Yesterday I met some a couple who work in prisons on a Pacific island, helping to rehabilitate the male and female prisoners (different prisons) so that they can go back to their communities on release, and start afresh. Their work is having great results, which is an encouraging thing to hear.
I learned that the wife runs craft classes in the women’s prison, so I asked her if they do any embroidery, or if they would *like* to do any embroidery. She said that mostly they make paper beads (of which she showed me some, and they were lovely), but some of the women do enjoy embroidery but aren’t very good at it.
And so I offered her some copies of my books “The Left-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion” and “The Right-Handed Embroiderer’s Companion”. She thought that would be fabulous! She said that the prison authorities would like the women to be better at embroidery, but she and her team haven’t really had the skills or tools to help them.
With the step-by-step nature of the books, and with all their diagrams, the instructors and the women should all be able to work together to improve their embroidery. Even the women with low literacy skills should be able to work with just the diagrams for the more simple stitches.
She did also say that they don’t have proper fabrics or threads to use. For example, when someone’s nightie can no longer be worn because it is too old, they cut it up and use that to stitch on.
So today I will be posting off a parcel of stitch dictionaries to the Pacific islands, to meet the couple when they get back there to continue their work. It would be really nice to think that my books might help in rehabilitating women prisoners.
White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations' quality needlework books and embroidery products.
Yvette, is there some way we can donate fabric or unused supplies? I’d be willing to send a box from the US with some of my excess stash.
Oh Carol, that’s very kind and generous of you! I will contact the people I met yesterday and see if that might be possible and helpful to them. Thank you!
Can we find a market for some embroidered products? What could they make? What restrictions are in place? I am willing to help.
What a great initiative by this couple! And…ditto Carol’s comment.
Thank you Louise and Sharon!
Sharon and Carol, I have corresponded with her today and she is very happy to receive donations. There are one or two provisos, mostly so that they don’t have to end up paying an import tax (which they haven’t budgeted for!) on the goods they receive. I will privately contact those who have offered to send supplies with the details.
Louise, I’ll ask her about the possibilities for sale. From the sounds of things they’ll need a bit of practice first!
They may need practise, but I’m sure that developing the skill will help enormously. There’s an organisation in the UK that teaches embroidery to prisoners, and it has great results for their self esteem, self-control, and (since they can do work to commission) future earning capacity.
Hi Rachel, Yes I have read about that program in UK prisons in Inspirations magazine. The thing that is particularly different in that case is that it is male prisoners, not female ones! I have admired what I have seen of their work. I plan to keep in touch with this couple in the Pacific Islands and see if there are ways I can assist them further in the future.