Make fun of insoles

It's the Mid-Autumn Festival and the full moon.

In our rural area, according to the custom, on the eve of Mid-Autumn Festival, the new son-in-law who hasn't passed the door will visit relatives at the old father's house, bringing moon cakes and roast chicken, fruit snacks and two bags full of gifts.

Usually I go in the evening, but the Mid-Autumn Festival is just in time for busy farming. If the old father-in-law has farm work at home, the new son-in-law has to go early. You're welcome. He will work in the fields directly with his family and do what he should do. This is a good time for my father-in-law to visit his new son-in-law. Can you work? Can you work? I can see it in my eyes.

At this time, the girls either cook at home, cook a few dishes and warmly entertain the new son-in-law; Or follow them to the fields, shy, and occasionally get together to say a few words. Evening is a good time for the big girl to have a private meeting with her new son-in-law.

The new son-in-law will take out the prepared gift money from his trouser pocket, ranging from 3200 to several thousand, but that is only a very small amount. The big girl will take out colorful insoles embroidered in the slack season from the cupboard and give them back to the new son-in-law as gifts, which will make everyone very happy.

Don't underestimate this insole, it is also a way for the husband-in-law to inspect his daughter-in-law. Whether the sewing is good or not will directly affect their position in the husband-in-law's family.

First, make fun of it.

The process of making embroidered insoles is not simple. The first process is sewing.

At ordinary times, my mother finds out the old clothes, broken sheets and quilts that can't be worn at home, cuts them into large or small or long or square pieces, washes them and folds them neatly. On a sunny day, I cooked a big pot of corn grits in the morning, which was sticky and delicious. The whole family couldn't finish it, and the rest was just for fun. If you don't use corn grits, you can also cook them with white flour.

Tear down a door, or use a big kitchen board, brush it clean, paste a layer of corn paste first, and then paste a clean cloth layer by layer. Five layers of embroidered insoles are basically enough, and only three layers are needed for uppers.

After being pasted layer by layer, it's time to put it in the sun. If you really can't bask for a day, you can put it on the kang and bake it slowly. Dry clothes and take a whole piece from the door or chopping board for later use.

Second, cut shoes and stick new cloth.

When the cloth is dry, it's time to cut the insole. What size shoes the new son-in-law should wear has been inquired, either from the matchmaker or when they meet occasionally. Find the right size sole, put on your coat and cut it open with scissors. What is cut is called a bone. After cutting to size, the next process will have a certain technical content. Cut it with a new white twill cloth or a new red twill cloth, which is bigger than the ribs. Then stick a circle of paste around the bone, stick the cut twill on the bone, smooth it, dry it in the sun, and the bottom will be paved.

These jobs are generally dominated by mothers. Some girls with good skills can do it by themselves under the guidance of their mothers.

Third, draw patterns and embroider them.

Embroidered insoles have many patterns. In general, there are several pattern books circulating in the village, some of which are created by themselves. You can draw them as you like, and they look good. Some designs are sold in the market, and they are also very beautiful. On the insole, not only flowers can be embroidered, but also artistic words can be embroidered, such as "flowers are everywhere", such as "friendship lasts forever", such as "everlasting", such as "a hundred years of harmony", all of which are entrusted with people's beautiful expectations and yearning.

I remember that Niang was an expert in painting insole flowers. When a pair of white or bright red insoles arrived in her hand, depending on the size and shape of the insoles, she wanted to draw at the same time, either a blooming peony or a smiling pomegranate, and it was successful at one time, and there would be no mistakes in drawing or erasing. The patterns drawn by my mother look good just by looking at the pictures. If you draw a pattern from a picture book, anyone can do it. Mom is only responsible for creation. No matter far or near, during the slack season, older girls and younger wives will come to you, and mom will let them go back happily with satisfactory patterns.

As long as there are new tricks, they will spread from one village to another, and even to other villages through relatives.

Drawing patterns and embroidering insoles is a time-consuming technical procedure.

With the mode, wiring is also very important. Wiring depends on personal preference. Some are brightly colored and some are strong; Some are thick and some are thin.

During the slack season, or when it rains, several older girls sit together, twittering about whose new son-in-law looks good, whose new son-in-law can talk, and what jokes the new son-in-law made when he came to visit relatives, while embroidering insoles. Affection and honey are condensed in one thread. Thinking about the excitement of the new son-in-law getting the embroidered insole is long, but full of sweetness.

Embroidery is very particular. Thread the thread with a small needle and embroider it stitch by stitch along the edge of the pattern. Pure hand-made, exquisite workmanship, the embroidered flowers are delicate and charming, like real ones, without any traces of strokes, and very flat. The stitches on the back of the insole are very thin and regular.

? Fourth, back cover, run a few laps on the sewing machine.

After the flowers or characters on the insole are embroidered, the next process is the back cover. It is also made of white twill or red twill and cut into a circle larger than the insole. This time, you can't stick it with paste, but sew this layer of cloth and insole together with a slightly larger needle, which just covers the embroidered needle foot on the back of insole.

After sewing, the last process is left, which is to make the embroidered insole more durable, not afraid of washing and not deformed. Run the insole a few times with a sewing machine, and it's finished, more perfect.

Sweat-absorbent, wear-resistant, pure cotton and hand-embroidered insoles are ready.

? Five, gifts, affection

At that time, the betrothal was entirely based on the orders of parents and the words of matchmakers. After the engagement, there are few opportunities to meet each other. There are more times to meet, some people will gossip, and the Mid-Autumn Festival has created a gorgeous dating opportunity for them.

For those new son-in-law who visit relatives at night, especially for the first time, parents usually arrange a colleague or elder who is several years older than the new son-in-law to avoid saying the wrong thing and doing the wrong thing and ruining relatives. The girl's family prepared dining tables here, and also invited uncles to accompany them as a sign of solemnity. The new son-in-law sat symbolically for a while and then slipped away. What did he do? Go talk to the guy's room.

At that time, men and women met, but now it is not so open. Although we are engaged, we just chat and shake hands. Asking for insoles is an essential part of a new son-in-law. The girls shyly took out the embroidered insoles from the cupboard and handed them over. The new son-in-law is as sweet as honey when she gets such feedback. Some new son-in-law are cheeky and can pester them to take two more pairs home, which is the capital to show off in front of family and friends.

With the development of the times, this kind of pure hand-embroidered insole is rare, and this traditional craft is about to be lost. Nowadays, insoles are all machined and mass-produced. Although some of them are beautiful, I always feel that there is no friendship in them.