Ashton seamstress makes unbearably good memories

ASHTON – Have you ever wondered what to do with a loved one’s clothing that is passed on after he or she passes away?

Tammy Crook has a solution.

Crook makes memory bears and pillows out of items that otherwise might just gather dust in a closet or get stashed away in some container. A seamstress for more than 20 years, Crook began doing this about 3 years ago, after her mother, Betty Hawley, died.

“My niece, shortly after Mom passed away, called me and asked me if I’d make a memory bear, and if I had ever made one,” Crook said. “I said no. She goes, ‘Well, will you make me one?’ We got one of Mom’s sweaters and made a memory bear.

“I saw how much it meant for her when she got it that I started making a couple, put it on Facebook, and it took off from there.”

Crook has made more than 100 memory bears and pillows; she has 15 different projects going in her basement shop right now. She’s used Army clothes, fur coats, nighties, flannel shirts, coats, T-shirts, sweatshirts, bedspreads, onesies, dresses, wedding dresses, ties and bluejeans.

The easiest jobs are made with flannel shirts, while the most difficult used a leather coat.

“Cutting the leather was good, but sewing was difficult,” Crook said. “There’s quite a few layers that you have to sew, so that was a tough one.”

Crook’s projects also extend into the pet realm.

“Somebody had a dog that passed away, and the dog had a little blanket,” Crook said. “I made a bear from that.”

Crook works 40 hours a week as a lab technician at Crest Foods in Ashton, and also takes care of her father, John Hawley, who lives with her in Ashton. An avid bicyclist, she makes time for frequent rides, which leaves only so much time to make memory bears and pillows. She spends about 25 hours a week doing that, and the average bear takes about 5 hours to complete.

She charges $35 for a bear or pillow, or $15 for a small one. It can also come with a personalized patch containing a message.

The extra income is nice, but it’s not her main motivation.

“It’s just knowing that I’m giving comfort to these people, and seeing them when they pick it up. When they text me how much they love it and enjoy it, that’s very satisfying.”

That feedback is one of the best parts.

“They love it,” Crook said. “A lot of time they send me videos, too, of the person opening it up and what it means to them. Sometimes, too, it’s kind of hard because they’ll come and pick up their items and then just leave. I’m like, ‘Oh, they didn’t like it.’ Then they’ll send me a text, ‘I was too emotional to say anything about it.’ That’s really sweet.”

Most of Crook’s customers are local, but she has accepted jobs from people as far away as Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan. She has yet to turn down any requests because an item was too far gone to use.

“There was a fur shawl that a lady mailed to me that was in really bad shape,” Crook said. “I actually had to kind of glue it together, with fabric behind it, and it came out really good. That was a tough one ... I’ve never turned anything down. Not yet.”

Tammy’s Sewing & Upholstery is at 706 Douglas Ave. in Ashton. Call her at 815-757-0750 or find it on Facebook.