sew

They were trained for trades, but not prepared for professions: carpentry, welding, gardening, plumbing for the boys; sewing and cooking and nursing for the girls.

Eddie’s grandmother sewed clothes in a factory; his grandfather was a musician who played accordion and guitar in restaurants.

Southern California apparel companies have for years been sending clothes to be sewn and finished in Mexico, duty-free.

“It’s kind of like sewing,” she said of using patterns.

She searched for work, but said nobody wanted to hire an older woman who had limited use of her left shoulder after so many years of sitting hunched over sewing machines.