What once started as a hobby project in her attic room in Kerkstraat has become a small studio in her grandmother’s house. Nina de Vet makes her comfort teddy’s there. The special hugs are hand made from items of clothing from deceased loved ones. For the summer series De Kerkstraat we are in Gilze today.
Nina walks up the stairs and opens the door of the left -most room. The small studio is full of different types of fabric, drawings of costumes and here and there trials of its first designs. The ironing board is already ready and Nina turns on the iron. She will soon need it to make a comfort Teddy.
The room breathes creativity and that is exactly what fits Nina. About three years ago she started her own company during a graduation assignment and it was secretly. “I had not yet graduated or I had already received my first real assignment. Then I suddenly had to have a Chamber of Commerce number, while I didn’t even have my diploma yet,” laughs Nina.
“I made hugs from baby clothes or a dog’s blanket.”
No sooner said than done. She now makes mascot suits, hand puppets, masks, but also so -called ‘comfort teddy’s’. They are hugs made from items of clothing of deceased loved ones. “In the end I also made hugs from baby clothing or a dog’s blanket.”
A shopping bag full of clothing is ready to be transformed into a hug. Nina is looking for a number of items of clothing and starts cutting out forms. Then she starts working with the sewing machine to make the loose pieces together. Slowly her creation starts to look like a dog.
“It’s just very nice to be able to hold something.”
Nina has also experienced a loss. That’s how her father and grandfather died. The creative idea arose during her own grieving process. When opening a suitcase full of clothing from her father, she wanted to make something tangible. “Then you have something from him. You will not keep a whole wardrobe. It is just very nice to be able to hold something next to a photo.”
For her nephew, she has made a special consolation Teddy from her grandfather’s clothing. “I thought it was very nice to do. But also confronting, because I also have memories of those clothes,” Nina says. Someday she hopes to have her own place where she can sell all her creations in her own store.
Kerkstraat
There is a Kerkstraat in every municipality in Brabant. Brabanders live in that street with beautiful stories. Together with the DTV regional broadcasters, Southwest TV, Studio 040 and Omroep Tilburg, we will tell a special Brabander in Kerkstraat every day this week.