Close to people | Stories from Bethel
Hedwig Esders pulls the strings
Hedwig Esders follows the stitches on the sewing machine with a concentrated gaze. In the sewing workshop of the Tagwerk day care centre in Bielefeld-Bethel, she makes colourful mobile phone cases out of fabric. "I designed some of them myself," she says. The 62-year-old not only has a knack for using a needle and thread, but also for successful design. "I look at what I like - and always think about what might go down well with others."
Hedwig Esders works at Tagwerk four days a week. In addition to the sewing workshop, the centre also offers a woodworking and painting workshop. Around 20 clients regularly visit Tagwerk. "I like being here," says Hedwig Esders, who has been coming to Tagwerk for more than ten years. "It's important to me that I can leave the house in the morning and work on something." As a trained seamstress, she is in her element in the sewing workshop. "I completed my apprenticeship in 1975," she says. She was no longer able to practise her profession due to epilepsy.
"I always have to be doing something and can't sit still very well," says Hedwig Esders. She never gets bored; she often brings her own suggestions for new items, which she gives shape to at the sewing machine with patience and craftsmanship. Cuffs, cushion covers, bags, pouches, rucksacks, lanyards and belts are all part of her repertoire - and new things are always being added. "I get my inspiration from the internet. I look at YouTube or Pinterest, for example, and keep an eye out for new ideas." A rucksack, for example, is not fundamentally more difficult to make than a mobile phone cover - "there are just more steps involved."
Less than five minutes have passed before all the seams for the mobile phone cover are in place. "That's it already." Hedwig Esders looks at the result with satisfaction. "I like to sew my own things from start to finish. Some people prefer it when they always do the same one step, like on an assembly line, but that's not for me."
"The things are well received. It's also a nice appreciation for me and my work."
The fabrics used in the sewing workshop come from donations. Companies, such as an awning manufacturer who contributes leftover pieces, also participate. The products from the various areas of the day-care programme are sold in a small shop directly in the Tagwerk, as well as at craft and Christmas markets. "And the items are well received," emphasises Hedwig Esders. "That's also a nice appreciation for me and my work."
Text: Marten Siegmann | Photos: Thomas Richter
This story simply told
Hedwig Esders has been coming to Bethel's Tagwerk for many years. This is a day-care programme. Due to epilepsy, the seamstress can no longer work in her profession. At Tagwerk, she sews bags, rucksacks and key rings, for example. Hedwig Esders likes that. She can realise many of her own ideas.
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Contact
Bethel.regional
Tagwerk day care centre, TAZ-In
Herbergsweg 10
33617 Bielefeld
Offers & services
The programme is aimed at people with mental impairments, addictions or people in particular social difficulties. The aim is to stabilise and improve their ability to cope with everyday life and shape their personal social situation, to compensate for performance restrictions and to reduce stress caused by the social environment.
