09/22/2026
This is a wonderful story!
What does sewing do for you?
Today, in honor of Teach the World to Sew Day, we are highlighting some of Edith Roosevelt’s sewing practices.
-Just as TR could be found always with a book, Edith had her sewing. Their eldest son Ted wrote in his book, All in the Family, that evenings in the North Room meant “Father, a book under one arm, poking [the fire] with a long iron trident, Mother sitting sewing in a corner of the sofa by a lamp.”
-Edith often sewed for charity. An article appearing in the July 16, 1902, edition of The New York Times called her “one of the most industrious of the needlewomen who make clothing for the poor.”
-Edith even used sewing to problem solve. During stays at Sagamore Hill, rather than doing laundry there, Edith found it more convenient to send it out. However, much of it failed to come back in, having been delivered to one of the other local Roosevelt families. To differentiate her laundry, Edith started sewing the monogram “R of S” (Roosevelts of Sagamore) on items. With designs ranging from the more simple to the elaborate, these labels ensured a safe return.
-And sewing was something Edith passed on, teaching her daughter Ethel how “to sew and to enjoy it,” according to former White House executive clerk William H. Crook. Outside of her family, Edith aided the Little Sunbeam Sewing School in Oyster Bay, which promoted “the instruction of girls in needlework and the endeavor to make them thoughtful of others.”
As Crook remembered, “Mrs. Roosevelt is an exquisite needlewoman.” Just as Teach the World to Sew Day and National Sewing Month in September “recogni[zes] . . . the importance of home sewing to our Nation,” sewing is an equally important part of Edith’s lasting legacy as a wife, mother, First Lady, and global citizen. So in honor of Edith, get out there and sew!
For those of you who do sew, we’d love if you dropped in the comments below what your favorite project has been.
