Being able to sew is a valuable skill, one that can give a person the confidence to create their own clothes or even lift them out of poverty. Since 2005, the Sewing Machine Project has made it easier for people around the world to learn this craft.
After the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, sewing instructor Margaret Jankowski of Madison, Wisconsin, heard a story that left her devastated: A woman in Sri Lanka had finally saved enough to buy a sewing machine and start working as a tailor, but when her village was destroyed, so was the machine. Jankowski told The Christian Science Monitor she had the idea to collect sewing machines "that people are getting rid of anyway," and also raised money for voltage converters and shipping.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The group has since redistributed 3,350 machines around the world. In places where there isn't reliable electricity, like parts of Guatemala, old Singers with hand cranks are sent. In Detroit, immigrant and refugee women and children from Yemen and Syria are learning how to sew on machines sent to the B.O.O.S.T. training program at Zaman International. It's a two-year program, and when it's done they can work from home, earning money from doing alterations and making clothes. "Sewing is very empowering," program director Gigi Salka told the Monitor. "You see it in a population that's lost hope; the ability to create a product is very powerful to them. They're so proud. They walk around saying, 'I made this.'"
-
Disarming Hezbollah: Lebanon's risky missionTalking Point Iran-backed militia has brought 'nothing but war, division and misery', but rooting them out for good is a daunting and dangerous task
-
Woof! Britain's love affair with dogsThe Explainer The UK's canine population is booming. What does that mean for man's best friend?
-
Sudoku medium: August 31, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
