Collectively Speaking: For Meg Weber, It’s Fabric Remnants

A Making a Difference segment concluding the “NBC Evening News with Brian Williams” first alerted Meg Weber to a Christian nonprofit called Little Dresses for Africa. It told of a woman in Michigan who, while on safari, was moved to found the organization after seeing little girls wearing tattered dresses. It struck a nerve as Weber enjoys sewing and now finds that she has more time than need to sew for herself or her own family.

At first, she bought fabrics from places such as Joann Fabrics. “But then I realized that this could rack up some big bucks,” said Weber. She figured it was time to get some help. While getting a manicure in Narcissus, she mentioned her effort and was told the salon would be happy to post a flyer.

Deanna Keagle, a pillow designer who also teaches classes at her Tangled Threads Studio in Catonsville, saw the flyer and contacted Weber. Keagle was selling fabrics at a garage sale and invited Weber to peruse. Weber was thrilled when Keagle offered to donate a generous amount of fabrics to her cause.

Separately, Weber sent out emails to fellow parishioners at St. Ignatius Church in downtown Baltimore. One got forwarded to a friend of a friend who called her. Said Weber, “She was delighted to help me because she had mountains of fabric from her recently deceased mother and was grateful it could be put to such good use.”

She has also received fabric from women at her gym. Weber’s hope is that people will read this; go to the Little Dresses for Africa website and consider how they may get involved. The program’s scope now extends to 17 countries in Africa as well as countries recovering from natural disasters and the impoverished Appalachian region in the United States. There are patterns for boys’ shorts as well as girls’ dresses, and detailed information about sizing and shipping.

Although she has been involved for only a few months, Weber has already made 30-plus garments. She has enlisted a friend who is doing some of the cutting, giving Weber more time to do what she loves best: sewing. “I enjoy being able to fashion something out of what someone else may say is a scrap,” said Weber.

Weber comes by her sewing skills naturally. Her grandmother supported five children during the Depression by working in a garment factory in New York City. Weber developed her own interest in sewing through a high school Home Economics class. 

A move to Cheyenne, Wyoming, following graduation from New York University, where she and her husband met, prompted the purchase of a second-hand sewing machine. About to begin teaching, she needed clothes. And while there was much to love about Cheyenne, recalled Weber, fashions couldn’t match those found in New York City. She has been sewing ever since.

Weber and her husband, Paul, a retired Air Force major, moved to Catonsville in 1999, following stints in Wyoming, Ohio, Denver and Los Angeles. In addition to his military career, he has served as a deacon in the Catholic Church for 30 years.

Their move here was the result of a spiritual quest. “A dear friend in Los Angeles, Father Gordon Bennett, was made a bishop and sent to Baltimore to work with inner city churches,” said Weber. She noted that her husband had devoted much of his energy to this effort when they were in L.A. 

Bennett invited her husband to join him and they were happy to make the move as they have family connections in the East. Meg Weber worked as one of the directors of development for Catholic Charities in Baltimore, from 1999 to 2002. 

Said Weber, with an easy laugh: “I taught junior high school and I did development work. I am going straight to heaven.”

Reaching out through this effort, Weber seems to have found her own calling. “It dovetails with my religious feelings and my sense of what is a good life without any hassle, quite frankly, said Weber. “It’s something I can do on my own time.”

Once a few items are finished, she packages them according to information on the website, which includes a sizing chart.  They are mailed to Michigan and then distributed by way of missionary groups. 

One of the women in her church gave a pair of discarded draperies. The floral fabric will yield a number of pretty dresses and she intends to use the lining, as well. It is apparent that Weber inherited a “waste not, want not” approach

Weber sorts through the fabrics given to her and marks each with its yardage length. By mixing and matching, she makes creative use of complementary fabrics. She does try to make garments without buttons or zippers because they break and cannot be replaced.

For boys’ shorts in larger sizes, she fashions fly fronts. But even these are made from salvaged finds, such as snap tape from years ago. “I sewed for my children when they were babies. My children are now 36 and 40.”

When asked about her propensity for saving, she responded, “Good seamstresses usually do.” With that comment, she opened a closet and pulled out a large plastic jar—at least 20 years old—filled with buttons of assorted sizes and styles.