Children Sewing for Children

Today was a special day with children joining us to sew for children.  Our fidget mats and aids are often used by children with developmental challenges.  Today we added to our supply of texture pages to fill a special request from Sammy’s House.  We had a great sewin in the new classroom at Northwest Singer Sewing Center.  Santa will deliver to the students soon.

Merry Christmas to all who have contributed time and supplies for our work this year.

Marcia

August Sew-in

I can't quite believe it is already August. With this hot weather it is a good time to be inside sewing. I hope you can join us to share our summer experiences and sew for a purpose. Our next sew-in for activity mats will be at the Singer Northwest Sewing Center on Saturday, August 22 at 1:00pm. Bring your sewing machine or serger, or help with assembly and handwork.  - Marcia

Mats Being Made in Fuquay Varina, NC

Pat Bailey, a member of Fuquay Varina Baptist Church in Fuquay Varina, NC, sent us this photo of some of the mats she and her group have made.  She reports that so far they have donated 42 to a home for memory loss patients and they have another 45 ready for distribution. That is indeed an impressive amount of mats.

We commend you and your helpers for your charitable work. Thank you for sharing your photo.

June Sew-in

The rains have subsided and the heat is here.  Come join us in the air-conditioned sewing space at the Singer Northwest Sewing Center, 5448 Burnet Rd, No.1 from 1:00-4:00 p.m. on Sat. June 27.

Also see the posters about "Fidget mats/aprons" on our June 14th blog post.  It is exciting to see our work being shown at "Quilt Fiesta", a quilt show in Hayden, Idaho.

Fidget Mats Promoted in Hayden, Idaho

Members of the quilt guild in Hayden, Idaho have decided to encourage sewers to make "Fidget Mats and other aids" by including a poster in their education booth at their upcoming quilt show. Their "Quilt Fiesta" will be June 26 & 27 in Hayden, Idaho. This booth will replace previous live demonstrations. The demonstrations were only available to visitors at specified times. Now all visitors can receive information.

Information includes pictures of fidget mats/aprons, purpose of the aids, links to Marcia's segment on Nancy's Corner and the link to instructions for contacting our blog which has the instructions for our mats and other aids.

It is exciting to see our project spread around the country.

 

Upcoming Sew-ins in Austin

We have scheduled two more sew-ins at the Northwest Sewing Center (Singer Shop),  5448 Burnet Road #1, Austin, Texas. Join us on Saturday, May 23rd from 1:00pm - 4:00pm and Saturday, June 27th from 1:00pm - 4:00 pm

We provide all supplies, instructions and snacks. You bring your enthusiasm, your machine with standard feet (walking foot optional), bobbins, scissors, seam ripper, etc. Or you, if you don't sew, you can come in and help with some of the hand work like clipping on ribbons and stuffed animals.

There is a limited amount of space so reserve your spot by calling 512-459-3961.

February Sew-In

Dear Alzheimer's Sew-in Volunteers,

Valentine's Day seems like a great time to make some special gifts for special people. I have missed all of you and look forward to getting together on Saturday, February 14.

I delivered a box of activity books, yarn bundles and ribbon tassels to AGE (Austin Groups to the Elderly)
last week. The activity director was so excited.  She is planning various activities with these aids. They will use the yarn bundles and tassels to liven-up their exercise/dance time. Thanks for making these.

We are currently low on the books so I think we should work on these this week. We can use sergers for edging pages and sewing machines to sew on the trims with plain or decorative stitches. This should be a fun day giving us a chance to try out a variety of sewing skills and sew for a purpose.

Hope to see you next Saturday,

Marcia

Successful Sew-in

Another fun and successful sew-in yesterday. The weather outside was cold and rainy, but we were busily sewing. We finished 11 mats and 4 went home with volunteers who had friends or family with Alzheimer's.

Thanks to everyone who came out to help.

Santa's List Correction

We should have been more specific when asking for names for Santa's List of activity mats. These are for individuals in the Austin area only.

If you are wanting a mat outside of the Austin area, you might want to contact your local church or sewing center to see if they would be interested in making the mats using the instructions in earlier posts on this blog.

Santa is Making a List

Make a special Christmas present for a special person. Santa is making a list of people with advanced Alzheimer’s, children with special needs, etc. If you have a person who would like one of our mats or texture books let us know and/or come to a  sew-in and help us make activity aids.

These aids are designed to safely comfort and entertain Alzheimer's patients. Each mat contains a zipper, buttons, a pocket for a family photo, and a variety of textures. They can be used on a table, in a lap, or tied around the patient’s waist as an apron.

Texture books have  pages with a variety of fabric textures and designs.

We will provide supplies, instructions and snacks. You bring your enthusiasm, your machine with standard feet, (walking foot  optional), manual, bobbins, scissors, seam ripper, etc. – or just drop in and help.

Help us make these to donate to local care givers. Our next two scheduled sew-ins are Saturday, November 15th and Saturday, December 13th. Times for both events are 1:00pm-4:00pm. The location is North West Sewing Center at 5448 Burnet Road, No. 1 in Austin, Texas. Phone 512-459-3961 to register.

Sammi's House to Test Activity Mats

We are so delighted that Sammi's House in Austin, Texas, a day program for children with special needs, will be testing our activity mats.

Marcia (on the left) is seen here with Isabel Huerta, founder of the school, and Teri Dee Martin an enthusiastic volunteer. Teachers and therapists at the school will modify the attachments to the mats to meet the needs of their children. Marcia enjoyed a tour of the school and got a warm hug from a young man in a turtle t-shirt.

Thanks to our volunteers we were able to deliver 7 mats and lots of goodies to attach.

