Sewing Workshop
History of Demeter Sewing Group
Norma Brooks, Demeter president 1975-76, was contacted by UW Hospitals because Demeter had been making big Christmas stockings for decorations and for patients over the Christmas holiday. The hospital wanted cast gowns in prints and colors for children (Sleeves opened from shoulder to wrists and ties to close). Other items sewn for the hospital included mats for children to play on, special heart monitor holders, and clothes for dogs to visit the hospital.
We met at Norma Brooks’ because she had a ping-pong table to cut on! We moved on later to other’s homes including Judy Stevenson’s, Charlotte Dunn’s, Glenda Lindsays’s and most recently Virgene Vatthauer’s. We began making head scarves and then added knit caps for cancer patients who had lost their hair after chemotherapy at UW Hospital. For several years we made small felt Christmas stockings for tray favors.
We shared lunch together on these sewing days. Along the way we added soup to our midday break to go with our sandwiches and finally salads and desserts. Virgene served us on a fully dressed dining table with linens and china for an elegant luncheon.
The Friends of UW Hospital initially purchased the sewing supplies we needed while we donated the labor. The Friends of UW Hospital are no longer able to support our work so we seek funding elsewhere. In 2019 Mike Pariza gave the group the contents of his late wife Joan Pariza’s fabric store. We are still using her fabric in 2023 and have shared with other groups many yards that we couldn’t use for scarves. Our work also depends on funds from grants and monetary donations to cover the costs of knit fabrics for caps, batting for scarves, and sewing notions. Please consider donating to our efforts!
Opportunities for Contributing to the Sewing Workshop are listed on the Donation page.
Join our sewing group!
The Demeter Sewing Workshop currently meets on the third Tuesday of each month from 10AM to 4PM at Blue Bar Quilts, 6333 University Ave., Middleton, WI. You do not have to sew to participate. Jobs include cutting fabrics for head coverings, sewing head coverings, and folding and labeling head coverings with a Demeter tag. The group collectively produces 100 head coverings each month to take to the Wig Salon at UW Hospital in Madison. For further information about the sewing group and more, please use our Contact page.
