Category Archives: Personal Stories
Such a Kind Remembrance
I am grateful every time I open our post office box and find a donation waiting inside…I am grateful every time I receive word that someone has made a donation online. It touches me so deeply that you read about the work we do and it touches your heart and causes you to want to contribute.
Recently I’ve received two donations made in memory of avid seamstresses who are no longer among us. What an incredibly beautiful way to remember someone who loved to sew!
Please consider The Sewing Machine Project when you wish to find a fitting way to remember someone who loved to sew, loved to help others, loved to find a way to make a difference in their community.
It’s a lovely remembrance and a wonderful way to help us help others.
Read Testimonials and Leave Your Own
The machines that go to New Orleans take on new lives with their new owners. Now, we’re giving the owners a chance to share their stories. If you are the recipient of a machine, please visit our new Testimonials page and leave a comment.
Plus, if you would like to find out how the Sewing Machine Project is affecting lives, the Testimonials page is a great place to start.
How do you begin to thank people?
I was with some friends last night and they asked me how this project was going. The words came tumbling out, as they usually do when I get going on the success I’ve experienced so far. When I begin to describe one person who has helped me in some way it reminds me of another and another and so forth. Not only that, almost all of the people who are helping me to make this project a success have stepped forward of their own volition. They’ve approached me to find out how they can help.
Just recently, I spoke before the Business and Professional Women’s Group of Madison, WI. The group was so welcoming and receptive. After the meeting I spoke with one of the women in the audience who made a generous donation and offered her help. We agreed to meet and discuss her role in the project further. When we got together she began talking out ways that she felt she could help and it was clear that the greatest thing she could do at this point would be to get the word out about the Project, since she’s acquainted with many people here in Madison. Her name is Jacqui Sakowski and I’m in awe daily of the help she’s provided. She runs her own sales consulting firm and has put me in touch with many people and organizations who could make a difference in the Sewing Machine Project. On top of that she’s agreed to join the Board of Directors! I’m honored to call her my friend and also, I guess, a cheerleader for the cause.
This sort of enthusiasm is not uncommon. This project touches a nerve in different ways with different people and I’m thrilled at the response it’s received. So many people from Bob Miller, Bob and Carroll Heideman, Katie Stout, Vig Sherrill, Tori and Dennis Hull, Peter McKeever, Cherice Harrison-Nelson, Becky Batchelor, Martha Steward, Walter Baer, Julie, Dave, Steve, Jenny, Rebecca, Virginia and Lily, along with countless others have stepped forward without being asked to ask how they can contribute. I truly would not be where I am without all of you.
Mardi Gras Indians
In March ’06, when we took the first load of machines to New Orleans, a woman walked through the door, asking if she could take multiple machines for the Mardi Gras Indian community. This remarkable woman, Becky, would soon become my connection to other remarkable women. She explained how sewing was an integral part of the Mardi Gras tradition and how they’d lost everything in Katrina and needed so much. Machines would be shared within the community. So we sent machines.
The following day Becky introduced us to Joyce Montana, the widow of Tootie Montana, legendary chief of the Yellow Pocahontas and Chief of Chiefs. Joyce kindly invited us into her home to see some of the incredible suits that Tootie had worn over the years–an absolutely stunning collection. We felt so welcome and so honored to have such a personal tour AND introduction to the traditions of the Mardi Gras.
That same day, Becky introduced us to Antoinette K-Doe, widow of the late R&B star, Ernie K-Doe. We visited with Antoinette at the Mother In Law Lounge on North Claiborne St., as she directed workmen who were restoring the bar post-Katrina. The water had risen almost up to the ceiling of the lounge but she’d saved many of the treasures within.
Since that visit, Becky has introduced me to Cherice Harrison-Nelson and her mother, Herreast Harrison. Herreast’s late husband, Donald Harrison was the Big Chief of the Guardians of the Flame and his daughter, Cherice, called Queen Reesie, is a Queen of that tribe today.
Through all of these amazing women I’ve learned more and more, not only about the traditions of the Mardi Gras culture but also about the role the Mardi Gras play in preserving African American culture as well. Herreast and Cherice explained about how being raised in the Mardi Gras Indian tradition is more than just contstructing suits and participating in celebrations. It’s about preserving pride in their heritage and giving children a role and responsibility in today’s society.
On so many levels the Mardi Gras are deserving of respect. I feel honored to have the opportunity to work with all of these incredible women and to have the opportunity to get a glimpse inside of this fascinating culture.
Sewing Machine Donor
A woman stopped in our shop awhile back wondering if we were still accepting sewing machine donations to take to New Orleans, and, of course, we were. As she and I began talking I could tell there was so much more to the story. As it turns out she had purchased a beautiful new sewing machine for a dear friend of hers who was dying. Her friend loved to sew and so she thought she’d give her a wonderful gift so she could create as long as possible on a wonderful machine. I looked over the immaculate machine, with all of its extra accessories and shiny clean finish and I could tell it had been lovingly cared for.
Her friend had died 6 months earlier but it was difficult to pass on all of those things that reminded this woman so much of someone she’d loved so dearly. She finally had brought it in and knew that her friend would have wanted the machine to go to someone who really needed one.
I knew of just the person. I had been talking with individuals who had contacted me from New Orleans in the hopes of getting on the list and someday, receiving a machine. One woman had described, in detail, the work she’d loved to do and the machine she’d cherished that had been lost in the flood waters. She mainly sewed for the local Children’s Hospital, heading up a sewing group who made things for the infants at the hospital. She felt that she did her best work for charity.
I told this sweet woman in our store that I knew of the perfect recipient and that I would take special care to be sure the machine went directly to that person. I told her about the work this woman did and how her main emphasis was charity work and sewing for others.
“That’s perfect,” the donor replied, holding back the tears, “my friend never sewed one stitch for herself on that machine.” And, with that, she handed me the machine.
The Path
Many people have asked me how this project got started and I remember a moment quite distinctly…when I read an article on the internet about a woman who had lost her sewing machine in the tsunami. Not only was I moved by what I was reading but I knew, without a doubt, that I needed to take action. I had never been “called to action” so strongly in my life. Oh sure, there have been times over the years, as there are for everyone, when I knew I needed to pitch in to find a solution, but this was vastly different. It was as though a door had opened.
Since then, I’ve found that when I need something to move this Project along, or I’m not sure of the direction I should go, I wait and watch and listen and pretty soon the answer is there. Time and time again, I’ve needed a solution or a contact and sure enough, the phone rings and/or a new friend enters my life and things fall into place.
Coversely, when I push too hard on something that doesn’t feel quite right, it’s almost as though I’m stepping off of the path and when I stop and reevaluate or “step back”, things seem to realign and feel right again.
It’s as though I’m walking along a path but I can’t clearly make out what’s ahead. I know when I’m walking clear in the center and I also know when I’ve stepped away.
Now, I don’t mean to get all mystical about this but I do think that sometimes, we’re meant to do things in our lives. I also don’t mean to imply that this Project is always just neatly falling into place. There would be no Sewing Machine Project if it weren’t for many many people who have believed in it and have stepped forward to help. I do think, however, that when we find things in our lives in which we strongly believe, the strength and the answers come and people rally around to our aid. I feel fortunate to have found a cause about which I feel so completely passionate and I sincerely thank everyone who has been stirred by this cause and has stepped forward to help. Additionally, I am ever-grateful and in awe of the people I’ve met who have needed machines. They have opened my eyes in so many ways and have helped me to step back and gain a better perspective of the Project and even, of my own life.
Thank you, friends, for all you’ve done and all you continue to do.
Margaret
