LANSING, Mich. — Opportunities are endless with a needle and some thread, but imagine what students can do if they got their hands on a whole sewing machine.
That's exactly what Lansing teacher, Cathleen Weaver, hopes to do with the students at Dwight Rich.
"It's this way to kind of teach kids to take care of themselves in a different way," said Weaver.
The Magnet Focus teacher first noticed students interest in sewing, during costume construction for theater last year.
"Kids would come by and they would be like 'hey, what are you doing?' 'show me what you are doing!' 'can you teach me that?"
That's when Weaver begin stitching together ideas for an after school sewing workshop.
"We are an art school, why wouldn't we sew," said Weaver. "We got a lot of support from both the principal and the school district."
This workshop is all out of pocket for Weaver which is why she reached out to the community for sewing donations.
"I am astonished and humbled by the response that I have gotten," said Weaver. "So many people are excited about kids learning how to sew."
In less than two weeks Weaver has received sewing machines, material and much more.
"There have been community members who have said, 'I love to quilt and I would love to come in and work with your kids' or 'I have sewn my whole life, I would love to come in and help."
Besides building sewing skills, organizers hope to close a generation gap during the workshop's first year.
"The needle can look intimidating and scary, but there lot of people that know how to do it that can help the younger folks" said Leeny MaloneBeach, the sewing instructor. "My motivation to do this is to bring the young and old together."
The two plan to start their workshop small and teach the basics.
All with hopes that the students would be able to help with the costuming of the theater productions this year.
"It's another avenue for them to feel good about themselves, to put themselves into something and then you see the final product," said Weaver. "It's a magical thing."
Below is a list of sewing items that are still needed to put on this after school workshop:
Sewing Organization Bins/Jars
Iron
Ironing Boards
Tape Measure
Scissors
Thread
Sewing Machines
Sewing Materials
Patterns
Buttons
Zippers
To learn more, click here
Although the school year is right around the corner, Weaver says there is no deadline for the donations.
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