The long journey from Marikina to Las Piñas covered
almost four hours (waiting time included due to heavy flow of traffic in EDSA
and Makati) but the long wait to arrive at the training venue proved to be
worthy as I was greeted warmly by women representing different parishes who
convened at the Good Shepherd Parish for the Stuffed Toy Making Seminar
Workshop.
Ladies aged between 20 to 55, seated accordingly, patiently listened to
my lecture on the Basics of Toy Making.
All exhibited enthusiasm especially when I recounted my early beginnings
in soft toy making and the many rewards I received since I started making toys
for gifts and souvenirs.
Our host, Sister Violy, a very
affectionate and thoughtful woman, who kindly fetched me from the subdivision
entrance on the first day of our training, together with Sister Debbie, joined
the class all throughout the course.
Day One, went smoothly as participants
enjoyed their first hands-on exercise in Pattern Making. Pattern templates for dolphin stuffed toy
produced from chip boards formed the core of the pattern making process. As soon as their first exercise were finished,
the class was divided into three groups and assigned a specific task – that each group, with their combined skills in
cutting and sewing must produce one dolphin stuffed toy, which will later
serve as their guide when it’s their turn to create their individual projects.
Swannie Mae, a participant, proudly shows her dolphin!!!
Day Two, considered as their most
challenging day, the participants got busy making Ellie, the Elephant. Due to its many puzzle-pieced templates, it took them so long to finish joining the toy’s body parts. Nevertheless, two groups finished first with
their prototypes and won a free cupid
boy stuffed toy patterns!!!
Meals and photo shoots occurred while
working and during rest periods. With
Sister Debbie and Sister Lea volunteering as “official photographers”, candid
shots were taken with the participants all-smiles posed with their toys and
patterns, giggledly excited about their newly found skill in toy making.
The rest of the topics were discussed on
our last day of training:
Closing Stitch
Face Sculpting
Cleaning &
Trimming
Costing and
Pricing
All the participants were given 2
additional patterns (Swan and Panda)
This batch of trainees learned fast. They neatly joined fabric
pieces together and finished the toys with less supervision. Three promising individuals, namely Josie
Llarenas, Rhonilyn Vargas and Jelyn Dumapig always finish first followed by Ate
Helenita Cedilla, Emalyn Lozada and Angela Merendad.
Before we part ways, Mrs. Cedilla and Mrs.
Llarenas deeply expressed their interest to continue in enhancing their craft. While others stated that they would want to
start making toys in anticipation for Christmas season.
I also expressed my gratitude and reminded them that Assissi Development
Foundation will always be here to help them acquire new knowledge and skills and
I promised to continuously support them with the technical and marketing aspects.
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