Sewing = Almost no translation required

Silvia with a purse made from old jeans

Lorraine and Dora with Dora's 1st shirt she has EVER sewn!

Dora using a pattern for the sleeves of her shirt...1st time she ever used a pattern.

Dora practicing using the sewing maching with 2 ladies watching...the woman in blue is Nery, an employee at the Clinc.

Leah demonstrating how to thread the sewing machine. The woman crouched on the right is Maria, a volunteer at the Milk Project.

This week the mission tested the waters for the sewing ministry for local women. It was awesome! Two women from Brazil, Indiana came down with a group and for three days shared their God-given talents and knowledge of sewing to 4 Honduran women. Utiliizing what we thought were simply non-usable clothes from the Clothing Ministry (clothes that are huge sizes, and styles that don't sell due to climate and that had all been sorted through and NOT purchased on drives or at the stores over a period of time) they taught us how to make usable, and hopefully, sellable clothes!!!

These two women, Leah and Barb, were two creative angels just bursting with sewing ideas to help the women and were overflowing with joy to be used by God. They taught the basics first: how to thread the sewing machine, fill the bobbin, and do basic stitches on the machine. Then they moved to how to make your own pattern, and how to utilize that. Side note: all of this was a learning experience for me too since I have never really sewn anything on my own! Then they took a regular T-shirt that was too big to fit anyone we know here and showed them how to make a brand new smaller sized shirt using the original! They also showed them how to make purses and tote bags from old jeans, or any material really, also how to make a drawstring backpack, skirts from pants, how to make a very stylish rug from braided strips from old jeans, how to take a zipper from one article of clothing and use it in a new item (a purse perhaps). The list goes on and on. It was all so cool to see these North American women so excited and furthermore seeing my Honduran friends just wide-eyed with excitement of the possibilities this meant for them. They were gobbling it all up!! It was a blessing to be able to translate for them. Although, I must say, a lot of the times it seemed that the language of sewing was talking for itself!



I hope to get pictures posted soon of the women in action and of some of their finished products. Still not crystal clear the direction God wants this sewing ministry to take, but the possiblities are very exciting. Women learning how to make usable items from basically trash, and hopefully being able to sell them on their own and earn a living from their homes. Very exciting stuff!!!