Sewing With Nancy

When the mom of today's Nancy's Corner guest lost her sight,

there was a double loss

the ability to see as well as the ability to sew. Learn how this tragedy turned into a blessing. Please welcome Tammy Roussell, who joins us from Lowell, Massachusetts, and is the founder of Mitsy Kits, the touch-based sewing ministry. Welcome to Sewing With Nancy, Tammy. Thank you, Nancy. It's a pleasure to be here. This is a-- this is a very fascinating way of sewing, and could you explain to our viewers the sewing with touch, the sewing when you don't have the ability to sew? Sure. So, as you mentioned, it definitely was a blessing. My mom lost her eyesight in her 80s and became very depressed, and so I was searching for a way to help her to sew again to reengage her. And so we had discovered that by applying a tactile border to all of our fabric around all of the perimeters, so creating the sewing guideline, that she could sew by touch. And so we've created this as a kit. And you started with a simple patchwork design, and by touch, you can see that, or feel the seam allowances, match them up, and that changed your mom's life, or her attitude, I should say. Absolutely. It was definitely a prayer answered. I was so amazed to see how it uplifted her spirits and just to see the quality of the work she was able to produce. She produced quilts for our grandchildren, great-grandchildren, now some great-nieces and nephews, so it's been amazing. But your mom is not the only person who's benefited from your devising this way of sewing. Correct, Nancy, so, what was also very insightful to us, after we brought this to senior centers and some low vision centers, was the discovery that every senior, whether they were sighted or not, enjoyed the process, mainly because it's very easy to use, they can use it in a group, and they can produce very quick, quality results. The interesting thing is that you can use a plastic needle, is that correct? Correct, so we've designed the kits now-- we've evolved-- to have various levels of complexity. So we have one kit that is useful with a plastic needle and ribbon, and we take fleece, and we put-- drill holes into the fleece so that people can simply weave a ribbon with a plastic needle through and create their pillow. Your mom's name is Mitsy, and you've named this program, this process, after your mom, correct? Yes. Yes. And you have over 20 types of kits, which, in-- you've been in-- you started this in 2015, so that's really remarkable in a very short period of time. Well, thank you. Yeah, it's really been indicative of what the folks that we visit with say they would like to do, so we've learned through all of our experiences, and I'd also like to mention, one of our latest learnings was that of the memory-impaired, so folks who could no longer sew because they've forgotten how to sew, and we bring this kit to them, and it's amazing to see they just pick it right up and love what the results are in their quality-of-life improvement. You know, we think of sewing, when you say quality of life, so often, depending upon where we are in our life, that, whether we're sewing for someone else, you have the giving spirit-- it passes time. It's--we need that creative fulfillment, so whether you're sighted or not, you've made it possible for people to continue their love of sewing. I'm impressed and amazed. Thank you. Thank you. As I say, I feel very blessed and love seeing the smiles every day that come out of it. And your mom, you said, has made quilts for her grandchildren, her great-grandchildren. That's impressive. Yeah. Yeah. They love it too.

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there was a double loss

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there was a double loss

Well, Mitsy-- well, Tammy, I'm sorry-- on behalf of your mom, Mitsy, and what you have done for people who would like to continue their love of sewing throughout their life, thank you for being so creative in your endeavor. Thank you, Nancy. I appreciate the time. You're very welcome. Well, thank you to Tammy, and also thank you for watching Sewing With Nancy during our first program of "Strip-by-Strip Patchwork Quilting." Next time, Donna Fenske will be back to continue our second program of the series. You can watch more Sewing With Nancy online at NancyZieman.com, where all of our programs are available, and also join us on social media. Thank you for joining me. Bye for now.