In a classroom at the back of the Albany Sewing Machine Center, a small group of people are huddled over sewing machines. Two teachers guide the students, advising they not pull on the fabric, while adjusting their machine knobs, and providing general instructions. The center, which was celebrating Teach the World to Sew Day on October 22nd, has put together a beginner friendly sewing workshop that has brought both beginners eager to learn and educators eager to teach to the shop.
Nicole Johnston, one of the teachers leading the workshop, says workshops like these are important in today’s modern world.
“I think it is really valuable. I think people are beginning to recognize the importance of that lost life skill, and it's not being able to be taught in schools like it used to,” said Johnston.
Johnston’s sentiments rang true for Gary Bobb, a Troy resident attending the class. He learned how to hand sew in school and is now eager to take on machine sewing.
“Sewing is a very applicable skill that more people should learn, and I don't know why they took it out of the schools, because I learned how to learn so in school for the first time, but only for like, six months,” said Bobb. “And if I had learned that through my entire schooling, I feel like it would have taken me farther, just as a person.”
Bobb adds that having a teacher on hand was a huge help in his learning process.
“Everyone was here, was very nice, and the biggest thing for me was being a guy, especially, I didn't feel like singled out in the slightest. So, I appreciated that, and they didn’t make me feel bad for not knowing more about how to use and operate the machines,” said Bobb. “So, I appreciated how they just made me feel welcome the whole time.”
For Johnston, teaching and passing the craft on also means bringing in a sense of accomplishment to the new learners who might be intimidated by -- or even scared – of a sewing machine.
“They're able to add their own little personality to it in their own way, once it's shown to them, and recognize that, oh gosh, this is not hard,” said Johnston. “It just taking the time to be able to show and at the end of what an hour and a half to two hours that you've walked away with a finished project, and there's pride in that.”
Bobb says that he is excited to bring this new skill home, where he has a lot of clothes that are ready for sewing projects. The timing is especially fortuitous, because he says he recently lost a considerable amount of weight.
“The next thing I want to start doing is upcycling a lot of my clothes. That's the reason why I bought a sewing machine. I have a bunch of I lost a lot of weight, so I have a bunch of just random clothes I'm never going to wear again. But I don't like the idea of like throwing them out, contributing to the landfill stuff,” said Bobb. “So, I would much rather just take the stuff I have, cut it up, and then repurpose it for stuff I can still wear.”
