Susan Kirkland was a bit of a late bloomer. She took ninth grade home economics as a senior in high school. Though her grandmother was a great seamstress and taught her some basic techniques, Kirkland’s love of sewing didn’t come into full flower until her late teens. She’s been sewing ever since and she’s eager to pass her love along to youngsters.

“Children used to learn in school through home economics,” she explained. “But we have an entire generation who did not take home economics and they can’t sew so they can’t teach their children to sew.”

Kirkland and her fellow members of the American Sewing Guild’s local chapter want to stop that cycle. They partner with the UF/IFAS Leon County Extension Office which provides educational programs in agriculture, horticulture, family and consumer sciences, and 4-H youth development. IFAS hosts a wide variety of summer camps including an annual sewing camp.  

“It’s very important that we keep this going, otherwise we’re going to lose an art,” said Kirkland.

IFAS family and consumer sciences extension agent, Heidi Copeland, agrees and sees lifelong benefits for children who learn how to sew. “They gain a little bit of patience, they learn dexterity, self-confidence and self-reliance. Those are really the skills that we’re trying to teach.”

Kirkland and other guild members work collaboratively with Copeland to create a curriculum each year with new projects to keep returning campers engaged. In addition to making personal items like pin cushions and aprons, campers also participate in community giving. This year, they made pillowcases to benefit the Early Learning Coalition’s bedtime reading initiative.   

“Kids made two pillowcases, one they could take home for themselves and one for the community service project. They got to pick which one they wanted to give,” Kirkland said. The idea of using sewing as philanthropy is something that several campers, including the Mazur sisters, already engage in.

Leah Mazur, 15, is a sewing camp veteran and has been attending since she was 8. She’s made robes, pajama pants and a vest but Leah is most proud of the shirt she made because “it has a collar and sleeves. You don’t think about all the different things that go into making a shirt. You think it’s just sleeves and then the front and the back but there are a lot of different things you have to do.”

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