The flipchart says "heucheln” = to pretend something" and "die Amtssprache = the official language". We don't know what was discussed during the joint lunch.
In any case, new, unknown words have been recorded on the flipchart, as always. Hanna immediately takes a picture of them. With the personal notes on her cell phone, her vocabulary is growing steadily. Something is different today. A slight tension is in the air.
Today is an open sewing course. No one knows who will come and how many there will be.
Mogai is the first. An old acquaintance. She has been attending the sewing class for two years. She quickly grabs a coffee before the class starts and exchanges a few words with the team. Everyone is pleased with her progress in German. Mogai takes the praise and laughs heartily. Elisabeth and Jacqueline also arrive a little earlier. The two volunteers would like to discuss a sewing problem in peace. Jacqueline is a hobby sewer and likes to benefit from the knowledge of the professionals. "I can still learn a lot here myself and if I get stuck, there is always someone ready to help me." Currently, Amira's coat is in the works. She was given fabric by her brother. It seems to mean a lot to her; she tells the story several times. However, the project is demanding and requires know-how. The coat should fit well and be tailored to Amira's figure.
"Grüezi!" That's Dasha, the quiet Ukrainian, who immediately sits down at the machine.
Everyone says "Grüezi", the atelier has filled up by now. Some know each other and hug. You also hear "Salam" from time to time, but the friendships transcend language barriers. Just now, Amira squeezes Mogai tightly as she passes and says something in Persian. Since Mogai is Somali, she immediately translates.
"You are my heart," she says in German. She puts her hands on her chest - the gesture speaks for itself.
But there is not much chatting in the sewing atelier. Everyone wants to work, use the time and get as far as possible with their sewing projects. Monika, the former handcrafts teacher, turns to Sara, who has brought her daughter with her for the first time today. The young woman shows little enthusiasm - a teenager probably has other leisure dreams than sewing aprons. Monika, however, obviously has experience with such situations and gets the girl not only to sew, but also to laugh.
"Welcome!" Annette greets a young man at the entrance.
He is new and can barely speak a few words of German yet. Mahdi, who also speaks Persian and has already realised his own sewing projects, helps translate the short introduction. The sewing course follows a fifteen step plan: from the first seam to the production of a pair of pants. It includes three vocabulary lessons. Hassan nods and sits down at the machine. Sewing seems familiar to him. Unfortunately, it is now already coffee break. No one wants to interrupt the work, they all let themselves be asked. Finally, however, they are gathered around the table, treat themselves to fruit and sweets, and play memory.
Social Fabric has developed its own game: All the important expressions of sewing needs are printed individually on small cards and form a pair with the corresponding picture.
Hassan is brave and joins in immediately. Meanwhile, the flip chart fills up with words such as fabric path and thread path and is continuously photographed by those present.
Turan goes back to work first. He has a striped jersey to cut, and both the pattern and the elasticity of the fabric are not easy to handle. "Make sure it's right with the stripes," Jacqueline says and immediately helps lay out the fabric accurately. Left and right, her help is called for. She laughs, "Here I regularly practice multitasking, which is really fun and keeps me fit."
Turan tailors a pair of pijama pants for his son.
«Where is the camera?» Tuli has just finished sewing the fourth product of the sewing course and got a stamp in her personal notebook. Now she is having her picture taken with the new bag. She poses like a pro and hops around the table. The Polaroid picture is immediately glued in place and Tuli is vigorously ironing the new fabric for the apron, which comes next. Slowly, however, it is time to clean up. Everyone wants to finish something quickly; the mood is highly concentrated. Only Maya, who is still at the very beginning and has been sewing silently all afternoon, stretches herself with pleasure. "I've wanted to sew for twenty years," she tells her neighbor, "and now my wish is - what is it called exactly? Prefilled!?"
Comments