Sewing course gets new life at Westbrook Adult Education

WESTBROOK — Students crowded around Apphia Mpay and watched intently as she guided a piece of canvas under the needle of her sewing machine.

“Check your voltage as you go,” she said over the quiet whir of the machine. A minute later, she removed the fabric from the needle to show how she sewed on the zipper before her students returned to their machines to repeat the process with the small bags they are learning to sew.

Five students (most of whom are in their 20s and 30s studying multiple languages) spend a month in a 14-week course that will teach them how to work in Maine’s textile industry or start their own sewing business.

The course was born General Maine Topicsa free training program started by Dori Waxman that trained hundreds of people—mostly immigrant women—in industrial sewing jobs. When the nonprofit closed in August, Westbrook Adult Education jumped at the chance to take over, said director Jen Mull-Brooks.

“This is a wonderful program for all students, especially our multilingual students and new graduate students,” she said. “I love students and I love Maine, and putting non-traditional students into good-paying jobs always seems like the right thing to do. The textile industry in Maine is small, but the companies we have here are big.”

The course is believed to be the first of its kind among adult education training programs in Maine, Mull-Brooks said. His focus on improving English language proficiency and preparing students to start small businesses is also unique.

“It’s incredible because it’s mission driven,” Westbrook Superintendent Peter Lancia said. “It’s workforce development, but it has a real purpose and a real vision.”

Lancia hopes the program will grow and sees potential to expand this type of training to high school students studying at the vocational center.

For Scarborough’s Rebecca Copeland, the course provides an opportunity to prepare for a new career after a work-related injury ended her job as an emergency physician. Common Threads was the only local option where she could improve her sewing skills to eventually open her own business, so she said she was waitlisted.

“If I wanted to sew and do it in Maine and have those skills, it would be this site or YouTube,” she said.

TRAINING MAINE WORKERS

Common Threads of Maine started in 2015 as a workforce development initiative to support Waxman’s company, Old Port Wool and Textile Co. It initially focused on training people in industrial tailoring but later expanded to include training in business, English and mathematics. Before it closed in August, the nonprofit trained more than 200 people, 82 percent of whom went on to work for Maine companies, including American Roots, Sea Bags and LLBean.

“They were able to work good jobs, earn a living, send their kids to college, buy a house,” Waxman said. “They are living the dream. They work very hard to settle and put down roots in America.”

In August, Waxman announced that the nonprofit would close its training program “after careful consideration of the evolving needs of local producers and recognition that the program’s mission has been accomplished beyond its original goals.”

But it was clear there was interest in continuing the sewing classes — the waiting list is usually about 60 people, Mpei said.

After Waxman talked to Mull-Brooks about taking the course, the adult education program struggled to find classrooms at the Westbrook Regional Vocational Center, move sewing equipment from Common Threads and find room in the budget to cover the costs. Because the class meets in the career center, adult students must complete a background check when high school students are on campus.

Mpei, who was one of the first to complete the Common Threads training, was eager to continue working as an instructor.

“I had a really hard time turning it down because we still have a lot of people on our waiting list,” she said.

Mpay trained in fashion design and previously opened her own studio in the Democratic Republic of Congo. she and her husband asked for asylum in the USA in 2011. After graduating from Common Threads, she worked at American Roots in Westbrook, Sea Bags in Portland, and Angelrox in Biddeford before returning to Common Threads as a sewing instructor and co-director.

“I enjoy empowering others. I like to lift their spirits all day long,” she said. This is my passion.”

“NOTHING MORE LIKE THIS”

The course looks a little different now than at Common Threads, but the emphasis on preparing students to work for a local manufacturer or start their own business remains. There are fewer students—five this semester—all of whom are legally allowed to work in the U.S. and are very interested in a sewing career.

The cost is $4,000, but the adult education program helps students obtain scholarships so they don’t have to pay out of pocket.

The Mpay curriculum is 27 pages long and now places more emphasis on business skills. A literacy teacher comes to work with the students. Four out of five students are multilingual, and Mpay can translate instructions into French, Lingala and Portuguese for students whose first language is not English. Classes are held during the school day to help eliminate one of the biggest barriers to adult education: child care.

Candy Kanyinda, 38, moved to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo eight years ago. She has a degree in economics and previously worked as a special education specialist in Portland schools, but as the mother of a five-year-old, she found that a regular 9-5 job was sometimes difficult due to child care. She was looking for a new opportunity when she heard about Common Threads.

She says the sewing course prepares her for more flexible work, including contract sewing work from home.

“I need to survive. I feel like this is an opportunity to help me be free,” she said. Her ultimate goal is to open her own sewing business, perhaps making items like the bag she worked on in class.

At the sewing station next to Kanyinda, Juliana Nsakala leaned over her machine, sewing a zipper on her bag. She moved to Portland from Angola five years ago and dreams of opening her own business selling African dresses.

“I’m so grateful for this opportunity,” she said.

Over the next 10 weeks, students will work on a variety of projects, from aprons and tote bags to creating their own patterns. They will work both independently and in a team, each sewing their own part of the product, just like in a factory. Mpay teaches them how to use different sewing machines, press buttons and use an iron. Their classes will also feature speakers from a variety of businesses and community organizations.

Copeland, a Scarborough woman preparing for a new career, is excited about it all. She used to make costumes for community theaters, but never thought she could take up sewing until she found this course. She plans to open her own space for tailoring and visible repairs to reduce the amount of clothing thrown away.

Copeland said she appreciates the fact that the sewing classes emphasize teaching people about trades that are dominated by women.

“It’s incredible,” she said. “There is nothing else like it.”

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