It’s the start of Sewtember next week at the Raglan Community House – a month where keen sewists or wannabes get to stitch everything from cushion covers to coffee cup holders and pin cushions to pot holders.
Not only that but embroidery, applique, patchwork, Japanese sashiko and more will be tackled on each of the designated Learn to Sew Thursdays. Plus there’s a Sewtember Saturday especially for repurposing those old jeans – mending, patching, whatever it takes.
All free and with the expert guidance of a few old hands who are happy to pass on their skills.
Sewtember’s all about recycling and repurposing fabrics, says longtime sewist Trish Searle. She and Pauline Abrahams have been teaching regular Learn to Sew classes in the basement of the Community House for the past 18 months, courtesy of a Waikato District Council waste minimisation grant and with support from the local budget service.
Now they want to ramp things up a bit by offering for Sewtember even more inventive ways to get people stitching, and encourage good old-fashioned sustainability along the way.
Fabrics are either donated or come from op shops around town, like Kaahu’s Nest up at Whaingaroa Recycling Centre, Trish says.
In all the group has eight sewing machines, plus overlockers, to work on. The first few machines were borrowed from Whaingaroa Environment Centre after they’d been used for all that bag-making during the Plastic Bag Free Raglan initiative which, in turn, coincided with the Covid pandemic when reusable options were being explored.
Other machines have since been donated and each is fondly named after its previous owner, laughs Pauline. All sewing machines are serviced once a year, fulfilling the group’s obligation to its generous funders.
The regular Learn to Sew classes started out by making simple drawstring bags, Trish reveals, and this will continue in Sewtember during a session designed specifically to use up scrap fabric.
“It’s kind of addictive,” she told the Chronicle of making multiple bags. In fact so many have been stitched that the sewing group is part of an international organisation called Morsbags which gives them away within the community – the growers’ market and Community House being among the recipients of those made in Raglan.
The sewing classes have become a real “hub” of activity, Trish enthuses, attracting women (and men), school students and also travellers over the summer months.
The practice of manaakitanga or hospitality is also an important part of the group, she adds, in the form of welcoming others to simply come and enjoy the sociability with afternoon tea provided during session times, 1.30-4pm.
* Thursday Sept 4, 11 & 18 covers slow stitching, scrap busters and use of scrap fabric.
* Saturday Sept 20 covers reuse and repurposing of clothing like old jeans.
by Edith Symes
