Making Covered Hangers

When I was a young girl I made a lot of covered hangers. My sister and I would sit on the deck at my grandparents' cottage, sheltered from the hot sun by the tall trees, and make hangers. There was one summer when we spent weeks on the couch at home making hangers and listening to Shania Twain. And there was even a time when we got a 'contract' to make blue and white hangers for a couple who was in the business of making and selling t-shirts decorated with bubbly fabric paint.

I remember my Oma telling me that making hangers was a good thing because you were making something 'practical and useful'.

I remember taking the bus with my sister to Woolco, a department store long closed up, to buy 'hanger material' and being so excited when new colors were found.

I remember watching movies with my Mom and us each making a few hangers at the same time.

I remember racing my sister to see who could finish a hanger faster.

So many memories around this simple craft.

Every so often I make another hanger. I search through my stash of material, some leftover from years ago and some given to me by my Oma as she cleans out her closets, select my colors and go. No matter how much time has passed, my fingers know exactly how to move. It is like riding a bicycle: once you learn, you never forget.

And I don't forget. Instead I feel the summer breeze off the lake, see threads and fuzz covering my lap, hear "Any Man of Mine" by Shania Twain, remember the heavy bags full of fabric that we hauled home from the bus stop.

And it is wonderful and amazing to me that all these memories are wrapped up in the simple craft of braiding nylon fabric around wire hangers.