Sew & Sew program equips remote community schools with quality sewing machines and supplies for sewing labs so they can teach a valuable life skill through traditional projects.
The Sew n Sew program is a very successful program in remote indigenous communities in the far north. Colleen Gray was the founder of this program in which schools are supplied with equipment and supplies to create sewing labs accessible both to students and others in their communities. Two schools in Pond Inlet and Igoolik, Nunavut, and two in Newfoundland & Labrador were the first to establish sewing labs and receive supplies during the pandemic. Today, the program continues to expand in Labrador, Nunavut and area, and also in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Sew n Sew is now a program of I Love First Peoples, a charitable organization.
Establishing the following partnerships has been important for the success of Sew n Sew:
* The communities and the teachers in the schools embraced the concept of creating sewing labs.
* Janome Canada donated sewing machines well-known for their ease of use for students, and for their sturdiness for sewing skins and canvas. Not only did they supply 60 machines for the first four schools, 60 more machines will be donated in each of the next two years, to supply future sewing labs.
* Baffinland Iron Mines generously assisted financially with the large shipping costs.
* The Rotary Club of Ottawa-Stittsville assisted in the collection and transportation of sewing supplies to the far north.
Check these websites for more information https://www.ilovefirstpeoples.ca/sewandsew and https://www.artforaid.ca/