Mary Harris-Brooks has taken her longtime hobby of sewing to another level — by offering free lessons at the Kennedy Branch of the Gary Public Library.
“I decided to offer these classes because my sewing and embroidery are gifts from God,” the Gary resident said.
A mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, Harris-Brooks has been sewing since she was in seventh grade.
“My mother, Gladys Harris, taught me how to sew,” she said. “I also took sewing at Edison Middle School and West Side High School, both located in Gary.”
The weekly sewing sessions at the library average about five students, sometimes more, and six sewing machines are available for those who do not have their own.
One of the machines was donated by Schererville resident Woodrow Wilcox, caseworker at Senior Care Insurance Services in Merrillville. He was looking for a new home for his mother’s sewing machine.
“I asked my friend Renee Patikas if she knew of any woman who could use a sewing machine to make clothes or money. I did not want money for it. I wanted to bless someone with it,” Wilcox said. “She suggested that I donate the machine to the free classes that Mary Harris-Brooks organized.”
After making a visit to the library to observe the classes, Wilcox decided his mother’s machine could benefit this worthy cause.
“By giving it to Mary’s class, I was letting that gift be a blessing to many,” he said. “Helping someone learn a new skill helps that person for the rest of their life. Sewing is a skill which helps a family to stretch their money, and sewing is a skill which can help a family have more money.”
During the first class each participant attends, Harris-Brooks supplies the fabric and pattern to make a hat. All other supplies are provided by the students.
“We do not use textbooks or handouts. We use the directions that are inside the pattern,” the instructor said. “Sewing is an art. It allows you to be creative to make things your way.”
Harris-Brooks said she has received a great response from the community since starting the classes a little more than a year ago. Her students have included men as well as women.
The most challenging part of sewing is learning how to read the pattern, she said, and the most enjoyable part is seeing the finished product.
“On a personal level, we share and help each other out,” Harris-Brooks said. “Some students are beginners and some are a little advanced, but everybody participates and brings something to the table. We learn from each other.”
The dedicated sewing instructor credits Janice Culver for originally starting this type of sewing instruction class at Jerusalem Missionary Baptist Church in Gary last year.
Sue Ellen Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.