Our Stories
Donor Stories
Sewing machines are unique tools in that they somehow carry the memories of those who have used them and all of the items that were made. We feel it’s important to document the lives of the machines we receive as they move from one person’s hands to those of another. If you have donated a machine to The Sewing Machine Project we invite and encourage you to share your memories of this machine or perhaps, of the person who used it. Any memory, big or small is significant. Click here to enter your story.
I received a machine and a generous financial donation today with this note…
I am honored and humbled by any and all donations that we receive but some really strike me as they tell such a story. I love to imagine the story of a machine…the generations of people who use it, the projects it helps to create… And I think it does us good to know that our dearly loved machines carry on, almost with lives of their own, and develop their own histories.
Thank you to everyone who helps to make this project a success. There are thousands of you…and our story continues.
Recently I’ve been receiving donations in memory of a woman named Viola Kraemer. I’ve never met Viola…and each time I receive a donation online or in the mail I find myself wanting to know more about her.
Viola was a quilter in Minnesota and it is clear that she was well-loved. I looked up her obituary today and learned a little more about her. How touched I was to read the last sentence, suggesting that donations be made to The Sewing Machine Project in her honor. We are a little nonprofit and these donations have really added up, not only allowing our programs to grow and flourish but in so doing, keeping Viola’s memory alive as well.
I am honored that her family and friends choose to remember her through The Sewing Machine Project. It is a wonderful way to remember someone to whom sewing meant so much.
I received a sewing machine in the mail last week and accompanying the machine was this letter:
The enclosed sewing machine belonged to my sister-in-law, Wendy. For 2 1/2 years, Wendy fought the good fight in her battle with lymphoma of the central nervous system.
I am working with her daughter, Molly, to find appropriate donation organizations for her Mom’s treasures. Molly remembers the frilly dresses her mother made for her and the original “Wendy designed” gowns she sewed and crocheted for her doll, Barbie.
Wendy would be much honored to know that her machine will be enjoyed by someone in Haiti who loves sewing as much as she. Molly and I are pleased to find the perfect home for Wendy’s machine.
Thank you for the wonderful work The Sewing Machine Project does for so many in so many ways!
I received a phone call this week from a woman who had read about the Sewing Machine Project in the newspaper. “Wow, I had a hard time tracking you down!”, she said. Apparently, she’d called the paper, called a collection site, talked with the reporter who had written the piece. Finally, my phone rang and there we were.
At 88 years old, Eileen was ready to donate her beautiful sewing machine to our efforts, but she needed to qualify a few things first. Would it be used in this country? Where would it be used? What types of groups receive our machines? I assured her that it would indeed be used here in the US, most likely in the New Orleans area. “Well then,” she said “you’re welcome to my machine.”
So I stopped by her house to pick it up. It is an older Singer, a professional model, and quite heavy. I went into her basement to bring it up, its weight being just too much for her at this age. She invited me to sit down in her sunny kitchen and talk for awhile. We learned about one another. She’d been a home ec teacher for years. Although sewing wasn’t her forte, she was required to teach it and this was her “teaching machine”.
I told her about the Sewing Machine Project. I told her how it had begun. I told her how it had changed my life to create and lead this effort. And in our talking I felt blessed. Blessed to meet her, blessed to share this story, blessed to have this opportunity to meet so many people–giving machines, receiving machines, people involved in every facet of this organization.
When I left her home that afternoon I had to sit a moment out in my car and say a quiet “thank you” for the inspiration, for the people, for the kindness that I feel each and every day surrounding this organization. And every person reading this is a part of what this is. So thank you, and know how lucky I feel.
Tess writes:
To Margaret and all of the wonderful people who have donated to The Sewing Machine Project,
Thank you for allowing me to help pass on all of the lovely machines, fabrics, and notions that were donated for this last round sent to New Orleans! I had the time of my life helping and seeing all of the happy faces as they looked over and chose a machine to take home. And the shop till you drop fabrics and notions were an added bonus for the ladies (and several gentlemenIt was a day to remember.
Your generous donations not only helped make a bright day for the people of New Orleans it made one for me.
Tess
Teach Only Love
Be Only Love
