BANGOR – The Bangor Area Chapter of the American Sewing Guild is celebrating two birthdays this year – the area organization’s 10th year and the 25th year of the American Sewing Guild, the national arm of the organization.

Bangor sewing guild member Norma Binan of Hampden said the local chapter of the guild began with a small notice posted in the Bangor Daily News in 1993. That item brought together 12 women who love to sew.

The guild’s mission, she said, was to serve the sewing enthusiast by providing information, education, assistance and support. It is open to anyone who loves sewing in any of its forms.

For the past two years, the guild has conducted Come Sew With Us the first Saturday of each month at Jo-Ann Fabric Store in Bangor. Guild members help store customers solve sewing problems.

“We hope Come Sew With Us will encourage the younger generation who has lost the home economics classes that once offered sewing at the middle and high school level,” said Binan.

Teaching and production take place in neighborhood work groups – the Hampden Hems and Haws, The Brewer Stitchers and the Bangor Neighborhood Group. Members teach one another new techniques, share information about sewing and encourage new members.

Guild members also work for the common good of the community. They have made clothing for premature babies in the Eastern Maine Medical Center neonatal unit, Christmas stockings for a foster children program, Christmas gifts for Bangor House residents, table coverings for an American Cancer Society fund-raiser, and positioning pillows for the Levenson Center, a facility for disabled children. They also have worked with the Girl Scouts and the 4-H.

Last year, to commemorate the first anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, guild members honored local firefighters by making an American Spirit quilt, which spent a month at each of eight local fire stations. The quilt now is housed permanently at the Hose 5 Fire Museum on State Street in Bangor. Binan said the quilt project was one of the group’s “most rewarding efforts.”

The group now has 50 members. Past presidents are Louise Kirkland, Alex Turallo, Lelo Hardy and Deborah Lancaster. Andrea Dill is president.

A fashion show is held at the guild’s annual meeting and a show and tell table provided. The guild has held an “ugly fabric” contest, taken field trips to fabric shops, and held a summer cookout and a Christmas tea.

To commemorate the American Sewing Guild’s 25th year, Simplicity and McCall’s pattern companies have introduced two special patterns, Binan said. Simplicity 5687 is a wardrobe pattern of four pieces for women. McCall’s 4168 is a community service pattern for those who sew for hospitals, the Linus blanket project and other projects.

To join the Bangor Area Chapter of the American Sewing Guild, call Norma Binan at 863-4367, Dot Clark at 989-4140 or Lelo Hardy at 947-4143.