Sewing for others - Alzheimer sufferers

Are you feeling the effects of the February blahs? Do you find yourself not settling on finishing up one project? Are you constantly looking to begin yet another project? Do you want the satisfaction of making something quickly, something small enough to give you pleasure in a finished item?
Then why not make an activity mat for a person suffering with Alzheimer's?

Sounds like a commercial - I know. But the thoughts are genuine.

Yesterday I was watching Sewing with Nancy. In the last part of her show, Nancy interviewed a lady by the name of Marcia. She makes Alzheimer Activity Mats. I had never heard of these. My mother spent her final years in a long term care facility (she did not have Alzheimer's) and I knew that there was a floor or area specifically for Alzheimer residents. One lady who was around a lot seemed quite young - my age or younger and her symptoms were only noticeable if you spent time with her. An acquaintance that I worked with had a mother who had Alzheimer's and she was a wanderer. Her mother managed to get off a locked floor on a couple of occasions and even made it out onto the street. Anyway, these activity mats keep the person's hands active and may even help to relieve stress. I thought it was a wonderful idea and so here's the link.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0WiAKMpFF5BclpVMlJ4ci1oeXM/edit


This is what they look like. I took this photo off Marcia's blog without her permission. The link to the instructions will show you other interpretations of this activity mat.

I think, as all sewers, we have accumulated a lot of notions and odds and ends of different things that could be used on an activity mat. I can finally use up the ric rac that I dislike, the tons of buttons that came from my own stash, my mother's and a friend's, the reams of ribbons that are hanging around in various places and the zippers that I kept buying because they were on sale and, at the time, I was sewing children's clothes and my own. Bright fabrics, different textures and various items that can be taken out or sewn/linked/attached to the mat. What fun it would be to design your own mat using items that you have in your own stash. Each one can be so very different.

Also on Marcia's blog are instructions for making Texture Books.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0WiAKMpFF5BbHpsdEI4VERIaW8/edit

Why not have fun sewing for others? Quite a lot of us already do things for various charities (sewing, knitting, crocheting) and I wanted you all to have a variety of options. These activity mats are not big. So, if you want to make something that is roughly the same size as a cat or dog mat for shelters, this will help you to use up a lot more 'stuff' from your sewing room.

It's a win win situation.

Happy sewing, knitting or crocheting.