Taupō Good Sort’s pyjamas sew helpful

Rewarding a good sort (left to right): Harcourts' Mary-Louise Johns, Good Sort Ruth Tremain, Mayor David Trewavas and Ruth's husband Russell Tremain.

With 13 grandchildren and a 14th on the way, Ruth Tremain already had a long list of sewing projects to keep her busy.

Not content to stop there, however, she has used her crafting skills to create clothing for families who use the Pregnancy Help service.

After a run of making sleepwear for her own grandchildren, she heard of a local initiative looking for donations of pyjamas, so sewed more.

It was a rewarding experience, so she kept going when she found that Pregnancy Help Taupō also needed clothing for babies and children.

That was more than half a decade ago, and she’s never looked back.

“Seeing how much they were appreciated, it’s just grown from there.

“I’ve probably made 500+ pairs of pyjamas in the last five or six years.”

Some of the pyjama pants made by Ruth Tremain to match a donation of tops.

One of her latest projects involved taking a large number of pyjama tops that were donated to an op shop, and sewing pants to make usable sets for Pregnancy Help.

“A lot of them were licensed ones that the kids really like - Paw Patrol, Marvel.

“To be able to repurpose those was great.”

She’s also turned her talents to an array of other garments for the service provider, including baby onesies, dressing gowns, hoodies and track pants.

Remarkably, she even pays for most of the fabric she uses out of her own pocket.

The quality of her homemade garments means they often get more than one life, making them even more useful.

“The girls at Pregnancy Help are enjoying seeing pyjamas that children have outgrown coming back in, then people are asking for the next size up.”

Families love getting something special that’s been handmade, she said.

“Just seeing the expressions on their faces has been so delightful.”

Producing so many pairs of pyjamas is a tall order, but Ruth works in small batches to make the task more manageable.

“I found that probably four or five pairs at a time is the optimum rate, otherwise it gets a bit factory-like!”

Her hard work and dedication didn’t go unnoticed by the team at Pregnancy Help Taupō, and she was nominated for the Harcourts Good Sort award by branch coordinator Ellie Godwin.

Mayor David Trewavas, along with the Harcourts Taupō team, presented Ruth with the award.

He said people like her provided invaluable support and enriched Taupō.

“Without beautiful people like you, the community would be a lot worse off.”