding many patterns
Crochet, knitting, rugmaking (rag - very easy! and latchhook - a bit of a waste of time...) I'm learning spinning but can't weave properly at all yet. My spinning is, um, overwound and lumpy. "Good for socks!" says the friend who is teaching me. "They'll never wear out!" (Cos nobody will ever wear them, them being so lumpy...)
Cooking, baking, bottling (or as you call it canning), pickling, preserves.
Cleaning, gardening,

And the 'ladies' pursuits of course: a little bit of piano, half a skerrick of guitar, reasonable hand at five hundred. Setting the Table, Drawing the Curtains, Picking up After People and Arranging Furniture. Lol. Can do a mean Clean Out the Pantry too...

Things I Cannot Do Yet (and maybe Never.)

Have never tried alcohol production although my stepfather used to do vodka from potatoes and cider from apples, not to mention feijoa wine;
killing sheep although my uncle & stepfather used to but it involves slitting their throats... can butcher one though (anyone can, sheep are easy.)
Cheese-making though I'm interested.

I can manage basic animal care although very, very rudimentary. Couldn't kill the rabbits so they had to go (in the freezer but the kill guy thought it was funny.) I'm learning with the animals; currently psyching myself up to 'dock' the little boys dangly bits and tails. Yes I know, weak! Most of you are probably laughing at me but it makes me wince!

Have chickens, garden, 3 2tooth ewes I was going to breed but they're too leery so are going in the freezer, 2 baby lambs, 1 baby calf who thinks he's a baby lamb, a steer that ran away living till freezer time down the road at a cost of 'a couple of decent bottles of wine'. Have a 3 or 4yo orchard starting to kick into action now and the ley I put in last autumn is coming up now. Full of poppies - so pretty!

Appear to be fairly useless at fruit tree pruning but that's a learned art Iguess. I've never started an orchard before, have only ever maintained established trees.

So that's me.

I tried my hand at spinning, too. Not something I want to have to depend on. I do have a small table top loom that I love. Don't feel bad about not being able to kill the rabbits and such, I couldn't do it either. I couldn't even chop the head off the chickens.

[sara77]

Hi everyone! I really thought I had posted in this thread but I can't find it. Sorry if I posted this before.

I don't know what got me started, it seemed to have began about two years ago. Here is what has happened since:

I had a garden. It went horribly, I live in a river bottom and my daughter and I would weed for an hour and only get one square foot cleared. It was the thickest greenest grass I've ever seen in my yard. I didn't do it last year but I am definitely giving it a try in the spring.

I took the hunter's safety course and went hunting although I missed my husband got 9 and we butchered them all. I'm almost out of meat. I learned how to process the meat and make jerky this year, I cook a lot with venison.

I planted many fruit trees, 6 are doing well but my nut trees were a loss. I've got two persimmons coming in the mail to be added this fall, I will probably add an orchard of 10 to the back of our property as well. I planted rhubarb with my flowers.

I started my first bee colony, we'll see how they do over the winter. I plan on adding 3 or 4 hives to the one I've got.

I've got a full pantry, I'm hoping to get a reloader for the high power shells and a wood stove. I love making homemade laundry soap but it doesn't work so well on my husband's things, he gets very dirty at work so I use it for things like towels and sheets.

We did buy our old cozy farmhouse with 2 acres and we are fixing it up as we earn. I'm not the type of person that can have everything at once and take on that kind of debt.

I think what really helped me was going to bible study and realizing that I don't have to impress anyone with my fancy car or have all the finest things. There are better things to do if I were to have an excess of money. To have more security in life I can make do without or make it myself. I haven't had a car payment in almost a year and I doubt that I ever will again. It's very liberating to realize I don't have to be a slave.

[Estrie]

My first post! Ahhh! I can sew by hand and learned on a treadle machine. I do embrodery, can cook from scratch without a recipe, can, freeze and dry, make jams. I can butcher a deer, pig, cow, squirrel, rabbit not so good with birds. I know wildcrafting and making herbal medicines, salves and such from herbs. I can garden and fish and shoot, but can't see as well at long distances, so yell out early! I am just learning how to tat, I know card-weaving well enough to teach it and I can take care of babies and little ones very well. I know basic first aid and have to take a disaster preparedness course soon for work (I am overseen by the Red Cross). I can mechanic a bit, I can ride a horse and a motorcycle. I have played a bit with a bow and arrow, but can't really hit anything. I cannot whistle.

[tadbitangelny]

Well compared to some of you gals I need to start learning but I do know how to handle power tools and hand tools (my boyfriend and I built our own 1500 sq ft log cabin). I love to garden and froze or canned everything out of our 500 sq foot garden, next year it gets doubled in size. I just made butter for the first time last week and I can't even begin to tell you how good that felt. I can sew, and crochet even though I haven't done it in years. I can also go into our woods and tell you what are edible plants and what are not. I have on my learn list- making cheese, basket weaving, and raising chickens.

[Beans4all]

Being a Newbie to the thought of how to survive, I completely forgot about Soap being a necessity! Can we survive without it for awhile? I'd rather stock up on it now instead of making it!