Charity Sew-In-Thon to benefit breast cancer patients and premature babies
DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR
KINGSLAND — With some thread and fabric pieces topped off with a little sewing, you could help comfort parents in a time of unknown or give relief to cancer patients on the mend.
“Both the Kingsland Bluebonnet Quilt Club and the Marble Falls Quilt Club have been doing this already, but what we want to do with this event is try to get more people involved,” said Barb Selby of Barb’s Quilt Nook in Kingsland. “There is such a need for both that it’s hard just for the club members to keep up.”
On April 22, anybody who can sew and has a sewing machine, or doesn’t, is invited to participate in the Charity Sew-In-Thon at the Kingsland Community Center, 3451 Rose Hill Drive, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Participants will make either Ouch Pouch bags for breast cancer patients or Threads of Love for premature infants.
Or, people can try both.
“Last year, we gave out 1,000 of the Ouch Pouches, but it’s only about half of what we need,” said Myrle Seely, the Ouch Pouch instructor. ”
The Ouch Pouches were designed by Deon Maas to help women recovering from a mastectomy. The pouch goes against the underarm area following the surgery so the wedge shape holds the arm away from the body. Seely said a simple strap holds it in place.
“And they really work, I can attest to that,” Seely said.
The design doesn’t require extensive sewing skills. It’s just a matter of being able to sew a straight line, Seely added. If you don’t sew, that’s OK as well because organizers can find something for you to do, even if its ironing fabric.
“It’s a very simple amount of effort, but it’s enjoyed tenfold by the patients,” Seely said.
While the Ouch Pouches were created for breast cancer patients, Seely has seen them used by other people, including gall bladder surgery patients. There’s a man in a wheelchair who lives in Seely’s community, and she gave him one due to the discomfort the chair was causing. She said it’s truly helped him.
Along with Ouch Pouches, volunteers can also help make items for Threads of Loves.
“This is something to be given to parents of premature babies who are still in the hospital,” Selby said. “One of the items is a small blanket that goes over the incubator. It’s just a comforting item for the parents.”
Threads of Love was created to make items such as these blankets but also small hats, booties and other clothes for premature babies. For the parents, this is an uncertain time, and Selby said a small gift such as the blanket gives them something to hold on to. Sometimes, if the child doesn’t make it, the blanket serves as a physical reminder of the child.
One of the founders of Threads of Love, Sissy Davis, started the Christian mission after a doctor asked her pastor if there were any who could sew in the congregation who could make gowns for the tiny children born too early. As Davis volunteered, she recalled how God had led her in this direction because, when she was a child, her baby brother was born two months early and didn’t make it. At the time, she struggled with the loss, but through this ministry, she found a way to bring comfort to parents of premature babies.
“The only things (the initial volunteers) needed to furnish to make the little dresses were threads of love,” Davis wrote in the story about Threads of Love on the organization’s website (www.threadsoflove.org).
For Selby and others, the Sew-In-Thon is a part of serving God as well as serving others.
“If you can sew, come,” Selby said. “If you can’t, come any ways, and we’ll find something for you to do. Or just come to join in the fellowship.”
Along with sewing, knitting and crocheting, other needs include donations of money, fabric and supplies.
Call Selby at (325) 423-1934 for more information.
daniel@thepicayune.com