Sew Loved Women's Center has a variety of missions ― to teach, to provide a comfortable setting and to deliver needed services. It is all about the love of sewing and providing skill training.

Vicki Miles, founder and director, said Sew Loved is still working on all the missions and there is more to do. She is looking for trainees who want to learn a trade such as machine embroidery and alterations. “Training is free. Once someone can learn to hem a pair of blue jeans, the person will get paid by the piece.”

She is optimistic about whatever is happening in the building. She sees promise in providing services, getting people jobs, learning a skill, keeping the machines running and the lights on.

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She believes other people see the work as valuable.

COVID slowed things down a bit in the building, but plans are being developed again for training in the fine art of thread and fabric. Sew Loved has started open sewing events now on Saturdays and Tuesdays. (See Facebook for a schedule or check the website at sew-loved.org.)

During COVID, there was a little activity. For example, 90,000 masks were made by home seamstresses and given to first responders, government workers and hospital personnel. Another activity was for a presidential candidate. The staff also embroidered baseball caps for Pete Buttigieg’s campaign. “We did 9,000 hats for Pete. We loved to see a rally for Pete and see all those caps. We did those.”

Sew Loved, 231 E. Sample St,, Suite 100, is in the Vested Interest incubator complex owned by David and Cheryl Ziker. Vicki has high praise for the Zikers, who had faith in her vision.

Inside, there are a dozen workstations, sewing machines, a long-arm quilter and embroidering machines. In the back of the room are boxes of donated items, fabric and projects. It is a bit like a Disneyland for crafters and seamstresses.

The long-arm quilting machine clicks and beeps in one corner of the building. The computer-assisted machine follows a pattern to complete the top stitches. The old-fashioned quilting bee has been replaced with software, Vicki said.

Vicki said there was a stigma attached to the machine quilting, but that has disappeared.

Sew Loved is quilting now ― for a charge. Often quilt tops were stored away without the final touches. Several generations’ worth of quilts are in cedar chests and closets because no one knows what to do with grandma’s old quilt. Other times, a quilt has been used but now needs some loving care and patches. That is something that can be handled, Vicki said.

Let’s do that history thing. The mission began in 2012, when Sew Loved began in a community center. A few volunteers worked with neighborhood women from Monroe Circle, on Western Avenue. “I started a neighborhood sewing group.”

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The women were older and marginalized. “They had no money and no hobbies.” Vicki and a few others decided to share their love of sewing. “We begged for sewing machines, fabric to teach the basics. It wasn’t too long before we saw a change in self-esteem.”

They kept stitching. Vicki started to look for a bigger space. By 2014, the group got its 501c3 nonprofit designation and started teaching sewing classes for high schools and at-risk students. Later, factories in St. Joseph and Elkhart counties were looking for people to do industrial sewing. In 2018, Vicki said, there was a need for more room.

The Ziker building turned out to be a perfect fit for the growing charity. Vested Interest is an incubator space generously developed by the Ziker family with an emphasis placed on providing economical space for small businesses geared toward education and job training. Vicki liked the space immediately, and work began to get it remodeled for sewing needs. It took six months to move in.

Before COVID, Vicki and the staff of volunteers were training young people from the Crossings School of Business and Entrepreneurship. The Crossings gave struggling students opportunities to get job training. The South Bend Crossings later merged with the Elkhart training center in Goshen.

Vicki is in talks with South Bend Schools to participate in the Gear Up program, which is a seven-year grant to increase student achievement and preparedness. That would bring students in to learn about technical skills such as sewing outside the classroom.

Vicki has been working at this sewing thing since she was a child. Her talent for quilting has received awards and praise at quilt shows. One of her projects recently was in a Grand Rapids show. It will move on to a show in Houston in November.

Vicki retired in 2019 as the northern Indiana business owner of the telecom company VLM International, Inc., Mishawaka. Since then, she has devoted time and resources to sewing, planning and fundraising.

Sewing and jobs on her to-do list now. She said she is in the right place to help others.

Kathy Borlik can be contacted at kfborlik@yahoo.com