A decade ago, Ms Gell heard that hospitals in south-east Queensland and at Ronald McDonald House needed playmats for children undergoing treatment.
Despite not knowing how to sew, Ms Gell knew she wanted to help, so she borrowed a sewing machine, hosted nine people at her home in Eden’s Landing and got to work on making playmats.
It was then Sewing for Charity Australia was born.
“I didn’t know how to sew when I started the charity, so it was a bit of an accident, but I was trying to be helpful [to the community],” Ms Gell said.
“That was in November of 2015, and then a year later, we had about 800 people and a year after that, we had 2000 people.
“We’ve grown from nine ladies in our living room to 8500 volunteers around the country, and we’re entirely volunteer-driven.”
In the charity’s early days, they reached out to organisations to offer their sewing support. Now Sewing for Charity Australia accepts requests via its website for projects and is often sought out for its help.
“We’ve made over half a million items now that have been donated to over 530 charity partners,” Ms Gell said.
“We donate our projects to aged care homes, hospitals, schools, kids entering foster care, and we make things that are out of reach for a lot of families, like adaptive clothing, because they may not be covered by the NDIS.”
“We divert textiles from waste, and we use those fabrics in our charity projects, and then the rest we sell in our op-shop to fundraise and keep our charity going.”
Members of the public can buy their fabrics at The Sewing Lair’s, Sewing for Charity Australia’s social enterprise, two locations – one in Beenleigh, and the other in South Brisbane. Fabric is also available to purchase online.
To celebrate their 10-year milestone, the charity is holding an ‘All Stitched Up’ event at Beenleigh Events Centre from 9am to 5pm on Saturday, 8 November.
Sewing, crocheting, and knitting activities and workshops will be available to participate in both online and in person.
“We’ve got various partner charities attending on the day and all the activities are geared towards items that they often request from us,” Ms Gell said.
“We’re sewing and knitting soft toys, tote bags, burn cloths, sensory mats, for people living with dementia, and for children on the autism spectrum, blankets, and so many more items.”
Ms Gell said she welcomed everyone, including people at all sewing or craft ability levels, to attend the All Stitched Up Event or to join the charity as a volunteer.
