Pictured (L to R)?are Marsha Huffman, Cookie Hartman, Mary Orr, Lynn Myer and Juanita Campbell. Photo Provided.
Pictured (L to R)?are Marsha Huffman, Cookie Hartman, Mary Orr, Lynn Myer and Juanita Campbell. Photo Provided.
A local sewing guild is looking to get the word out about the group, as well as make items for those who need them.

North Central Indiana American Sewing Guild will have a meet-and-greet at the Kosciusko Community Senior Activity Center, 800 N. Park Ave., Warsaw, on April 15 from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Marsha Huffman, president of the guild, said there will be a take-and-make sewing project people can get during the meet-and-greet. Some of the chapter’s past projects will be displayed.

 Huffman said she hopes to get the word out about the sewing guild, which meets every Monday and Tuesday, as well as the third Saturday of the month at the Senior Center. If there is a fifth Saturday, the group meets at the North Webster Community Public Library.

The guild has been in Warsaw for five years. The reason why the chapter was started was because there were people part of the American Sewing Guild’s Fort Wayne chapter that lived in the Kosciusko County area and it made more sense to create a chapter in Warsaw, Huffman said.

Members of the guild sew things like port pillows for chemotherapy patients, angel gowns out of wedding dresses “for babies that don’t make it,” quilts for Ukraine refugees and catheter bags, she said. Currently, there are 28 members in Warsaw’s chapter.

Guild member Cookie Hartman said the guild sews whatever people say they need. During the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the guild made over 5,000 masks and took them to hospitals and nursing homes.

Items have gone to people who need them in Kosciusko County, as well as to area hospitals and nursing homes in Goshen and Elkhart.

There is no requirement to join the sewing guild and people can be beginners.

They do have an annual meeting where there is a guest speaker.

There are different projects the group can work on. There will always be someone who can show or tell people how to do the project if they’re unsure. Hartman said it’s hard to know everything. Huffman said there’s always someone to help if a group member needs it.

If interested in joining the sewing guild, they do have a Facebook page, North Central Indiana ASG Chapter, or people can call the Senior Center. Huffman said people can attend the guild meetings twice before joining.

Huffman hopes the guild can keep doing what they’re doing in the future.