By Richard Zowie
Leader Staff Writer
Danielle Brown glues a pink ribbon onto a white t-shirt. The shirt has black lace glued to the sleeves. Above the pink ribbon is this phrase: ‘Exercise hard. Eat right…die anyway.?
‘My mom likes to exercise all the time,? said Brown, a home schooled 16 year-old from Lapeer County. ‘I thought this would be funny.?
Jordan Kotas, nine and entering the fourth grade at Lake Orion’s Pine Tree Elementary School, decides to spruce up a black t-shirt with lots of frills along with blue and pink ribbons. ‘I just wanted to fix it up since it was a little boring,? she explained. The shirt has the phrase ‘Natural born DIVA? in pink letters.
For a costume party, 13 year-old Alana Whims cuts a slit in the legs of her black pants and loosely sews them with red string.
Another girl, Kassie Elick, puts a pink ribbon sash onto a grayish-green dress that has a white-flower print. She also sews pink thread into it.
‘This is one of my old dresses that still fits,? the eight grader and soon-to-be 13 year-old at Oxford Middle School said. ‘I don’t really like the pattern anymore, so I’m sprucing it up. It was kind of boring.?
These girls were participating in the Oxford Public Library’s Altered Clothing Make & Take program, where old clothes can be modified into something new. By using beads, lace, magic markers, and other crafts items, something old and drab turns into something new and exciting.
Whims, who’ll be entering the eighth grade at OMS, said that it’s an opportunity to meet people, show how good you are at sewing, and, as she whispered, ?…prove how good some people aren’t.?
Elick, Whims? friend, responded in kind: ‘Hey! I heard that! I’m very good at sewing.? she added that she likes the class because it’s free.
The Make & Take Program has been offered for the sixth through 12th-grade teens during the June and July months. This class, according to Oxford Library teen services director Charli Osborne, has been one of the summertime programs offered to youths, along with the reading program.
‘They seem to enjoy having the supplies and general guidelines provided, but still having the freedom and ability to create what they want rather than something that’s very regimented,? said Osborne. ‘The fact that the programs are free is a bonus.?
The Oxford Public Library, located on 530 Pontiac Road, is online at www.oxford.lib.mi.us.