GarCo Sewing Works has it all in the bag
This article first appeared in the Citizen Telegram. By Mike McKibben.
Sewing clothes wasn’t at the top of, or even on, Jessica Lowry’s list of things to learn.
But now, the Rifle resident has mastered an important skill she can use in her daily life, if not to land a new job, thanks to GarCo Sewing Works.
“I had zero sewing experience before this,” Lowry said at a May 31 open house. “I never thought I’d take it up, but I’m glad I did. I have a son and he’ll get new clothes, thanks to what I learned here.”
GarCo Sewing Works is a design training center in the Henry Building in downtown Rifle, operated by Colorado Mountain College and Garfield County. Its five industrial sewing machines are used to teach sewing to trainees, many of whom are single mothers. They are referred through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, Colorado Workforce Centers, human services and the probation system. Those who receive public assistance are required to take unpaid jobs to learn skills to become self-sufficient.
Beth Shaw, dean of business and industry at Colorado Mountain College, Jill Ziemann, director of the college’s Go2Work and Gateway programs, and Doreen Herriott, a clothing designer with experience in the Los Angeles garment manufacturing industry, have shared oversight of the operation since it opened in April.
Discarded clothing material is gathered from hospitals in Rifle, Glenwood Springs and Aspen and used to sew cloth grocery bags. Other clothing material sources include the Big Agnes sleeping bag company in Steamboat Springs. That insulated material will likely be used to make hot and cold food storage bags, Shaw said.
So far, Shaw said, GarCo Sewing Works has delivered 2,000 bags to the Community Office of Resource Efficiency in Carbondale. That agency, in turn, distributes them to grocery stores in Carbondale and Aspen, where plastic grocery bags are banned. GarCo Sewing Works has a 5,000-bag order from the Carbondale agency.
“We probably finish 300 to 500 bags a week,” Shaw said.
Commissioner Mike Samson said he saw GarCo Sewing Works as a way “to help people help themselves by learning a new skill.”
“As a long time educator, that’s what it’s all about,” Samson added.
The county designated $40,000 to help buy equipment and leases space in the county-owned Henry Building to the operation.
The community stepped up to help as well, Shaw added.
“One of our board members sold his upholstery business and retired,” she said. “He wanted to help and he had the connections to help get us some of the machines.”
Ten people have been trained since GarCo Sewing Works opened in April and two have found part-time jobs, Shaw said.
“I know that everyone of them could have jobs tomorrow, if we had a manufacturing plant that needed people who sew,” Shaw said. “I look at several of these students and see the leadership and management skills to basically run this place pretty soon.”
Along with sewing, trainees learn how to develop creative talent, generate a payroll, bookkeeping, hiring, managing and supervising, inventory tracking, quality control, sales, e-commerce and marketing.
Once operations are fully up to speed, Shaw said, they plan to hire some trainees part-time. Most trainees take at least a couple classes at the college, too, she noted.
Lowry, who also sits on the GarCo Sewing Works board of directors, said she really appreciated the opportunity to get involved and acquire a new skill.
“I don’t know if I’ll pursue sewing as a career, but I’m really glad I learned it,” she said.