This was our SECOND SUMMER of teaching sewing classes at the Genesis House in Detroit, Michigan. Kate and I graduated almost 20 students with each receiving a graduation certificate and giving a presentation on what they made during class. Throughout the weeks, we learn that living in a homeless shelter can be stressful and depressing. Kate and I are so proud of everyone who took the time to learn a new skill and focus on bettering themselves. The celebration ended with a lunch that we brought in. We made so many new friends and it is always sad to say goodbye. We always ask them to keep in touch and we have students who do!
How did we get started teaching sewing classes?
Back in 2016 we started our own nonprofit called MK Blanket Wraps. We designed a line of blanket wraps made of fleece. These are not ordinary blankets…they go around the shoulders and have large pockets in front. The best part about them is that they wrap around big coats and don’t fall off. To date, we have cut, sewn and handed out almost 700 blanket wraps to people in need in and around Detroit. One of the places we like to hand out our blanket wraps is the Genesis House. We bring in 2 rolling racks filled with our brightly colored fleece blanket wraps. We let people look through all the patterns and colors and pick one that THEY love. We want to create almost a shopping experience for them. We visited the Genesis House twice that winter and both times the women asked how we made them and if we would teach them how to sew. We thought this was a great idea! We only had 1 sewing machine at that point so we would need to do a lot of fundraising to buy more sewing machines along with all the supplies for the class…but we did it!
We supply 9 machines, all the fabric and sewing supplies all with the help of our very generous donors!
How long does it take to prepare for the summer classes?
First we need to put together dates and meet with the Genesis House coordinators, Ms. Pelt and Mrs. McMillan. We usually start this process in February. We need to make sure the shelter has the room available and the dates work. In the summer of 2018 we decided to teach one 8 week long sewing class. After talking to our students, we decided to do 2 SESSIONS this summer and make the classes closer together. People at the Genesis House on average stay for 90 days before they move into permanent housing or move out of the area. So, this year, we did our first session June 25-July 11 and we met twice a week for 3 weeks.
Our second session was July 30-August 8. We met Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for 2 weeks.
Not only did our students like the classes closer together but we did too. Not having a week between classes allowed our students to remember more from class to class and they were able to accomplish more advanced projects. They actually wanted us to come every day!
After we set our dates we get started on the fun part…designing and coming up with the PROJECTS! The first class is always introducing them to the machine and doing practice stitches on paper. No thread or material is used. Once they can demonstrate they are comfortable with the machine, they start the first project. Our projects start out easy and build on skills like following a pattern, adding a zipper, button holes, ironing and project design (they can design their own projects too!). We start out with an easy project and make them harder as they go along. Our first project was a simple draw string bag or shoulder purse. Easy, fun and quick to sew! There is such excitement when they finish their FIRST project and a boost in confidence!
The next project was a “Give Back” project. We wanted them to sew something for themselves and something for a friend…so they made pillowcases! They mixed and matched colors to have some very colorful pillowcases.
Next up was the makeup carrier (or some turned it into a fanny pack). This project requires planning and a new skill…ironing!
We had 3 advanced projects for the students to choose from: pajama shorts, boxy bag and the very popular “over the shoulder” bag. We thought we needed more advanced projects as they wanted to be challenged (and they were such fast learners that they flew through all the projects!) The “over the shoulder” bag was by far our most popular project. Everyone loves a new bag and this one they could mix and match fabrics and add pockets. As one of our students said, “I am going to model this when I am waiting for the bus and when someone asks where I got it, I am going to say I MADE IT MYSELF!”
What did WE learn from our classes?
One of the Genesis Coordinators, Ms. Pelt, said to us “every time you step into the shelter you bring energy to everyone”. This is exactly what we hope for, this is exactly what we want to hear! Sewing is fun and creative, and we want people to have fun in our class, relax, be creative and do something they can be proud of! We were so proud when we learned how to sew and we were even prouder when we sewed our first blanket wrap. It is a sense of accomplishment, a sense that I CAN DO THIS!
The other thing is to be prepared for anything! We never knew how many students or kids we would have in class (parents can bring their kids and we help watch them so they can concentrate on sewing). We might have a new student show up on day 4 and we need to catch them up. Our goal was to have the students complete at least one project per class.
So many of our students want to continue sewing after our class is done. They want to know where to buy the machines and how much they cost. Many ask about jobs as seamstresses and we help them put together resumes and get them interviews if they want.
You can’t teach and not learn something yourself. What did we learn and continue to learn? Never stop learning or investing in yourself! We had women of all ages, kids as young as 7, teenage boys, preteen girls and a single dad all learning to sew. One of our students said at graduation “Mackenzie and Kate explained everything to me in a way that I didn’t feel dumb”. Everyone learns in a different way and at a different pace but everyone CAN LEARN!
Now…back to sewing our blanket wraps (don’t worry, we were working on our blanket wraps all summer too). Winter will be here soon and our goal is to go over 1000 this winter!
Thank you for reading this and all your support!
Mackenzie and Kate
One thought to ““I made it MYSELF!” 2019 Summer Sewing Classes at the Genesis House in Detroit”
I was one of the people that you wonderful girls handed a blanket to in the winter of 2017-18. You guys came to visit a place call SOS otherwise known as South Oakland Shelter. I was so happy with the blankets that I received from you and was wondering if I could buy some. These blankets still help me and my kids. I was also wondering if you made any in kid sizes too. SOS is one of the few Shelters that I know of that will help out homeless parents and their children. Ot would be cool if when the kids got dropped off in the early hours of the morning when it is freezing out if they too had one of your special blankets. I know it may seem like I’m rambling on but this is my only way of thanking you for the blankets, and also finding out if I could buy some adult and child size MK blanket wraps.