Hand Embroidered Cuban Family Heirlooms

I come from a family of makers. Seamstresses, knitters, artists, woodworkers, and all around handy-people. I have it on both sides of the family, but it seems especially strong on my mothers side, the Cuban side. My mother is a wonderful artist, when I was a little girl she would doodle the most amazing eyes! She could certainly draw other things too, but eyes were always her go-to sketch. My grandmother, Abuela, could sew very well and made my prom dresses. My great grandmother however, was in a class all her own. She was a seamstress by trade and did the most amazing hand embroidery I've ever seen! She passed away when I was 13, but I was lucky to have grown up with her for those few years, and she and Abuela were the ones that taught me to sew as a child. 

A few years ago Abuela, had to move from her apartment to an assisted living facility. In the process of moving and paring down her belongings I was very fortunate to inherit some amazing heirlooms (at least in my book)! Behold the treasure box of sewing goodies:

I remember this tape measure, the thimble, even the nail file... though I don't understand why it's in her sewing box. I'm pretty sure that's a rug hooking tool up there too, crochet hooks, and of course snips. But this is the boring stuff that only I, and perhaps my cousin Angie (named after my seamstress great-grandmother), would find interesting. The really good stuff was an assortment of clothing and a sampler hand embroidered by my great-grandmother!

However, the mark of good hand embroidery is when the back looks almost as good as the front.

Both my mom and aunt wore this dress as girls, I may have too. All made by hand, possibly an original pattern too.

A close up of the floral motif.

And the inside of the hem

The embroidery on this one has seen better days. I'm sure it was worn by several members of my family.

This one is my favorite. I actually remember wearing this in high school. We have pictures of my mom wearing it too. It's quite threadbare at this point. 

I love the details on the sleeves. I miss wearing this shirt, but if I did now it would probably disintegrate.

Eventually I would like to donate these items to a textile museum or history museum! Or do something else that would properly honor the beauty and history of these garments. They are too threadbare to wear anymore and it just doesn't seem right to leave these items in a box where hardly anyone will get to see them. Actually, if anyone has any ideas as to what I can do with these, how I can best honor my great-grandmothers memory, I'd love to hear them in the comments!