Sew What?

Grant County Journal
February 28, 2011
Sew what?
Written by Janet Warren
Growing up on San Juan Island, Shirley was taught to sew by her mother, who was also her 4H leader. When Shirley married Joe Reilly, her mother-in-law taught her some more things about sewing. The sewing instruction was passed down to her daughter, and Shirley served as her cooking and sewing 4H leader for over ten years. The sewing gene may have fizzled out, though, since Shirley’s daughter would rather drive a tractor than a sewing machine. Who knows if Shirley’s granddaughter will pick up where her mother left off?
I have heard the sewing gene may skip a generation. It did in my family. One of my daughters, Jodie, loves to sew and, believe me, she didn’t learn it from me. My mother sewed all the time, but I resisted being taught. After I was married, every once in awhile, my mother received a package in the mail from me with clothing that needed mending. And she did it—that’s the kind of mother I had. Now that my mom doesn’t sew anymore, luckily for my older sister and me, our younger sister, Sara, got the gene. Whenever the three of us are doing a sewing project, Sara gets a little impatient with Diane and me and takes over for us (just like our mom did years ago). Diane and I high-five each other, and the project gets done with Sara’s skill and our craftiness. At least we thought we were crafty—Sara has figured us out (“Did you guys just high-five each other?”) but she would rather get it done quickly than listen to Diane and me whine.
Shirley, however, always loved to sew and she got very good at it. She has done a slew of wedding and prom dresses. One of her most challenging weddings involved 18 southern belle dresses—the wedding gown, mother of the bride, mother of the groom, all the bridesmaids and flower girl dresses. Some of the dresses needed to be altered before the wedding because the younger kids kept growing.
Shirley made a crab and a salmon costume for Bellingham Cold Storage for the Ski to Sea Parade (Mount Baker to Puget Sound). They took first place that year. Hmm, was it the costumes? Shirley also makes trick riding costumes and has made a lot of horse show costumes.
Joe and Shirley Reilly moved to Ephrata in 1994 when Joe became the manager for Fekkes Dairy. He now works for Excel Dairy Services, servicing the refrigeration needs of all the dairies in the area. He is also the Dexter washing machine go-to-person since no one else on this side of the mountains knows how to service the dairy washing machines.
Shirley started out as the delivery driver for Cobies Dry Cleaning, and one day they asked her if she knew of anyone who sewed. “Why, yes, I believe I do,” said Shirley. Her Custom Sewing and Alterations business was born. She then began doing the sewing and alterations for all of Cobies pick up locations. There was so much work, they hired someone for the Moses Lake store, but Shirley still does the work for Ephrata and Othello. She now works for House Laundry, 259 Alder Street in Ephrata.
Nowadays, Shirley does a lot of zippers, hems, and mending. Instead of bringing in extra money, her sewing is now done with a deeper purpose. Every hem she adjusts and every zipper she puts in goes to support her husband’s medical treatments.
Joe Reilly, a type 1 diabetic, was put on kidney dialysis almost a year ago. He travels to Moses Lake to the Fresenius Medical Center for dialysis. This takes almost five hours each time, and he does it three times a week. 15 hours of dialysis on top of his busy jobs, but Joe doesn’t complain. The football season was the best for his hours of dialysis, but Shirley bought him a portable DVD player so now he watches movies if there isn’t anything on television.
Joe actually feels better now that his blood is being filtered through the dialysis. However, once somebody starts dialysis there is no going back. Joe was put on the National Donor Registry for a kidney, which has since been upgraded to a kidney/pancreas transplant. A person can be on the registry anywhere from six months to two years, and they just found out Joe is now really close to the top of the registry. This is a bittersweet time for Joe and Shirley, because they know that for Joe to get his transplant, someone has to die. Although a kidney donor can be living, a pancreas/kidney donor will need to be deceased.
I have been taking our dry cleaning to House Laundry for a year and a half now. Shirley is always so positive and upbeat, I didn’t have a clue what she and her husband were going through until last week. I was dropping off some dry cleaning and wasn’t sure who I was going to write about for my series on small business owners. I had a partial column, but needed something to fill it in with. Shirley, in her unassuming way, told me about her sewing business and then she asked me, “Would it be too bold for me to ask people to pray for my husband?” That got my attention because the columns where I have talked about Christian values are the columns I get the most positive feedback on. I know my readers will be thrilled to pray for Joe.
I got out my driver’s license to make sure there was a heart symbol with the word ‘donor’ on it. I may not be able to help Joe, but if something should happen to me down the road, I hope my family realizes how much I would have been honored to be a donor and help someone else live.
Thank you, Shirley, for sharing your story. Joe, be prepared for the phone call. There is strength in numbers and the good people of Ephrata are praying for you.