Sizzling Sewers
It is said that "a creative mess is better than idle tidiness". The creative minds of the Cultural Interpretive Society volunteer "Sizzling Sewers" are rarely idle as they share innovative techniques and ideas to produce unique items for the CIS Gift Shop and for other projects, often destined to places near and far.
With each new project, a lesson is incorporated to teach members new sewing techniques. In keeping with our motto, Cultural Preservation In A Contemporary Setting, we try to adapt and convert the hand embroidery and sewing techniques of our ancestors to contemporary items using the modern sewing machines.
Over the years, the Sizzling Sewers have created many special projects: a number of quilts for raffles and silent auctions, three baby quilts to decorate the bare cement walls in a birthing hospital in Kosovo, a butterfly quilt/wall hanging for the Family Conference room at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital, a peace quilt for the John Denver World Peace Cloth and completion of heirloom baby burial gowns, known as angel dresses, for the "Threads of Love" to a hospital in Edmonton, Alberta. (see In-house Workshops)
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Butterfly Quilt - Click photo for more information |
Peace Cloth - Click photo |
In 2008, as the Doukhobors celebrated one hundred years in British Columbia, the Sizzling Sewers, joined by other volunteers, produced cloth shopping bags featuring a centennial crest, machine-embroidered on the pocket. The bags were sold at the commemorative festival in May.
Another unique project featuring customized machine embroidery is an order of bags, a year-end gift for the USCC Sunday School children at Brilliant. The outside pockets of these bags are embroidered with a "Bread, Salt and Water" motif.
Seasonal items such as Christmas table runners and other smaller items, such as potholders and placemats have also been created by the talented seamstresses.
"Asking a seamstress to mend is like asking Picasso to paint your garage."
We invite and welcome all sewers to join us, to share and learn with us.
