Norma's Creativity

It's wonderful to see the creativity that my sewing students exhibit. Norma buys blue jean mini skirts at the local thrift store or swap meets that come weekly to San Vicente. Then she cuts up another skirt and sews it to the bottom of the mini skirt and adds accents with the left over fabric. Norma creates these one-of-a-kind skirts as gifts for family and friends. What a great up cycle.

Sewing Organizers

This past week's sewing  classes focused on sewing items for the bedroom including pillowcases and wall organizers. Most homes are not equipped with closets or other storage places and as such it's difficult to find places to stash one's treasures. Each session (one in the morning & another in the afternoon) had 6-8 students revving the sewing machines' motors creating accents for their bedroom area. I'm always trying to develop projects that are practical for their everyday home life. Feel free to share ideas that you might have.

New Student Excitement

Virginia was invited to join my sewing class this week by her neighbor Azusena. It was so cute to hear how excited she was when she sewed her very first seam on the scrunchie she made. Virginia was bubbling over on how straight her seam was. She expressed that many times she has tried to sew but, that always her seams were very crooked and as such she became discouraged. A few tips from me as well as an indispensable piece of blue tape did the trick and had her clipping along in no time. She was so happy to show off her bedroom organizer and coordinating pillowcases at week's end.

On the Edge of Town

The little house we rent in San Vicente is on the edge of town and overlooks the mostly dried up riverbed. It's wonderful to wake up in the morning to see and hear a large variety of wildlife. Can you see the partridge perched upon the old tree trunk? The valley leading to the riverbed is inundated with low brush in which the small birds love to hide from the circling hawk. There's lots of rabbits and the screech owl usually flies overhead just after dark.

Camelia gets her sewing machine

Camelia  grinned from ear to ear when I brought HER sewing machine to her home this past week. She has been hand sewing bookmarks to sell with the goal to get enough money together to purchase a reconditioned sewing machine complete with carrying case (a must to protect the machine from dust). She is so excited even though her house (made of 4 wooden garage doors) doesn't have electricity. She has trouble shot that issue by talking with her sister and a friend from church about using their homes with power when I'm not in town. The above pic is at our home in SV where I gave Camelia her first lessons on her own machine. This week she'll be sewing aprons on her very own. I'm so proud of all Camelia's efforts.

Sina recently joined the micro enterprise part of my ministry in San Vicente. The funny part is that she was the first person I asked "Would you like to have me help you start your own business with your new sewing skills?" Well, that was three years ago. At that time Sina's answer was "No thanks. I just want to sew for my family." What could I say. Times change. The construction work that her husband does has slowed considerably over the past year. So, Sina approached me about joining the group of ladies who are focused on having their own small sewing businesses. She expressed that she would like to be able to help with the family's expenses. Sina and her husband have three children ages 3-9. They hope to build a home on property that they have purchased on the south end of the town of San Vicente, Mexico. It's exciting to have Sina join the group as she has some accounting experience and she is VERY particular about the quality of products that she sews. She is pictured here with the newest addition to her product line. See the next blog for a closeup and description. 

Sina's purse close up

Thought you might enjoy a close up of Sina's new purse design. The bags are lined, have three pockets inside, a zipper closure and a decorative zipper pull.