Know about Giane
The Ellas lo Bordan workshop is full of hidden stories of incredible women. Stories like that of Giane, from Brazil. She has discovered that her passion, as well as her job, lies among needles and cloth. She could now not be happier than when she sees her cushions and those of her workmates, from the ÅTERSTÄLLA collection, for sale in IKEA.
My daughter is thrilled to see my cushions in IKEA”
"Sometimes I stop to think…. Because time goes by and I try to imagine my future. Hope keeps me going. I don’t know what will happen but I would love to keep growing professionally in the textile industry”.
This is Giane, one of the 20 girls who right now are part of the Ellas lo Bordan workshop. She dreams about doing this for a living, but just a few months ago she didn't even know how to thread a needle.
Getting a head start in the world of sewing
Ellas lo Bordan did not hesitate to offer her the chance to join the workshop. She found out about the project at the women’s shelter, she had no fixed employment and this marked a turning point in her life.
“Until then I had done all sorts of jobs. I even did a fishmongers’ course! But I found it difficult to find a job compatible with looking after my daughter. I remember I was interviewed in December and I was selected!”, a very excited Giane tells us.
Since then, she has not stopped growing in the workshop. For her, this is precisely the best thing of all: that she never stops learning.
“I’m not quite sure how to explain it… I feel fulfilled! For example, we’ve done pattern making, cutting and sewing all in the same day. After a while you get to understand the whole production process”, she explains.
In her country of origin, Brazil, Giane had always worked in education. Until she stepped into the Ellas lo Bordan workshop she hadn’t had a clue about sewing . In fact, her mother used to sew and she always thought it was so difficult. Now it has become her future.
“I would like to work in something related to the textile industry, because I can see that it is very wide-ranging and full of opportunities”, she says.
“My daughter is thrilled to see my cushions in IKEA”
Giane’s daughter is 8 years old. She also goes daily to the workshop of Ellas lo Bordan, where the childminder looks after her and then takes her to school. Her mother always tells her what she’s being doing at the workshop, and she listens, eyes wide open.
“I made her a little doll and now she wants me to buy her a sewing machine, but they are very expensive!”, says Giane. It sounds like she could become a future apprentice herself!…
They both live close to the IKEA Vallecas store and have visited it several times. “She is thrilled to see the cushions I have made in IKEA…. And I have a lot of friends who want to go and buy one."