By Audrey Anderson
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Recently, Bri Ozanne, Adult Services/Programming Librarian at the Medfield Public Library (MPL), taught a group of seven participants how to sew a zippered bag. The group had a wide variety of experience with and knowledge of machine sewing, but Bri patiently worked with the sewers so that everyone was able to complete a beautiful, finished bag.
As the group walked into the library’s community room, Bri told them to choose two different fabrics from multiple bins in the room. One fabric was for the outside of the bag they would make, and the other was for the lining. The sewers also chose a template for a larger or smaller bag and a coordinating zipper of the correct size for their template.
Bri demonstrated how to cut the fabric to size, using a cutting mat, rotary cutter, and a template. Then the participants carefully got to work on cutting their own fabric pieces at three cutting stations in the room. Once everyone’s pieces were cut, Bri showed them how to clip the pieces together with the zipper. The group was then ready to start sewing.
First, Bri worked with the more experienced sewers to assemble the first piece of the bag. As the others watched, Bri demonstrated the sewing step and gave an abbreviated form of instructions to the first group. Then Bri worked with the second group, giving a more detailed demonstration and instructions. The group used four sewing machines that were set up in the room.
Bri followed the same process through the rest of the assembly steps until everyone had a finished product. The sewers admired each other’s work and talked about their interest in sewing, what the bags could be used for, and why they wanted to learn about sewing.
Joel was the first male participant in any of the sewing classes that Bri has taught. His goal in taking the class was to learn about the basics of machine sewing so he could create a quilt from t-shirts.
Bri said she tends to hold a sewing class every two months or so. She is a fantastic teacher, who is patient and makes learning easy and fun. If you’d like to try your hand at sewing or another craft being taught, watch the library’s event listings on its website https://www.medfieldpubliclibrary.org/.
