Evening star., 1933-07-16

~ UT of piles of gayly-colored
scrap cloth dreams of Wash
ington'S poor are forming into
" happy realities.
1t is a world Of plying nm
gers In the sewing room OF the ClotheS
Conservation Committee on the second
floor Of the Ford Building. The room
is large-sun-h flooded in the mornings
and always pungent with the clinglng
odor of cut cloth. There, from $3.50
a m. until 4 pm. every weekday except
Saturday, between As and so women,
on whom families ere dependent. work
to make clothes for needy families.
Discarded mems trousers become
three pairs of pants for small boys;
bulky petticoats that were Women'S S
fashion in 1914 become rompers, and
tattered stockings, hair ribbons, cordu-
roy skirts and tapestry samples ma
their way into garments and bedclothes,
some in the style Of the day, all new
and useful.
Completed raiment hangs on racks,
ready for workers OF the Dlstr1ct COM
mittee on Employment to deliver to
men, women and children for whom
the times have meant only increasing
rags.
Seamstresses Of All Ages.
The seamstresses are Of all ages from
16 to more than 70. AS they bow in
tently over their work their age shows
most in the color of their hair and in
their fingers. There are bony fngers
with swollen knuckles. Some are red
as though fresh from hot dishwater
Then there are plumper. younger fin
gers-uuicker but more jerky-that do
not leave sutureS as straight as do the
moro yrOrY, an6 Slnwpr hands
Seven hours daily at wage OF IS
cents an hour these fingers move.
Some of the women only work two
days a week. They are the ones with
one or two persons dependent on their
darting fingers Four days work is al
lowed for three or four in the family,
and there are several women working
all five days who have as many as
eight children depending on the prog
ress of scraps of cloth and discarded
clothing.
Mrs. Brandbury Directs Work.
Under procedure similar to that used
for unemployed men to obtain work at
are issued for the women after their
case has been investigated by the Dis
trict Committee on Employment to
make sure the case Is worthy and has
no other source of income. They take
these cards to Mrs. Maud Bradbury, in
charge of the sewing room, who directs
their work, sometimes finding it neces-
sary to teach the women how to sew.
Not long ago a middle-aged woman
with husband too i'll to work offered
her work card to Mrs. Bradbury apollo
getically. II don't know how to sew"
she said.
For two days Mrs Bradbury gave her
individual instruction in making ro-
settes of cloth scraps to be sewed on
quilts. But somehow the work re-
manned difficult for the new seamstress
81 can't do it," she said several time.
as she dropped her head on her folded
arms and cried. But she was persistent.
Allowed pay for only two davs work.
she volunteered to come In other days
without pay, and today Mrs. Bradbury
points to her as one of the best of ro-
Sette makers.
There is almost an air Of gayetv In
the room as the women work. Con-
her troubles. Mrs Bradbury said
Usually they discuss their work in tones
Just loud enough to be heard over the
hum Of the battery Of more than 40
sewing machines.
Some Remain Silent
There are some who remain silent
They are the ones whose past is one of
silk and silver and not scraps of cloth
That environment has left too deep an
impression, and an almost castelike
pride keeps their tongues still as their
fingers move rapidly on with their work
But in most of them this making
values of discards has bred sense of
joy Besides the material help they
afford for the poor, there has risen