Lincoln, Neb. —Nebraska’s only Sewing Lab opened to the public on Jan. 22 at the UNL Panhandle Research Extension and Education Center, PREEC, in Scottsbluff. The lab is the 4-H Lego Club Panhandle Cookie Bytes, Innovation Project, which is a part of the Nebraska FIRST LEGO® League Competition.
“This year, First Lego League's goal was to promote the arts through STEM,” said Natalie Creech, Scottsbluff 4-H leader. So, the kids chose to do sewing. We evaluated their hobbies and made spidergraphs (like treegraphs) to weigh out the options, and sewing came out on top.” Then, the club realized they could best serve the community by creating a sewing lab.
Through research, the youth found that there was only one other sewing lab in the Midwest, and it was located in Kansas City, Mo. The club collaborated with Sew Cool, the Scottsbluff 4-H sewing club, and the Extension Center to get their project off the ground. They gave a presentation to John Westra, director of PREEC, to see if they could use a room in the building for their lab.
“They came up with this creative idea of a sewing lab that provides free access to sewing machines and staff during specific hours to the community,” Westra said. “I was very impressed and really appreciate the initiative and innovation of these 4-Hers.” He provided them with space on the second floor of the center. On Jan. 11, the Panhandle Cookie Bytes moved sewing equipment, spools of thread, and other materials into the lab.
The First Lego League Competition has core values the teams need to follow. The Bytes used the values to build and keep them on track to complete the Sewing Lab. They noted on a poster that the core value, “inclusion,” helped them engage the Scotts Bluff County Homemaker Club. The 4Hers said that the project was intergenerational, as "every single lady was old enough to be our grandmother.”
The Panhandle Cookie Bytes also learned about the benefits of sewing, such as helping to reduce the risk of dementia, preserving memory, and lowering blood pressure.
Even the Lego robot the club created for the competition benefited from sewing. The club consists of three girls and four boys, and when it came time to name their robot, the girls chose Bernina. It is the brand name of some of the sewing machines in the lab and means strong and brave. “The girls felt we needed another girl, and this time, I let the girls decide, so we went with Bernina,” said Creech.
The community is welcome to visit and sew in the lab by appointment from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., or arrangements can be made for weekends or after hours at https://go.unl.edu/vicd