the Hope Refugee Sewing Project

Sewing for Fun!!

hopesewing — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:17:14 +0000

This year we have had an amazing group of new volunteers. We have had three returning volunteers who assist with the Basic Class and two new volunteers for the Basic Class. We had a great turn out for the new industrial class, there were 5 students. This class is teaching job skills for our clients.

If you are interested in helping with this program we have a few ways for you to get involved.

To support one woman through this five-week course is only$110.00, this includes the new sewing machine that each family receives after completing the course.
We are always in need of sewing notions and fabric.
And finally we are always looking for people willing to share their time, energy and skills with our clients.

Happy New Year!

hopesewing — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:31:01 +0000

We are excited to announce that the Sewing Project will be starting Industrial Sewing Classes!!! this year. We are also starting up classes again on January 21. We of course want to thank all of our amazing dedicated volunteers. As we move forward with this we also want to take a moment to recognize and thank all of the donors that make this program possible, with out your dedication and donations we would not have this empowering program. Not only does the project help refugee men and women learn how to sew it also encourages friendships and English language skills.

We are excited that our open sewing times have been full all year,the students have been learning how to make clothes with patterns. They have also been helping each other to both read the patterns and pronounce the sewing related words correctly in English.

Winter Hats! New Class!

hopesewing — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 19:43:38 +0000

We have expanded our lesson plans this year by replacing the first lesson with a fleece hat. This serves several purposes, first the students get a nice winter hat, second we us our zigzag stitch so the students learn a new stitch and third the hat is a transferable pattern so people were making several different size hats for everyone in their families. We have also added a second Basic class which we have from 3-5pm on Saturdays. By adding this extra class we have been able to graduate 16 students from Basis Class per cycle instead of just 10. we are also looking into starting a industrial sewing machine class. We will be teaching our students how to use the industrial machine that were donated to JRM with the help of two amazing volunteers!

October Graduation!!

hopesewing — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:06:36 +0000

We had a very successful Basic Class Graduation this month. Nine students learned how to sew and received brand new sewing machines, basic notions and a bag of donated material to take home. Every one was very excited. We are excited to be again having monthly basic classes. We welcome your involvement through volunteers or in kind donations, if you want to be involved and are unsure how you could help, we are asking our partners to consider sponsoring a participant this year by proving the cost of a new sewing machine. W e like to teach the student on the same style of machine that we are giving them, which is a Brother sewing machine that costs $90.00

Hope Sewing New Class

hopesewing — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 14:14:50 +0000

Hello I know that it has been a while, but we are back and ready for a new year of sewing!! Basics Classes have begun and we have nine people in our first class this school year. We have also started a new class that meets on Wednesdays where we are learning new and exciting things about sewing such as working with patterns and learning new stitch techniques!! The Wednesday class currently only has two students, but we are enjoying the one on one as it is hard to learn new things when you don’t speak the same language. Well that is all for now I am really looking forward to all of the exciting new things that my year working with this program will teach me!! see you soon.

Another reason to love Fridays

hopesewing — Wed, 26 May 2010 22:54:39 +0000

In the past, the Sewing Project was solely holding classes and group projects on Saturdays. The thought was that this was the day most accessible to refugee sewing students and our volunteer sewing mentors/teachers, since weekdays are typically filled with school, work and family busyness. That has worked well, but has limited us to a maximum of four sewing classes or gatherings per month (since each month typically consists of four Saturdays each). This year, with the Project growing so quickly and with our Basics Sessions (intended for new sewing students and taking place on three consecutive Saturdays) being in full-gear to usher in new sewing students, extra time in the classroom with volunteer teachers has been found wanting.

Desiring to to offer more practice time and more student-teacher interaction, in accordance with the high demand, we recently decided to expand sewing time to some weekdays. The good news– our now every-other week, Friday morning sewing time is a hit! There have been a couple of faithful volunteers coming out every other Friday and five or so sewing students that consistently and happily fill our sewing room with chatter, the hum of machines, and excitement over new skills being developed.

Due to the extra time and smaller class size of these Friday gatherings, students have been afforded the opportunity to learn to make such things as skirts, pillows and pillowcases, light tops, and pants (using a pair of their own pants to make a new pattern). A certain camaraderie unites the regular attendees and everyone is growing in their knowledge and abilities.

One student who has flourished and who loves sewing already has gone home after our times together and has used these same project patterns to create multiple garments. What’s more is that she has also now created other items (various sized bags, for example) modeled after what she has made or after principles she’s learned and used in class. While the teachers think she is soon going to be able to teach a class , this lovely sewing “student” has told us that these projects are completely new to her!

Most of the other “regulars” (regular attendees) are mothers and said they were going to go home and try to make pants and shirts for their children too.

Sewing can be so practical and so empowering! Likewise, Fridays can continue to be much-loved!

Graduates

hopesewing — Wed, 19 May 2010 20:50:04 +0000

Yay for our graduates! They did a great job in the last class (held Saturday, May 1) and these 13 participants have now completed the three-part Basics Session.

Thanks to many generous donations from individuals and Wesleyan Women’s groups, each graduating student received a brand-new sewing machine at the completion of the course. The students were so excited to open up the machine boxes, test out the new machines’ features, and even make machine covers to keep their very own machines clean. (The machine cover project reinforces the importance of the “Machine Care and Maintenance” aspect of this lesson and will help to protect students’ new sewing machines.)

With one of the most enthusiastic groups of students yet, we can only wait to see what these new sewers/sewists will do next!

*The last three gatherings of this season will take place Saturday, May 22nd, Friday, June 4th, and Saturday, June 5th. They will be provided for students that have graduated from the Basics Session throughout this entire year (September through May).

