Santa Fe nonprofit offers free sewing machines to aspiring fashion designers

SANTA FE, N.M. — A Santa Fe nonprofit is celebrating National Native American Heritage Month by giving some aspiring fashion designers a jump-start on their future careers.

4Kinship is giving hundreds of new sewing machines to young Indigenous artists across New Mexico and the Navajo Nation. Navajo fashion designer Amy Denet Deal said this is gifting them the most important tool to sharpen their skills when not every artist has the means to buy it.

“It’s not just a hobby. It’s a really valid industry to go into but the first step is making sure everybody has access to the tools,” Denet Deal said. “What we want to make sure is the kids have the tools they need to actually explore that as something they want to do for a living.

Amy Denet Deal’s nonprofit group, Indigenous Futures Forever, raised more than $35,000. They partnered with the Singer Corporation to purchase 500 new sewing machines and sergers – and hand them out for free.

“I feel really excited to have a tool to be able to express the ideas that I have in my head,” aspiring designer Jose Calabaza said.

Denet Deal is also behind 4Kinship, a Navajo fashion brand that currently lives inside the Santa Fe Art Institute. They offer young designers a place to showcase their creations and the resources to work on new ones.

“She’s opening the door to young artists like myself and other artists but having this space has been a game changer. People come in and I’ve sold more than I ever have in my career,” fashion designer Alex Vigil said.

Denet Deal said the next step is organizing workshops to teach young designers how to use their new machines. They hope to get more local students ready to apply for fashion schools.

According to Denet Deal, they still have more than 200 free sewing machines and sergers available. She said anyone, age 12-30, can DM her at 4Kinship for the information on how to apply for one.

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