![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976944.1721898750!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'It's like therapy': Calgary teens' relationship stitched together over common passion
Sewing is more than it seems for a group of Calgary teens who became friends while taking lessons as young girls.
The hum of machines and chatter of friends fills Sandy Stewart's sewing room.
She's taught about a thousand students since the 1980s but four 17-year-olds – Lily Derwee Church, Finnley Maloney, Hailey Southorn and Hannah Timson – have been coming to her basement sewing studio for years.
Some of the girls started at seven or eight years old.
"Most students stay for about two to three years, but these girls have persevered for a lot longer than that. They got to know each other here and now they're friends," said Stewart, who runs Calgary-based Seams So Easy.
"We created a bond in sewing class, but also outside of sewing class," said Timson.
The girls also meet in-person once a week.
Working side-by-side and sometimes together, their work builds more than just their latest pieces. It builds confidence too.
"I like to know that I can make things," said Church.
"I go to the store and I see a shirt and I'm thinking, 'oh, I could probably make that.' There's no use of buying it if I can just do it myself."
The girls say it's not just about creating unique pieces there is something special about wearing something you made yourself.
"Knowing that time and effort that went into making something, it's a really good feeling," said Southorn.
Gathering, easing and working on raw edges aren't only terms that apply to fabric for this group.
"It's a relationship outside of my family that's sort of like family," Maloney said.
"It's our own little getaway from, from stress from school and family situations."
"It’s like therapy for sure it is. It's not about the product, it's the process to get there," Stewart said.
Over the years, they've worked up from simple tote bags to commissions for family members.
"I've become more creative," said Timson, who sewed a dress for her mom to wear to a wedding.
"I'm able to like look at something and just say, 'I want to make that' and I can go and make it."
The girls have also been together through personal moments including getting driver's licences and romances and they've even kept in touch over the pandemic.
"The friendships I've made here, they lasted throughout all of COVID, so that is nice," said Maloney.
Looming graduations will alter this pattern.
Timson is in Grade 11 but the other three girls are in Grade 12 and are already thinking about their future paths.
"I want to continue sewing like even after, and if this does take me in a career path some way that would be great," said Southorn.
Nevertheless, the memories and life lessons are stitched into their lives and the girls expect the sewing and friendships will remain.
The girls seem to have caught onto a trend early.
A research report from 2023 shows the demand for household sewing machines is rising worldwide, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6976926.1721883767!/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.png)
DEVELOPING Alberta's request for federal assistance approved after fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on social media that Ottawa has approved Alberta's request for federal assistance after a fast-moving wildfire hit Jasper National Park and its townsite late Wednesday.
Jasper mayor says alert system to be reviewed after message 'glitch'
More than 25,000 people have been displaced from Jasper National Park since wildfires started to threaten the picturesque corner of Alberta Rockies on Monday, but the mayor of its namesake municipality says not everyone received an evacuation alert when it was sent out.
Canada's premiers forced to confront escalating climate change-related disasters
Many of Canada's provincial and territorial leaders remained consumed by climate change-related natural disasters that have only escalated since they met for meetings in Halifax last week.
Biden explains why he ended re-election bid in Oval Office address
U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday delivered a solemn call to voters to defend the country's democracy as he laid out in an Oval Office address his decision to drop his bid for reelection and throw his support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.
Unclaimed bodies are piling up in Newfoundland. A funeral director blames the government
A funeral director in St. John's says the bodies piling up in freezers at Newfoundland and Labrador's largest hospital likely belong to people whose loved ones couldn't get enough government help to pay for a funeral.
U.K. police officer suspended after video appears to show a man being kicked in head
A British police officer was suspended from all duties Thursday after a video was posted on social media that appeared to show an officer kicking and stamping on the head of a man lying on the floor of a terminal at Manchester Airport.
Norad intercepts Russian and Chinese bombers operating together near Alaska in apparent first
The North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) intercepted two Russian and two Chinese bombers flying near Alaska Wednesday in what appears to be the first time the two countries have been intercepted while operating together.
Barrie-Innisfil MPP 'blacked-out' and crashed car into window of child care centre
Staff at a Barrie child care centre say they are frustrated by what they call a local MPP's inadequate response after a car crashed through a window in one of the toddler rooms.
Monday breaks the record for the hottest day ever on Earth
Driven by oceans that won't cool down, an unseasonably warm Antarctica and worsening climate change, Earth's record hot streak dialed up this week, making Monday the hottest day humans have measured.