A charming custom
Dec. 17th, 2010 02:20 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stitchwhichWhile I've been sewing, I've been mulling over a charming custom that I picked up somewhere in my childhood and cannot think of where or which culture originated it. I had a strong Southern Baptist/Mormon/Catholic influence in my early years (two families and a series of live-in babysitters), as well as the Scottish-influenced culture of the Pacific Northwest, not to mention the English & French. Oh, and a set of Grandparents who were German. And I read - a lot. An excessive amount. So it could have been through a book, too.
Okay, with all of that, the custom is to make layette items for a first-time mother. The idea is that when the items are made by her female friends of childbearing age or proven childbearing ability (grandmothers), the time each spends is 'credited' towards the mother-to-be's labour hours. So along with easing her financial cost her female tribe members (clan, friends, kinship group of relatives or claimed relation) also eased her coming travail.
Over the years I've always felt driven to hand-make things for my expectant friends in addition to purchasing items. But where, I ask, did the custom come from? I'll be darned if I can remember where I picked it up. It was firmly established long before I was out of HIgh School, so I know it wasn't during my travels with the Navy.
Does anyone else recognise this bit of folkloric magic?
Okay, with all of that, the custom is to make layette items for a first-time mother. The idea is that when the items are made by her female friends of childbearing age or proven childbearing ability (grandmothers), the time each spends is 'credited' towards the mother-to-be's labour hours. So along with easing her financial cost her female tribe members (clan, friends, kinship group of relatives or claimed relation) also eased her coming travail.
Over the years I've always felt driven to hand-make things for my expectant friends in addition to purchasing items. But where, I ask, did the custom come from? I'll be darned if I can remember where I picked it up. It was firmly established long before I was out of HIgh School, so I know it wasn't during my travels with the Navy.
Does anyone else recognise this bit of folkloric magic?
