Disabled Gain Skills, Pride and Sew Forth at Fashion School

More than 15 years ago, Loretta Nunez didn’t know the first thing about threading a needle. Nor did she understand the complexities of stuffing cotton into toy animals.

Her first attempt at piecing together a quilt was, at best, comical.

“It was a real crazy quilt,” said Angelina Levy, director of the School of Fashion and Design in Alhambra, where Nunez studies and works.

“It was crooked,” said Nunez, 47, a developmentally disabled student, laughing at the memory of the quilt patches she used to cut. Some were too big, some too small -- when all were supposed to be the same size.

But now she specializes in quilts, many of which are donated to veterans organizations and convalescent homes in cities throughout the state and to the Alhambra Fire and Police departments. The school helps developmentally disabled adults like Nunez and her 36 classmates learn a skill and be more independent.

Levy said her notion of independence for her students, who are 18 years of age and older, doesn’t focus on making money to be self-supporting or moving into their own apartments.

“Independent means they can do things at home, they can go home and fix clothes,” she said. “They can live with their parents and do things for their parents and do things for themselves.”

The students do more than snip and sew at the school. They solve math problems, read, write and use computers. Sometimes they visit the dance studio next door, where they dance to salsa or country and western music. On occasion the class goes to a movie.

Levy, a Temple City resident, founded the school in 1984 and was recently named Small Businesswoman of the Year by state Sen. Jack Scott (D-Altadena) for her dedication.

“Her accomplishments were far beyond what we expected,” said Teresa Acosta, a field representative for Scott who reviewed applications for the award. “She could be making a lot more money.” Instead, “she decided to work with the disabled community and share her skills with a group of people that are marginalized.”

Levy refers to her students only as developmentally disabled and is hesitant to name their particular handicaps, in part because she believes it will limit them. “When you label somebody, it’s kind of hard,” she said. “Whatever problems they have, we work with them and try to have them overcome” those problems.

The work shows in the quality of their products. The potholders, aprons, pillows, stuffed animals and dolls that fill the workshop and storefront look as if they came from a department store. Some students make or alter their own clothing.

Every morning at the school, “I fix my own clothes,” said Cindy Yanez, 45, of East Los Angeles, lifting her black skirt enough to show the altered hem.

Many of the finished products are sold on the school’s Web site, www.sofad.com, and at the Alhambra facility on Main Street near Chapel Avenue.

“People find it’s nice to get a gift made by someone who is disabled,” said the school’s accountant, Karen Maxwell, while scrolling through pictures of the students’ wares posted on the Internet. “It gives the gift a double meaning.”

Levy said she has always combined her passion for fashion design with dedication to the disabled. While studying for her degree at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, she volunteered to help developmentally disabled young men and women learn to read.

“I just always loved them. I always went for people who needed help,” said Levy, whose son has a disability. “It’s a challenge for me when someone says, ‘I can’t do it.’ ”

Her response: “Yes, you can.”

Prospective students are referred from the Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center, a nonprofit Alhambra-based organi- zation funded by the state Department of Developmental Services and some federal money. The center pays the school $26.45 per student for each day of attendance.

Before they enroll, potential students must demonstrate an interest in sewing, said Levy.

One such student was Stephen Paul Mestas. Mestas, 48, began attending the classes 16 years ago after Levy noticed him popping his head in on her classes, held then in Lincoln Park.

“I would go over and be [there] all the time, being a metiche, a nosy body,” said Mestas, who lives in Whittier. “I wanted to learn.”

Some beginners often get frustrated when needles break or their projects don’t turn out quite right. But they must understand that damage and disappointments are part of the learning process, Levy said.

It took two years before Nunez got the sewing machine “down pat,” Levy said. In the beginning the quilting technique of contrasting colors and patterns was lost on Nunez. “I matched the same patterns together, but they’re supposed to be different,” she said.

But now she is Levy’s expert quilter and will help teach a Saturday quilting class that Levy plans to open to the public.

Nunez’s mother, Lillian, said her daughter has developed other skills since attending Levy’s class.

“She can do her own cooking if she wants to,” she said. “She’s more talkative and converses better now. And she loves getting on the bus.”

It’s the kind of transformation that keeps Levy going.

“I want to see [students] achieve something in their lives,” Levy said.

And she wants them to feel good about being able to do the “everyday, normal stuff” other people take for granted.