gemma! NÄHEN

As part of a two-month-long project entitled "let's sew", our participants have been sewing unique and exclusive gemma! bags.

Here is the story behind them: In the summer, a few of our participants visited the Community Café & Information Office at Schießstattgasse wearing very pretty, self-made rucksack-style bags, which they had made in class. It gave us the idea to start up a little project, in which our participants could supplement their scant pocket money.

Said and done! Shortly thereafter, we sent out a call for donations, asking our members and newsletter subscribers for any fabric and fabric leftovers. It started arriving in swathes! There was enough to design and sew the most unique and beautiful gemma! bags. We got down to work straight away and our young participants began making bags.

First, we had to decide on the right size and design to ensure we could use our donated fabrics to cut out the required pieces. The backpack-style bags consist of two sides of fabric, loops on each side, through which the cords can be threaded, and a band at the top to create a drawstring.

After each piece is cut out, it is ironed and then sewn. And voilà! The first gemma! backpacks, to which we later added a smaller version. After having created more than a few of them, we also decided to expand the selection and create a carry bag too. As a finishing touch, all the bags are given a specially designed gemma! label on the inside.

You can see the results in front of you! We hope you find a bag among the selection that you like!

It is a great way to support our association and, above all, our participants, Alireza, Asad and Najib, who have put a lot of work into creating these unique bags. Perhaps you can have a chat with one of them about how they made them!