Spring Basics Class 2 (of 3)

hopesewing — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 22:30:01 +0000

We reconvened last Saturday for the second part of the three-part Basics Session with our newest group of sewing students. Students reviewed basic sewing machine parts that they had become acquainted with the week before, as well as basic usage of the sewing machine. One fun activity revisited was the “driving test,” which each student did last week without thread and this week with thread. This is a simple but straightforward way to see progress being made on learning to manage the machine along different turns and curves. (It is basically a piece of paper with lines drawn on it that students are supposed to sew along.)

Students then proceeded to practice these new skills by making a small drawstring bag. The bag is a project that was chosen to help students further their ability to maneuver the machine, as well as fine tune their accuracy and precision in stitching. There are also some steps involved in making the bag (such as putting in the drawstring, finishing off edges at the end of the casing, etc.) that are helpful for students to learn now so that they can easily be applied to future projects that students might even take on on their own. At the same time, the drawstring bag is a very forgiving project when a high amount of precision has not yet been developed, and it is a project that becomes immediately practical; students place all their sewing supplies right into this handy little bag when they finish. (See some of the photos included here.)

We once again had a great time and finished the morning’s class with lots of smiling.

We will gather again this coming weekend to complete the third lesson, thus finishing up this Basics course. Students will complete this class by making sewing machine covers for the new sewing machines they will receive. We anticipate there being lots of joy surrounding the conclusion of Saturday’s class, since not only smiles will send us off. This Saturday, new friends will be proud of each other, and graduates of this Basics session will bear certificates of completion and their new (generously donated) sewing machine. It will be a splendid third class and we look forward to keeping you posted upon its conclusion!

Spring Blossoming

hopesewing — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:23:27 +0000

The coming of Spring has ushered in the next set of Basics classes. With our long and ever-growing waiting list of those interested in participating in the Sewing Project as first-time students, we are very excited to have been able to accommodate thirteen new individuals in this Session!*

Hailing from Burma, Somalia, Nepal, and Nigeria, our enthusiastic new refugee sewing students in this Session bring diversity of backgrounds and experiences into our classroom. For most of these new sewing students, sewing is a completely new skill to develop, even while for a couple of others, sewing is something that they have dabbled with back in their home country (in a factory or small tailoring setting).

One student, for whom sewing is a fresh, new skill to develop, told us that she is particularly motivated to learn how to use a sewing machine so that it might help her to get a job in a factory setting here in the Buffalo area. She had previously applied for a position in a nearby factory that produces medical clothing and supplies, but as she had no prior experience with sewing whatsoever, she did not get the position. The Sewing Project is excited to help equip her with potential vocational skills!

In the first of the three Basics classes, which took place Saturday, April 17, the thirteen new students convened with the volunteer sewing teachers for a productive first class. To hear the languages passed around the room as we all worked together to teach and learn from each other, was to drink in the beauty of our multicultural classroom community. In this classroom, students and teachers alike join together on this common path aimed at becoming a more proficient (and often more passionate) sewer. It always amazes me how students can help teach one other, even while being newbies and/or speaking different first languages from the students next to them. It also amazes me that even these more experienced sewers (our volunteer sewing teachers) tend to point out new things they continue to learn in our classes, often from different techniques and tricks others use. I know that when new refugee sewing students hear and understand these comments from the teachers, they are able to see for themselves that everyone truly is on the learning journey together. How great to come together and work together! This unifying effect brings something known to mind; does “out of many, one” ring a bell?

At Saturday’s class, our volunteer sewing teachers, as usual, made everything work like clockwork. (Thank you so much for all you do, Ladies!) We got through the first lesson and students were able to make their first– and very practical– project; a pincushion.** They will meet again this Saturday (April 24) and next Saturday (May 1) to complete this Spring Basics Session. More updates will come.

May Spring continue to blossom in so many beautiful and graceful ways!

*The Basics Session consists of three consecutive Saturday classes. The dates for the Spring 2010 Basics Session are April 17, 24, and May 1.

**Enjoy the photos!

It’s time to celebrate once again : New graduates and new sewing machines

hopesewing — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 15:30:19 +0000

The third and final class of the Winter Basics Session took place on Saturday, February 6. After three consecutive weeks of the Basics classes, eight faithful sewing students graduated from our program. They proudly received certificates of completion and were offered their very own sewing machines, thanks to a huge initiative by many churches to raise funds for sponsorship of sewing students.*

Everyone seemed to have a great time putting together the sewing machine covers, which was the final project of this Session. Our wonderful volunteer Sewing Teachers encouraged students about their progress and, thanks to a sewing “driving test” students took at each of these three classes, were able to actually show students the difference in their sewing from even the first class held in January. Some students have shown a great aptitude for sewing and all students have learned new information/skills, promising great things to come as they continue to learn more.

It was amazing to have wonderful, reliable sewing machines to work with in class and then excellent machines to send home with students for their continued ventures in sewing. Students’ confidence in sewing will not be stifled now by tired sewing machines; students will instead be encouraged by all they can do with just the “basics” that they know and these straightforward, easy-to-use, new sewing machines! This could not be more thrilling!

*The Women’s Ministry of the WNY District of Wesleyan Churches has generously taken on the Sewing Project and Sewing Student Sponsorship as a yearly project to support. Because of their thoughtful and generous efforts, funds have been raised to sponsor up to 17 new sewing students this year, including the eight that have just graduated from the Basics Session. Our thanks cannot be spoken loudly enough to all of you for your support and gracious work!