Pictured from left, June Solomon, Barbara Willingham,
Gloria Purnell, Betty Bamberg, and Sonya Muhammad.
Bib & Tucker expands mission to teach people
how to sew masks and meet community needs.
BY JEANA DURST
“If you can stay home and sew, slow art saves
lives.” That’s the message on the quilt hanging from
the side of Bib & Tucker, a collaborative sew-op and
Their mission is to cultivate skills and community
for those who sew or want to sew, where everyone
can be both a teacher and a student. During this
quarantine, their work has become central to health
and welfare, as they show us how we can sew masks
to take care of one another. It’s all part of their
“Sew to Slow the Spread” campaign, which provides
instructional patterns, education, and resources. “If
somebody says I need thread and I’m willing to help
my community, then we will get them the materials
they need,” Executive Director and co-founder Lillis
Taylor says.
While the mission focuses on empowering
others to sew for their neighbors, the artists of
Bib & Tucker are creating masks for front-line
healthcare workers and employees of other
Bib & Tucker has its roots in a friendship
forged through sewing ten years ago when Taylor
met Annie Bryant, who is also a co-founder.
Taylor had returned from studying abroad and
wanted to open a textile business, but had one
problem: She did not know how to sew. After
seeking out the Birmingham Quilters Guild,
Taylor met Bryant who began to meet her every
Tuesday at the Inglenook Library. Taylor was in
her thirties at the time, while Bryant, an African
22 Bham Family May 2020
SEW TO SLOW THE
SPREAD
START SEWING TODAY
Visit www.bibandtuckersewop.org for more
information about the following programs:
Bham Face Masks: For those who want to get
plugged into their initiative for healthcare workers
Sew to Slow the Spread: For those who want
to organize within their own communities, or are
looking for no-sew options
Sew Your Own Mask: An instructional video created
by Taylor for UAB’s Institute for Arts in Medicine
Paper Quilt Project: Help make a colorful paper
quilt to decorate the storefront windows. To
participate, take a sheet of copy paper, fold over
a corner and cut off the excess to make an 8.5”x
8.5” square. Draw a quilt block, color it and mail to
the Sew-Op at 4915B 5th Avenue S., Birmingham,
Ala., 35222.
American retiree, was in her mid-sixties. “Our
experiences of growing up in Birmingham
were very different ... She patiently gave me an
education,” Taylor says. As she points out from
early on, their sewing co-op wasn’t just about
sewing. “It was about people coming together and
learning about our commonalities rather than our
differences,” Taylor says.
To request masks from Bib & Tucker, text your
Check on requirements. At press time, requests
for community and individual needs.
/www.bibandtuckersewop.org