Next Austin Sew-in

The next Austin Sew-in for texture books is this Saturday, October 25th from 1:00pm - 4:00pm. We will be at Northwest Sewing Center located at 5448 Burnet Road #1.  Call 512-459-3961 to reserve your spot.

Texture books are large squares of textured fabrics (like corduroy, fleece, chenille, etc) sewn together and and strung on shoe strings. They help calm and entertain those with Alzheimers. They also provide tactile and visual stimulation for other individuals.

Come out on and join us making these wonderful items that will be donated to local nursing homes and other facilities working with the elderly and individuals with Alzheimers.

Marcia is Interviewed by Nancy Zieman

Exciting news.  A couple of months ago Marcia was interviewed by Nancy Zieman for an episode of "Nancy's Corner" and it is now available for viewing. It was a great opportunity to get the information out on Activity Mats.

To watch the interview go to: http://video.wpt.org/video/2365346162/

Nancy also posted information (along with some great photos) on her blog at http://www.nancyzieman.com/blog/sewing-2/sew-an-alzheimers-activity-mat/.

We want to thank Nancy for helping to get the word out on the activity mats. We know with the exposure from her interview and blog there will be a lot more activity mats making their way to those who can benefit from them.  Thank you Nancy!!

If you make mats for a loved one or have a sew-in, let us know.  Send us your pictures and we will post them to our Blog. Let us know if you have any suggestions for the mats. We welcome your feedback.

New Idea

Unadorned mats are easier to stack and store.

Our sew-ins produce lots of mats that I have to store until I "find them homes". With all the attachments on (beads, stuffed animals, etc.) they seemed to take up quite a bit of room. I couldn't stack them very deep because it could smush the stuffed animals and yarn items.

After a one of our sew-ins we had several mats that did not have the attachments on yet. I found that they were much easier to store and I didn't have to worry about the attachments flattening from being stacked. The mats are designed so that the items are clipped on so they can be removed for cleaning. When I get ready to deliver mats it only takes me a few minutes to get them ready by clipping on the attachments.

Let the recipient select the attachments

Recently I was contacted by a woman from Sammy's House which is "a special place for special children". It is is a not-for-profit agency that provides services for children who are medically fragile and/or developmentally delayed in inclusive learning environments with typically developing peers. She wanted to have a few mats to see how well they would work with the kids. I took a stack of mats and a box of stuffed animals, yarn bundles, squeeze toys, and other attachments. She selected and attached the items she felt would work best with these kids.

So, you might want to try letting recipients "build their own" mats. Let them pick out what they want to attach.

Successful September Sew-in

We had another successful sew-in last Saturday. Thanks to all who came to make fidget mats. A special thanks to the husbands who came and helped by stringing beads. It was a fun afternoon for all. Unfortunately I did not get any photos.

Our next sew-in is scheduled for October 25th at the Northwest Sewing Center at 5448 Burnet Road in Austin from 1:00pm to 4:00pm.

Upcoming Austin "Sew-ins"

We have scheduled two more sew-ins in Austin at the Northwest Sewing Center at 5448 Burnet Road, No. 1 in Austin, Texas. On Saturday, September 27th from 1:00pm - 4:00pm we will be making Activity Mats. Then on Saturday, October 25th from 1:00pm - 4:00 pm we will be making Texture Books.

We provide all supplies, instructions and snacks. You bring your enthusiasm, your machine with standard feet (walking foot optional), bobbins, scissors, seam ripper, etc. Or you, if you don't sew, you can come in and help with some of the hand work like clipping on ribbons and stuffed animals.

There is a limited amount of space so reserve your spot by calling 512-459-3961.

Fidget Mats Coming to Nancy's Corner

Last month Marcia joined Nancy Zieman via Skype to talk about fidget mats for an upcoming segment on Nancy's Corner. It will be posted on their website in October. We will share more information as it becomes available.

Event Reminder

Just wanted to remind everyone that we are having another sew-in this Thursday, June 12th, from 10:30am - 6:30pm at The Quilt Store, 2700 West Anderson Lane #301, Austin, Texas.

This is a drop-in event so you can come whenever and stay as long as you like. Grab a friend or two and come as a group. It's a great time for visiting and making new friends.

If you find yourself in the area, stop by. If you have your machine with you, you can sew.  If not, you can help with hand-work like making ribbons. Or you can just get more information on what we're doing.

Upcoming Events

We have two FREE sew-ins scheduled in the Austin area for making Alzheimer Activity Aids . It's a great opportunity to volunteer your time to help make items that will benefit others. Mark your calendars so you don't forget.

The first will be Saturday, May 10th from 1:00pm - 4:00pm at the Northwest Sewing Center (Singer Shop),  5448 Burnet Road #1, Austin, TX. Call 512-459-3961 to reserve your spot.

The next will be Thursday, June 12th from 10:30am - 6:30pm at The Quilt Store, 2700 West Anderson Lane #301, Austin, TX. This is a drop-in event. You are invited to come by whenever you can and stay as long as you want. There are nearby restaurants so you can make it a sewer's day out if you like.

Bring your sewing machine if you sew, if not, you can help with hand-work. Bring a friend. Light snacks will be provided.

If you schedule a sew-in event in your area, let us know and we will post it on our blog. If you have an event and want to share your photos, send them to us.

Making Texture Books

Texture books is another great tool for use with those with Alzheimer's as they calm and entertain. They provide tactile and visual stimulation for users. These ‘books’ consist of fabrics with a variety of textures, colors and designs. Fabrics are edged as needed and strung on a shoe string.

Click here for PDF instructions on how to make these wonderful texture books.