On pins and needles
New Glasgow church group holds free sewing service
Not everyone is handy with a sewing machine and many people don’t even own one.
Volunteers at the First Baptist Church held a free sewing service on Saturday morning, doing some hem work and other small repairs for people who brought in their clothing for some sprucing up.
Donna Cooper, who helped organize the session, said a total of 10 volunteers stepped forward to offer their talents to the cause.
“I also had people who are not members come to the church to help, which is awesome,” she said.
Between 15 to 20 people took advantage of the service, a number that was down slightly from a sewing service the church held last September.
“Some people brought four or five items to be done,” Cooper went on to say.
Stan Robinson of Little Harbour brought in two machines – one of them a blind hemmer, which he estimates to be around roughly a half-century old.
”This machine cost me $600, and that was 50 years ago,” he explained, as the group was finishing up their work before having a lunch in the church basement. “I brought it here form Labrador City.”
Robinson, who likes to volunteer “for a lot of things,” has been sewing for a long time.
“Well, let’s say I’ve been sewing for 60 years, but it’s probably a hell of a lot more than that,” said Robinson, who turned 80 last year.
He can remember sitting on his mom’s lap when he was a small boy, as she introduced him to the craft of sewing.
“But I had to do a lot of learning on my own.”
Organizers are hoping to have another free sewing session next August, in time for the new school year.
“That would be our next goal,” Cooper said.