Secret Sylko hoarder

One of my earliest memories is of my mum's sewing table (built by dad) and playing on the floor of her sewing room. When I got dextrous enough, I was allowed to "sort" her thread drawer. She was a seamstress by profession and always had dozens of alterations on the go for various neighbours and friends. I absolutely loved the lazy afternoons of childhood, listening to the musical whirr of mum's Pfaff sewing machine, and "Women's Hour" on the radio followed by "Listen with mother".

Today I have been sewing half a dozen draught excluders for our very draughty home. It has only taken me 3 years! Other projects have got in the way. I got distracted part of the way through the project when my sewing machine spool ran out of thread. I ended up sorting out my sewing threads (two drawers of them!)

I love the names given to the colours, which seem richer and bolder than the synthetic threads of today. You can almost visualise the trendy two piece or daring miniskirt to go with the name.

I am always hunting for a colour I don't have, so fabric fairs have a frisson of "the chase" as a result. As they seldom cost more than a couple of dollars each, I don't feel too guilty collecting!