Sewing With Nancy

Volunteer sewing groups often have interesting beginnings. Learn how the giving heart of a chemotherapy patient who made care packages for others inspired the medical staff to take efforts a step further. Please welcome Carrie O'Connor and Nicole Cerda to Sewing With Nancy. They're part of Operation Chemo Comfort. Glad you're here. Thank you so much for having us on. We truly appreciate it. Well, this is an inspiring story. Great projects to help others, and, Carrie, tell us how this all started. Well, we do have an interesting story. It began with a Stage IV pancreatic cancer patient. And she was so sick, and yet despite being sick, she was always thinking of other people. And she would bring in these huge tote bags filled with comfort items for patients, and we would watch this and go, "Oh, my gosh, a patient is doing this, "a patient, you know, and if she's so sick, we definitely have to do something too." So we started last spring, and it just organically sprang from there. And you're in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. Yes. - At the Froedtert Hospital. But this could happen in any area. And, Nicole, you joined this great group at a sew-a-thon. Yeah, absolutely, so when I heard about the sew-a-thon, I was really excited because I hadn't had the opportunity to sew for a purpose in a while. It was a great pattern, really achievable for almost any skill level, and I got to meet some really interesting people that were just as passionate about a cause as I am. And, "Sew for a purpose," I think that is the key principle that we're-- many of us who sew and make things for others strive to do, and here's a scarf, a reversible scarf, that... I think that anybody who could just think about sewing a straight seam could work on. Yes. - Absolutely. And very little waste, as you mentioned, and we'll look at the bandana or scarf on your form, but ties on the back, soft and covers-- great, great thing. But you don't have to just have woven fabrics. No, not at all. In fact, we tell people we have no restriction on pattern, fabric, or color, because we love it when people use their creativity. They just come up with so many interesting things. And here's a fleece hat that you've-- someone has made nice and cozy and warm, and I think what-- you know what I like to suggest to people is that they use the best fabric they can, not odds and ends, but things that are attractive and pretty, because at that time, patient needs is really paramount. Absolutely. - Yeah. Now, your sew-a-thons, in the first year, you made a remarkable number of caps and head coverings. Yes, we had more than 2,000, if you can believe it, by the end of the year, and, you know, that was just with very little effort, you know, in terms of getting the word out at all. So we are having a sew-a-thon in a few weeks, and we have a quilt store owner who-- I love it-- she's very driven, and she's like, "We'll say we're gonna make 500, but I really think we could do 1,000."

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And it's not a quick event. It's 12-- - 12 hours. But everybody can sign up for an hour shift, two-hour shift; you don't have to commit to the whole time, and any skill level can be involved, so whether you want to iron, cut patterns, you know, turn inside out, there's really something for everyone to do. And, Nicole, you-- or Carrie mentioned that the tote bags that go along with these are your passion. Yeah, absolutely, so what I love about the story of Operation Chemo Comfort is that anybody, whether you're a crafter or whether you just, you know, are at Target and want to donate something easy like Kleenex, we can put them together in these beautiful tote bags to lift the spirits of somebody going through treatment, and that can include, you know, hard candies, water bottles, electrolyte drinks; anything like that can be collected by almost anybody and donated. And it's really-- for your hospital grouping, area-- you have people from different areas of the hospital coming together to work on this project. Yes, absolutely, but we've also had people from outside Wisconsin. Last year, we had people mail us things from 25 different states... Ah. - And Puerto Rico. So it's pretty amazing. Well, I hope that you get many more donations or encourage people from other areas to do the same, have a sew-a-thon, do the same type of thing. I thank you so much for being with us and I look forward to hearing other good things that you're doing. - Thank you so much. Thanks so much for everything. - You're welcome. I hope that you've enjoyed this interview as well as our program on "Sew

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A Three Season Jacket," and we'll try sewing the jacket as well as perhaps some comfort caps for Operation Comfort-- Chemo Comfort. If you'd like to re-watch this segment or a variety of shows of Sewing With Nancy online, you can go to NancyZieman.com and click on a variety of different programs to watch. Also join us on our blog, Facebook, and other social media platforms. As I like to end each show, thanks for joining us. Bye for now.