The Cupertino Courier

Cover Story

Photograph by Don Feria

Gail Gerensen shares a laugh with fellow participants as part the Sew-er's Helping Our Community at the Viking Sewing Center in Cupertino.

S.H.O.C. Therapy

Cupertino sewing center brings women together to help others

By Mayra Flores DeMarcotte

Viking Sewing Center has become part of the fabric that makes up the South Bay community since 1965.

It was so successful in its task that the owners opened a second location in 1993 in Cupertino where they now hold various sewing classes.

Once inside, residents are greeted by white and cream-colored sewing machines, lined up and ready for action. There are the standard machines with the basic features and the more sophisticated models loaded with options that include embroidery and quilting capabilities. Along the walls are spools of multicolored thread and sewing tools.

Suddenly, a burst of laughter is heard toward the back of the shop. A group of women is seated at various tables with machines at hand, fabric and scissors at the ready, with finished examples of their work hung on the back walls behind them.

The women chatter while they sew, talking about grandchildren, hobbies and life in this modern- day sewing circle.

But the group gathers for another reason. It is part of a volunteer group, Sew-er's Helping Our Community or S.H.O.C.

The women, who come from various South Bay communities, meet once a month, volunteering their sewing skills to make a wealth of items for local charities and hospitals.

"This has been my baby," says Viking Sewing Center co-owner Kim Landgraf. "I wanted to help our community, and I came up with S.H.O.C. I joke that the ladies come for their monthly S.H.O.C. therapy. It's just my sense of humor."

Landgraf began the volunteer group in 1995, originally named Keep America Sewing. The group started out making denim jackets for teens, but it quickly evolved into pajamas, stuffed animals, cancer caps, quilts and walker bags.

"Most real sewers have a big stash of fabrics," she says. "I have denim. I love denim. So I decided to start a sewing club and donated my stash to it."

Fabrics in brilliant oranges and blues are used for the younger children and teens, while muted purples and greens with floral patterns are more suitable for the adults, Landgraf says.

"Everything is donated," Landgraf says. "If they see a fabric that they like, however, most of the volunteers will purchase materials with their own money."

Over the years, Sacred Heart Community Services, Valley Medical Hospital and American Cancer Society have all been recipients of the sewing group's generosity.

The one condition required of charities and hospitals that receive the donations is that these items are not to be sold but given to the patients.

Giving back to those who need it most is the driving force for the group.

"I'm very fortunate," Landgraf says. "We should give to others so that when they get on their feet, they will in turn give back as well."

Stitch in time

Landgraf's life, like those of the rest of the women in the group, has been embroidered with various forms of sewing.

She has worked at Viking for almost 16 years as a "silent partner," focusing on the merchandising, marketing and "fun stuff," including the store's various sewing classes and S.H.O.C. meetings.

She has been sewing since childhood.

"I learned to sew on my own," Landgraf says. "I didn't like doing it, but I got to make my own clothes. Since I was from a single- mother family, it was always important to dress nicely."

She and her sister, Leslie Woodall, would have friendly competitions as to who could make more outfits.

"We were about the same size so we got to swap clothing, too," she says.

She recalls one of her first pieces, a lima bean-green bathing suit.

"It was hysterical," she laughs.

The then 12-year-old Landgraf used heavy poplin material for her bathing suit. Even though she was instructed to use lighter material for the lining, she used the same material throughout. Because the outfit required elastic, she was to supposed to make the suit 3 inches smaller than her regular size.

"Well, it didn't look right, so I made it bigger," she says, "and the cups that I used were also too big, so when I when I went into the pool, one of my straps broke, my bottom fell and the cups were concave. Luckily it was just me and my mom at the pool."

That experience put the brakes on her sewing skills, until her daughter Megan was 8 years old.

"Megan wanted to learn how to sew, so we went into the Viking Sewing Center and enrolled her in the children's sewing classes," she says.

While there, Landgraf decided to buy a machine and enrolled in some of the instructional sewing classes as well.

Sewing it together

Willow Glen resident Maggie Carlsen first learned about the sewing group when she stopped into the store on Lincoln Avenue.

"There was a lady at the store at a sewing machine, and I stood and watched her sew," Carlsen says.

She became one of the original members of S.H.O.C..

"One of the reasons I started sewing was because I could see a piece of fabric and what I can do with it," Carlsen says.

Her grandmother was a seamstress, so sewing was ever-present in her life.

"So whatever I wanted, I just had to ask for it and she'd make it," she says.

It wasn't until she was married and had her first daughter that Carlsen sewed her first article of clothing. She was instantly hooked.

"I loved making clothes for my daughter," she says. "I was lucky enough to have two granddaughters as well."

Now, along with the various projects for the group, Carlsen sews pajama bottoms for her girls.

"They're nuts about pajama bottoms," she says. "I make dozens of them."

When her granddaughters moved on to college, Carlsen kept busy with her sewing through the group.

"We're helping young kids and adults," she says. "These ladies are a great bunch of people."

The sewing group also became a major support system for Carlsen as she went through breast cancer treatment.

"They were always so supportive," she says.

Recently, Carlsen hurt her knee so instead of using her machine to sew, she sits in on the monthly meetings to share a laugh and catches up on the family gossip.

"We have a lot of fun," says S.H.O.C. member Mary Hively of Sunnyvale.

She carries on conversations effortlessly as she sews quilts for children.

"I can finish two quilts in just a couple of hours," she says.

She is also one of the original members.

"I love to sew," Hively says. "I sew between five and seven hours a day."

Just as Carlsen found support within the group, so has Hively.

During her time as a volunteer for S.H.O.C., Hively's mother died of cancer, her husband was diagnosed with and treated for cancer, and her granddaughter was killed in a car accident.

Now, she enjoys the banter at the sewing center and proudly announces that she's a great-grandmother.

Across the room, Gail Gerenser laughs out loud at a joke.

Gerenser has been part of the volunteer group for 10 years and explains that she's not a sewing addict like Hively. She comes for the laughs.

"There's no mercy in this group," Gerenser says. "That's what's so much fun about coming here. We laugh a lot and have a good time."

Sew-ers Helping Our Community meets on the first Tuesday of the month at Viking Sewing Center in Cupertino.

Viking Sewing Center is located at 1232 Lincoln Ave. and 10071 East Estates Dr., Cupertino.

For more information, call the Willow Glen store at 408.298.5696 or the Cupertino store at 408.255.6646 or visit www.sew viking.com.