Glasgow sewing community knit free hats, gloves, and scarves to keep the homeless community warm this winter

Sew Confident, Scotland’s sewing tuition business, appealed for help to create and donate cosy, knitted items to Glasgow food bank (Glasgow NW Foodbank).

Founder Jenny Drew of Sew Confident rallied her crafty community together to help families facing a tough winter to keep warm and get through the cold months ahead. Putting their crafting skills to good use, the Sew Confident team and their community of helpers knitted, crocheted, and sewed gloves, hats and scarves to be distributed along with food packages.

The team of volunteers created a total of 54 items in November, a mixture of adult and children’s sizes, all handmade with love and care. The items were donated on Friday the December 2 by Sew Confident’s Marketing Manager Addie Mitchell. Addie learned to knit for the occasion and donated her own handmade hat.

One volunteer created cosy items using leftover materials from her own small business Jobi-Jo Stitches (@jobi_jostitches). Business owner Joanne Cowling makes hand embroidered felt items and used scrap pieces of wool to crochet scarves to donate. Another volunteer, a freelance tutor from Sew Confident, created four sets of matching hats and scarves from a soft felt.

Jenny Dew, Founder and Franchisor of Sew Confident, said: “The energy crisis is impacting so many people. It got me thinking about those the hardest hit by the rising cost of living and how we could help. By calling on our community, we put our expertise and the skills we’ve taught so many people over the years, to the best use possible.

“Our goal was to donate 50 items to the Glasgow NW food bank by December and we’re delighted to have reached that goal. It was brilliant to see so many of our customers and friends get involved and really demonstrate the amazing community spirit we have at Sew Confident.”

Shona Simm, Project Manager at Glasgow NW Foodbank, said: “With the energy crisis setting in, this winter is going to be even tougher for our clients, with many unable to heat their homes.

“As a result, we’ve seen a huge increase in visitors to our foodbank in the past few months and with some local councils having to consider opening up warm spaces as a lifeline, the problem is obviously very serious. We’re very grateful for the donations from the Sew Confident community. They will definitely help our clients ahead of the cold months.”