The needle is threaded, the machine ready, and it’s just a fabric scrap for practice, but Grace Clark of Jaffrey is still nervous about practicing sewing a seam.
With encouragement from her mother, she uses the balance wheel to start the stitch, sews a shaky line, and then finishes it off by reversing the stitch.
It’s not the straightest stitch, she admits, but it was also less scary than she thought it would be. And after her sister gets a turn on the machine, her next attempt is much smoother.
It’s a simple skill, but it’s one that most of the 20 people gathered in the Jaffrey Public Library Thursday night just don’t have.
The class is the first in a four-part series offered by the library in basic sewing skills. Library Director Julie Perrin said hand-sewing has been a piece of the library’s STEAM – science, technology, engineering, arts and math – programming for a long time, but the sewing class only really got off the ground due to community interest.
In particular, library patron Christine Wheeler, who is part of the library’s weekly knitting and crochet group, took interest in making it happen.
Wheeler, a member of the Monadnock Quilter’s Guild, has been sewing and quilting since 1982, though it took her several years to learn to use a sewing machine. Now, she said, she regularly adopts used sewing machines to refurbish and provide to people in need.
“I think it’s an important thing,” Wheeler said. “I’m hoping it takes off.”
The library was interested in expanding its sewing offerings, but didn’t have a sewing machine or many materials, Perrin said. Wheeler mentioned she knew some people who had machines they weren’t using, and took the idea and ran with it. By the time she was finished, the library had gotten not one, but six sewing machines donated.
“It was a surprise for us. We had no plans for anything on that scale,” Perrin said.
But many of those who donated machines were also willing to lend their expertise. With manpower and machine power, the library went on the hunt for the other supplies needed – fabric, scissors, needles, rulers and measuring tapes. New England Fabrics in Keene, Walmart in Rindge and Country Bridals in Jaffrey were eager to step up and provide everything they needed.
“This is really something we had not planned for. It just grew from the community,” Perrin said.
And it’s been explosively popular. Originally, the class was capped at 12, and then raised to 20 due to the interest. And there’s a waitlist.
“We don’t have enough people teaching kids these kinds of things,” said Grace’s mother, Jennifer Clark, who was taking the class with her two daughters. “Things like how to sew a button or use a sewing machine.”
The class is led by Todd Hollis of Peterborough. Initially, he said, he donated a spare machine he had, but as soon as library staff learned that as an English teacher in Connecticut he also led the sewing and cooking section of the school’s “Life Skills” course, he was snapped up as an instructor.
Hollis said his sewing skills come from his mother, who used to joke she didn’t want any daughters-in-law returning her sons because they didn’t know how to sew, cook or clean.
Having retired and moved to Peterborough a year ago, Hollis said, he’s happy to still be able to pass on those skills.
“It’s wonderful to see the enthusiasm of not just the kids, but also the parents,” Hollis said. “Generally, these kinds of skills just aren’t taught, and then you’re faced with what happens when an entire generation didn’t learn them,” he said.
Perrin said the library is dedicated to providing programs that provide practical, life-long skills.
“Sewing was an easy one,” she said. “While we might think of it as a lost art and skill, it really does fit in with STEAM education and what we’re trying to do with our mission.”
Which is why the class is a mix of children and adults.
Stacy Whitehead of Jaffrey took the class alongside her daughter Kylie.
“I was super pumped they were offering this,” she said. “I have a sewing machine, and no idea how to use it.”
Even the more experienced sewers who were working as volunteers assisting the beginners told Hollis they learned something from the class – mainly that the plate that guides the needle is a quarter of an inch wide, and can be used as a make-shift ruler.
The library’s current sewing class is full, but Perrin said she expects to run a second session starting in February. If you have interest in signing up for the class, volunteering, or have materials to donate, call the library at 532-7301.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.