Stitching together friendships is the goal of the TuTu in You youth sewing group.
Now it is also the inspiration for its recent fundraiser.
“We needed to raise money to fix or replace our well-loved sewing machines,” said group leader Stephanie Toohill.
Since January, a group of youths, aged nine years and older, have been working on wish dolls, handmade dolls made of recycled and donated materials.
“Each doll is stitched together with friendship and each doll has a message of love attached to it,” said Toohill.
“This was really exciting because the students got to collaborate with an artist working in the community.
“Bear Epp is a Vancouver artist who now owns a business in Elora, and she came and sewed with the girls at the art centre, and offered us a place to showcase their work.”
From Feb. 1 to 11, the completed wish dolls were displayed at the Junior Arts Collective, an arts workshop and supply store owned by Epp on Metcalfe Street in Elora.
“It gave the sewers a chance to shine on Main Street, as the textile artists they are,” Toohill said, adding the sewers also created bags and broaches for sale.
The wish dolls, priced at $40 sold out at the Feb. 11 exhibition.
“We raised $400,” Toohill said. “I am really proud of these girls. They’re inspirational.
“They try things they don’t know how to do and they mentor each other.”
Their next project is to prepare for the Planet Youth Extravaganza, where the sewers will take part in a fashion show on May 27 at the Gorge Cinema in Elora.
Inspired by this event, the sewers are planning to build dolls for the local fire department to offer to children in emergency situations.
The TuTu in You group meets in the Rotary youth room of the Elora Centre for the Arts every Tuesday.
It is a free drop-in group for youths aged 9 and above. For more information, visit www.eloracentreforthearts.ca.
