Recently Friends of the Farm members hosted a Saturday afternoon Sewing Bee in the Ambury Farm barn.
Some talented locals joined us and we made a stack of produce bags out of upcycled curtain material plus two Total Recall tote bags out of upcycled upholstery material. We also cut out a pile of produce bags, all ready to be sewn up at the next Sewing Bee. You can keep a couple of produce bags with your shopping bags and use them for your fruit and vegetables, instead of a paper bag. Locals may have previously seen and used these bags which are still available for free to anyone. Help yourself from the stash on the left hand side of the entrance in the Library, or else from the St Vincent de Paul op shop.
At the Sewing Bee we were amused to see that three out of four had brought along an Elna Sewing Machine. Robyn’s machine, an Elna Lotus was the oldest, dating back to 1973, 50 years old and still sewing well. Sheryl’s machine was ten years younger and Jan’s was far more modern. We were struck by the coincidence! When the Elna Lotus arrived on the market in the late 1960’s it was hailed as an amazing piece of technology, and there is even one in the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York!
A 50 year old Elna in great condition owned, used and cared for by FoF Robyn
A pristine Elna Lotus as held in the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York
Anyone is welcome to join our Sewing Bees. Next time we’ll ensure we have a spare sewing machine set up for anyone to use. You might want to stitch up your trousers or hem a skirt. Watch our website aboutmangerebridge.nz for info about the next Sewing Bee.
