Linda Holliday'sExcellent Clothespin Bags

Dateline: 18 February 2014

This is the clothespin bag I bought from Linda Holliday.  
It has Classic American clothespins in it.  
Note the heavy wire hanging hook, the inner liner... 
and the nifty pocket.

(click pictures for larger views)

Linda Holliday is a downright talented person. So is her husband, Darren. They have a homestead-based business in Missouri called Well WaterBoy Products, where they make and sell things like the remarkable WaterBuck pump, durable well buckets (one of which I own and blogged about HERE), a pedal-powered PTO, and SolarBuck plans. 

Linda (a.k.a., Mrs. WaterBuck) writes Her own Blog, writes articles for the American Preppers Network, and blogs for Mother Earth News. She is also a cartoonist. And she crafts Homestead Sewn Preps on her White Family Rotary treadle sewing machine (circa 1914). That’s a whole lotta work and creativity!

I happen to own an old White treadle sewing machine myself. I bought it at an estate auction in 1981, back when my wife and I were just-married and living in a little apartment. I had a real interest in old tools—tools that would work if the power went off. Yes, I was thinking about such things way back then. 

The sewing machine had been well cared for and worked perfectly. I used it one winter to make some Teddy bears. And I made little plaid Pendleton shirts for the Teddy bears. I love that sewing machine. It's a mechanical marvel. I haven’t used it in 30 years. It’s packed away in a storage shed. But I digress.

It was a little overcast when I took this picture, but you get the idea.
The bag hangs right on the clothesline. But, as the previous
picture shows, it can also be set on a flat surface. The stiff wire
around the top holds the bag open and the clothespins are accessible.

I decided to buy one of Linda’s clothespin bags for my wife. Linda calls them Granny’s Clothespin Bags because they are modeled after the clothespin bags her mother made when she was little. Linda’s clothespin bags are made using recycled fabrics (like I did with those little Pendleton Teddy bear shirts I made). I think they’re very reasonably priced for a handcrafted product.

The bag arrived and I gave it to Marlene. She looked it over really well and was impressed. In fact, these are Marlene’s exact words (I wrote them down) “Wow. She did a really nice job on this.”  

My wife knows good sewing when she sees it. She told me she learned to sew back when she was around 10 years old. Her mother taught her and then she learned some in home economics class in school (do they still teach sewing in the government schools?). Marlene says that she made a LOT of her own clothes when she was younger. For Christmas of 1976 (the year I was going to school in Vermont) she sewed me a patchwork quilt. That was real special (and I bought her a hope chest that Christmas). She also made me a Frostline sleeping bag to use when I lived in a tent in Vermont during the summer of '77. I sleep in that sleeping bag every winter, under the bed covers (have done so for over 30 years). The zipper doesn’t work anymore so it’s something like a blanket. But I digress, again.

Oh, one more memory... Marlene was in 4H and she sewed different projects for 4H competitions. I was in 4H for a short while too. I remember, before I really knew Marlene, being at a 4H fair where people were bringing in their different projects and putting them on display. Marlene was there with her mother. I was across the room watching her, with interest, if you know what I mean. Later, when she and her mother left the room, I went over and looked at her sewing project. I think there was some sort of cooking project there with her name on it too. I thought to myself.... “hmmm, she sews, she cooks, and she’s cute.” That was powerfully appealing to me. :-)

Anyway, back to Linda Holliday’s excellent clothespin bag.... It is 7” in diameter and 12” tall, with a stiff wire hoop sewn into the top. The wire hoop has a hanging hook. The bag is triple-thick, which is to say, there is a double inner lining. So it’s almost like three clothespin bags sewn together! Then there is that outside pocket—a very nice touch.

By the way, I asked Linda where she learned to sew and she wrote back...

"My mother began teaching me to sew at about age 11 on my great-grandmother's Singer treadle.  Before that, I could only use a needle and thread—until my mother was brave enough to let me sew on her machine.  As I recall, my first project was a Raggedy Ann doll, and I only sewed through my finger once.  

My mother never had an electric sewing machine until she was almost 50.  In my opinion, even with all their fancy stitches, a typical electric sewing machine for home use cannot compare to the strength and reliability of the old treadles."

I suspect that a lot of women reading this can relate to learning to sew from their mother and the superiority of a good treadle sewing machine. I asked Linda if she sewed in home economics class in high school. I figured she probably did because I think it was required (back in the day), though not for boys. Most of the boys took wood-shop. I made a paper towel holder that my mother cherished and used for the rest of her life. Here’s what Linda said about home economics class…

"Funny you asked about Home Ec.  Yes, I took the class, and sewing was  my favorite segment.  We lived in the country and my mother didn't drive, so I had to rely on a neighbor woman to go to the fabric store for the materials for our first sewing project -- a smock top.  I bet Marlene remembers those.  They weren't figure-flattering at all.  But I suspect we had to learn to make one because the project offered the opportunity to learn to gather, sew on decorative binding and match seams, etc.  Anyway, my neighbor picked out red rickrack and Raggedy Ann fabric.  The fabric had a white background and then colorful, cartoonish Raggedy Anns all over it.  It would've been cute if I was 6, but I was in high school.  I wore it anyway, and even showed it to my neighbor.  She was quite pleased, as I recall."

My Granny’s Clothespin Bag will hold 100 of my handcrafted Classic American clothespins. They are beefier than the imported, junk clothespins you get from the dollar-store. Linda says the bags will hold a couple hundred of those el-cheapos.

I've been a carpenter most of my life. Hanging tools off my belt is
real convenient for me (and clothespins are tools). So I was
pleased to discover that I could hang a "Granny's Clothespin Bag" 
on my hip. But I won't be doing this very often because
Marlene tells me I don't  hang clothes right. In fact, it bothers
her to see a load of laundry that I've hung on the line. :-)

Hey, if I was still doing carpentry work, I think I could find some
practical uses for these bags besides just holding clothespins!

I know you shouldn’t leave a clothespin bag outdoors in the weather, but what about when it’s not being used? Linda told me she hangs hers on a hook inside a closet door. I like that... a place for everything, and everything in its place.

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A Sad But True Story From Linda Holliday: 

"I stopped in a Walmart recently just to check the quality and price of their clothespin bags. I couldn't find them so I asked an employee, a woman of about 60. She said they no longer carry them. She said customers would ask her, "What's a clothespin bag?"

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I'm curious… Do any of you reading this sew? Where did you learn to sew? Did you take Home Economics in school? Do you use a treadle sewing machine? 

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One last thing. I want to make it clear that I purchased this clothespin bag and I am not getting any money for recommending it here. I just think it’s a real nice handcrafted product and I like to support any entrepreneurial home business that makes real nice down-to-earth products.

And while I’m on this matter of recommendations, I want to let it be known that I have never taken money for any product review or recommendation on this blog… unless, that is, you click on a link that takes you to Amazon.com. When you do that, and make a purchase, I get a little commission on the sale. If you’re curious, it amounts to around $200 a year.