USHA Sewing School Committee, Bhawanipur Anchalik College

The authorized study centre of Usha sewing school was established under the banner of Usha International Committee at Bhawanipur Anchalik College (BAC) in the year 2010. It is a center where people can learn various sewing skills, be it construction of garments or making home décor items, or making fashion accessories or embellishing an existing garment. The study centre can provide sewing skills that can be utilized for personal use at home, or for income generation through-

1. Making clothing, home decor and design oriented products for others

2. Teaching learned sewing skills to others.

The Committee functions as per the mission and vision listed below:

Mission:

1. To reach out to the most marginalized women of the society and help them to become financially independent.

2. To provide income generating opportunities to the learners.

3. Improving their social standing within the community.

4. To address distress migration by generating self-employment opportunity within the village.

Vision:

1. Empowering women from rural areas and encouraging them to become entrepreneurs by taking up sewing and training others in their respective communities.

The committee was set up in 2010 with Dr. Samiran Sharma as the coordinator. Currently, the sewing school functions with the active participation of the following officials:

1. Ms. Mami Das (Coordinator)

2. Monika Talukdar (Course Instructor)

3. Dr. Sumitra Bhattarai (Member)

4. Ms. Violina Patowary (Member)

5. Ms. Minati Talukdar (Non-Teaching Member)

Courses Offered:

Usha sewing school study centre offers a large number of courses to choose from:

1. Sewing & Design Course ( 6 months): A student can learn theory and basics of drafting, cutting and sewing for making ladies, children and men’s garments and select home décor items. The course is followed by an examination and a Diploma is awarded to all successful students.

2. Embroidery Course (6 months): A student learns about embroidery tools and its uses, needle type, embroidery frames etc., and a fundamental knowledge about embroidery, fabric selection, colour scheming and colour combination, design selection and types of embroidery threads. A student joining the course can learn 28 different embroidery stitches.

Resources Available:

The study centre has the following numbers of sewing machines:

1. 16 conventional Usha straight stitching machines

2. 3 Usha Janome automatic sewing machines.

Usha Janome sewing machines are very user friendly with the latest technology for ease of use. With Usha Janome automatic zig zag machines one can do rolled hemming, blind stitch hemming button fixing, button holing, zip fixing, shell tucks, surging and many decorative stitches to embellish the surface of garments and give them a good finish.

Challenges: The school is facing a few challenges in continuing with the courses; some of them are listed below:

1. Lack of funding.

2. Motivating the students to take up the course is challenging.