Up to 30 pieces of children’s clothing, including dresses, pyjamas, shorts, t-shirts and tops, are due to head north this week to assist drought-stricken families in Julia Creek, Queensland.

They have been sewn by six women who meet together each Tuesday at Wodonga business Julia’s Fabric Boutique.

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Sewing teacher Heather Dyke said group member Margaret Crago came up with the initial idea and “we all jumped on the wagon”.

“Because of the terrible drought situation up north we thought why can’t we do something?” she said.

“We’ve got skills, why can’t we use our skills to help somebody else?”

Originally the group wanted to support Dubbo, whose plight had received media attention.

“When we contacted Dubbo, they’d had a lot of help and a lot of donations from different ones around, so they said they are really right, maybe you better look up further north.,” Mrs Dyke said.

That led them to Julia Creek, a town of about 500 near Cloncurry, and a community representative moved to tears when she heard of the plan.

“She was so overcome that somebody had actually thought about them up there,” the sewing teacher said.

The Border group put aside their other projects and dedicated a whole session, although it ended up taking a little longer, to sew the clothes.

They worked as a team using their existing materials.

“We’ve been sewing for so long you tend to hoard fabrics and you’ve got bits and pieces everywhere,” Mrs Dyke said.

“We had a lovely time doing it.

“Some would be sewing up one lot of seams, then somebody would be at the iron giving it a bit of a press and somebody doing the next bit.”

Several members have attended Mrs Dyke’s classes for years and the three-hour sessions each week are valued as both sewing and social occasions.

“You do a bit of talking and have a cup of tea in the middle of it all,” Mrs Dyke said with a smile.

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