Lead sewing instructor Apphia Kamanda Mpay demonstrates for her students at Westbrook Adult Education’s sewing class on Tuesday. Her students, from left to right: Juliana Pemba, of Portland; Rebecca Copeland, of Scarborough; Candy Ndaya, of South Portland; and Anisso Jean Pierre, of Westbrook. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

WESTBROOK — The students crowded around Apphia Mpay and watched closely as she guided a piece of canvas under the needle of her sewing machine.

“Check your tension as you go,” she said over the soft whir of the machine. A minute later, she pulled the fabric away from the needle to show how she’d sewn on a zipper before her students returned to their machines to repeat the process on the small tote bags they are learning to sew.

The five students – the majority of them multi-lingual learners in their 20s and 30s – are a month into a 14-week course that will train them to work in Maine’s textile industry or open their own sewing businesses.

The course originated with Common Threads of Maine, a free training program started by Dory Waxman that trained hundreds of people – primarily immigrant women – for industrial sewing jobs. When that nonprofit closed in August, Westbrook Adult Education jumped at the chance to take over, said director Jen Mull-Brooks.

“It’s a wonderful program for all students, particularly our multi-lingual learners and new Mainers,” she said. “I love students and I love Maine and it always feels like the right thing to do to funnel non-traditional students into good-paying jobs. The textile industry in Maine is not huge, but the companies we do have here are large.”

The course is believed to be the first of its kind among adult education workforce training programs in Maine, Mull-Brooks said. Its focus on strengthening English fluency and preparing students to open small businesses is also unique.

“It’s incredible because it’s mission-driven,” said Westbrook Superintendent Peter Lancia. “It’s workforce development, but it has a real purpose and a real vision.”

Lancia hopes the program will grow and sees the potential to expand this type of training to high school students studying at the vocational center.

For Rebecca Copeland of Scarborough, the course presents an opportunity to train for a new career after a workplace injury ended her time as an EMT. Common Threads was the only local option to improve her sewing skills so she could eventually open her own business, so she got on the waiting list, she said.

“If I wanted to sew and do it in Maine and have those skills, it was this or YouTube,” she said.

Apphia Kamanda Mpay, right, helps Juliana Pemba at Westbrook Adult Education’s sewing class on Tuesday. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

TRAINING MAINE WORKERS

Common Threads of Maine started in 2015 as a workforce development initiative to support Waxman’s company, Old Port Wool and Textile Co. It initially focused on training people for industrial sewing jobs, but later grew to include business, English and math instruction. Before it closed in August, the nonprofit trained more than 200 people, with 82% transitioning to jobs with Maine companies, including American Roots, Sea Bags and L.L.Bean.

“They’ve gone on to be empowered to work at good jobs, make a living wage, send their kids to college, buy a house,” Waxman said. “They’re living the dream. They’re working really hard to be settled and put a root in the ground in America.”

Waxman announced in August that the nonprofit would close its classroom program “after careful consideration of the evolving needs of local manufacturers and the recognition that the program’s mission had been accomplished beyond its original goals.”

But it was clear there was interest in continuing the sewing class — the waitlist is typically around 60 people, Mpay said.

After Waxman talked to Mull-Brooks about taking over the course, the adult ed program scrambled to find classroom space at the Westbrook Regional Vocational Center, move in some sewing equipment from Common Threads and find room in the budget to cover costs. Because the class meets in the vocational center when high school students are on campus, the adult students have to undergo background checks.

Mpay, who was among the first people to go through the Common Threads training, was eager to continue as the instructor.

“It was just really hard for me to let it go because we still have a lot of people on our waiting list,” she said.

Mpay earned a degree in fashion design and opened her own studio in the Democratic Republic of Congo before she and her husband sought asylum in the United States in 2011. After completing the Common Threads course, she worked at American Roots in Westbrook, Sea Bags in Portland and Angelrox in Biddeford before returning to Common Threads as a sewing instructor and co-director.

“I love empowering others. I like uplifting (them) all day,” she said. This is my passion.”

‘NOTHING ELSE LIKE THIS’ 

The course looks a little different now than it did at Common Threads, but the focus on preparing students to work for a local manufacturer or open their own business remains. There are fewer students – five this semester – all of whom are legally allowed to work in the U.S. and have a strong interest in sewing as a career.

The cost is $4,000, but the adult ed program helps students secure scholarships so they don’t have to pay out of pocket.

Mpay’s curriculum is 27 pages long and now includes a stronger focus on business skills. A literacy instructor comes in to work with students. Four of the five students are multi-lingual learners and Mpay is able to translate instructions into French, Lingala and Portuguese for students whose first language is not English. The class is held during the school day to help address one of the biggest barriers to accessing adult education: childcare.

Candy Kanyinda, 38, moved to the U.S. from the Democratic Republic of Congo eight years ago. She has a degree in economics and previously worked as a special education technician in Portland schools, but as the mother of a 5-year-old, she found having a typical 9-to-5 job was sometimes difficult because of childcare. She was looking for a new opportunity when she heard about Common Threads.

The sewing course prepares her for jobs that have a bit more flexibility, including taking on contract sewing work from home, she said.

“I need to survive. I feel like this is an opportunity to help me be free,” she said. Her ultimate goal is to open her own sewing business, perhaps making products like the bag she was working on in class.

Anisso Jean Pierre of Westbrook sews during class at Westbrook Adult Education. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

At a sewing station next to Kanyinda, Juliana Nsakala bent close to her machine as she stitched a zipper onto her bag. She moved to Portland from Angola five years ago and dreams of starting her own business selling African dresses.

“I’m so grateful for this opportunity,” she said.

Over the next 10 weeks, the students will work on a variety of projects – from aprons to tote bags to making their own patterns. They’ll work both on their own and as a team, each stitching a different part of a product like they would in a factory. Mpay teaches them how to use various sewing machines, a button press and irons. Their classes will also include speakers from a variety of businesses and community organizations.

Copeland, the Scarborough woman training for a new career, is excited about it all. She used to sew costumes for community theaters, but never considered she could sew as a career until she found this course. She’s planning to open her own space to do tailoring and visible mending to reduce the amount of clothing that gets thrown away.

Copeland said she appreciates that the sewing course puts an emphasis on training people for female-dominated trades.

“It’s incredible,” she said. “There’s nothing else like this.”