Sewing Aid
Our client, Arlyn, has a condition affecting her left hand, which severely reduces the grip between her thumb and fingers. Although Arlyn is still able to use her fingers to hold objects in the palm of her hand, her hobby of sewing is much affected as she can’t hold material in her left hand while working with the needle in her right. Her request was for assistance in holding the cloth being sewn, currently the backing of a patchwork quilt.
The Challenge
Arlyn is passionate about sewing, but her hobby is much affected as it is a challenge to sew without holding the material in her left hand.
The solution
The design of a darning mushroom was used as the basis for making a support for the backing cloth. In this case, the support comprised a balsa-wood block, approx. 170mm long x 75mm wide x 25mm thick, mounted on a handle made from a 100mm length of 20mm dia. wood dowel. The edges of the balsa block were rounded and a piece of self-adhesive hooked-Velcro was fixed along its length. Close to where the quilt was being sewn a short length of similar looped-Velcro was stuck to the backing cloth. When the two Velcro strips were joined Arlyn was able to hold the quilt using her left hand which could grip the handle of the mushroom-like support.
The benefit
Arlyn can continue to enjoy her hobby. She was delighted with her sewing ‘mushroom’ – a nifty gadget designed and made by REMAP volunteer David, who equally enjoyed the challenge of designing and making it.
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