FIRST EUROPEAN ORDER FOR THE SEWING CENTRES!

In August, Christelle, a designer from France wrote to us as she had seen an article on Sambhali Trust on the internet. She was interested in the Empowerment of Women project that the Trust is running and that 11 girls who had just graduated were now making clothes and accessories in their own sewing centres which the Trust has established.

Christelle designs and produces children’s clothes and asked if the graduates could help produce her winter season of children’s clothes that she would then sell in Toulouse, her home town. We were delighted that she chose the girls to do this work for her and to give them an opportunity to produce items for a different market.

There were 3 designs, 2 dresses and one pair of trousers made from thick cotton/silk material. The designs were entirely different from what the girls had been used to, as they were specifically for the French market working with different cloth and fitting waistbands, straps and pinafore bibs, which was a new experience!

So after working together on the designs and the prototypes, 8 of the 11 girls produced 23 pieces of one design, 22 of the second design and 23 of the third design (in 3 sizes), which they finished in 15 days.
The different techniques and methods that were used, didn’t come without any problems, but together the girls persevered and learnt a variety of skills to produce some very smart clothes for children up to 6 years of age.

The girls were very proud of what they had achieved and although they have been making items for the Sambhali India shop since the middle of August, it was the first order they had to do within a fixed time and working with the designer to her specifications.