Sew Sister

Just like HIdden Figures drew out what the women were doing for NASA that went unreported, this book is another in that series of things that we didn’t know women were doing at NASA, and isn't it great that now we do.
In this case, it is a story of women employed by NASA to sew coverings for the Space Shuttle. Quilts were sewed by 18 women that NASA hired to make thes special blankets for the space shuttle.


And like in Hidden Figures, and some of the other women in the space program, these women were called on to fix the problem of the quit coming free while the Space Shuttle was in space. They had to work out how to have the astronauts repair it with items on the space shuttle itself. THey ended up telling them to repair wit with surgical staples from the ships medical kit. It worked, and this space shuttle, when it returned, did not go up in flames.


I love these type of stories where we learn about women that have been forgotten with time and circumstances.


It is also cool that at the end of the book it includes more technical terms for what happened, and how it was repaired.


Thanks to Netgally for making this book available for an honest review. This book has already come out, last October, so it is available now.

Written by an educator, this book is about the seamstresses at NASA..which I didn’t even know existed. This book is detailed but not too scientific when it comes to the blankets that the seamstresses made for the shuttle program.

Thank you NetGalley for this copy.

Living in the "Rocket City" I love finding new stories about the space program. I have never heard this story but I really enjoyed and need to find out more about this group of women. The white material on the outside of the space shuttle is not metal or glass. It is fabric. And the fabric has to be sewn together in the right measurements to cover the shuttle. The fabric is 2 inches thick and is sewn like a quilt. Jean learned to sew when she was young in Michigan. Sewing made her happy. She would mend clothes and make new clothes for her dolls. When she was a teenager she saw man walk on the moon for the first time. She wanted to be a part of this new adventure. She saved articles and read stories about the flights and missions and the astronauts. She created crew patch designs and sent them to the astronauts. She married and her husband was in the Navy. They eventually settled near Cape Canaveral, the Space Coast. She saw a photo in the paper about someone working on what looked like a quilt for NASA. The article was about women that made blankets to cover the shuttles. She thought she could do that. She had to make her own pattern from the blueprints. She worked on it at night. She finally heard from NASA. They had a spot for her on the Sew Sisters group. Her dream was coming true. One day the Atlantis had a torn blanket and the Sew Sisters had to figure out how to fix it. I'll let you read to find out how they saved the day.

Sew Sister is the true story of Jean Wright and the women who worked for NASA sewing the thermal blankets for the exterior of the space shuttles. Jean learned to sew at a young age, but was also enthralled with space as a teenager. Her dream was to someday be part of the space program, even though she never attended college. After she moved to Florida as an adult and read in the newspaper about the seamstresses that sewed for NASA, her dreams became reality. She became one of the 18 women, over the course of 35 years and 135 missions, who stitched thousands of fabric blankets that shielded the shuttle on reentry and protected the astronauts from heat and radiation.
Written for children in grades 1-5, this is a wonderful book for any age. It shares a little known piece of history, highlighting women who brought together the worlds of science and art in a unique way. The story is inspiring, the illustrations are beautiful, and the added bits of history at the end are fascinating. This gorgeous picture book is the perfect way to teach children to think outside the box, as well as the importance and usefulness of skilled trades. I loved this book and highly recommend it.
*I received a complimentary copy of this e-book from NetGalley and Tilbury House Publishers. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I received an ARC of “Sew Sister: The Untold Story of Jean Wright and NASA’s Seamstresses” from NetGalley and Tilbury House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. Out of all of the children’s books that I’ve reviewed, this book is the best. This picture book is going to be an excellent gift for any quilter to give to children and adults alike.

As a quilter, I’ve never considered myself an artisan or craftsman. I requested this book because sewing—and especially quilting—is something that I’ve been doing for a long time. I have a large collection of quilts that, over the years, I’ve accumulated (not including the ones that I’ve given away). I quilt not just because I love to do it, but also because quilts keep me and my family warm. Never in a million years would I have imagined that my skills in quilting could contribute so greatly to the advancement of science.

I am so glad that I’ve been able to review this book because it made me re-realize just how many things that adults can learn from children’s picture books! For example, I had no idea that 2” thick quilts were used to cover the outside of space shuttles, protecting astronauts.

Elise Matich is both the writer and the illustrator, and this is her first picture book. Matich’ story focuses on a woman named Jean Wright who grew up in Flint, Michigan with her twin sister, Joan. The author explains how a childless neighbor taught them both how to sew. After her marriage, Jean moved to Florida and it was there that she learned that a group of women called the “Sew Sisters” worked for NASA. The “Sew Sisters” made 2 different quilts to cover the outside of shuttles: an outer quilt which was quilted using a long arm quilting machine, and an inner quilt that was hand stitched. Without those quilts, the astronauts would not have been able to enter or exit space.

I was really amazed by the materials that the NASA quilters used. With quilts used at home, cotton material is usually pieced together for the top. The top is then secured to the batting, which is usually cotton or a cotton blend, and the backing is often cotton as well; the thread is usually cotton when hand stitched or a poly core thread when machine quilting. With the NASA quilts, I learned that the “Sew Sisters” used a quartz fabric top, along with a batting made out of silica felt. The backing was made out of fiberglass and the entire ‘quilt sandwich’ was sewn using quartz thread. It was truly amazing to learn this.

The illustrations are excellent. I especially love how Matich included a number of different quilting designs on the pages. For example, she included the bump back feather design and the swirl design—both of which I use in my own quilts. I also love how Matich showed Jean using quilting gloves while she quilted the shuttle cover (the gloves allow sewers to grip the fabric better).

The author included a section at the back titled, “Author’s Note” that included additional information, along with actual photographs of the “Sew Sisters.”

If I could give this picture book 10 stars, I would. This picture book is chock full of really interesting information. This book is going to appeal to so many sewers, and especially quilters. And I can see them buying this book in droves for young children. Many children are aware that their relatives quilt, and this book will really show them just how important this craft is. I **cannot wait** to see what Matich will write next, and I anxiously await her next book.

I had no idea seamstresses were needed to build space ships! This biography is perfect for women’s history, STEM books, and biographies, so I’ll have to decide where to keep it! This was a story I didn’t know and goes to show that everyone plays their part in things. This will a great read aloud, too.

This book uses luminous illustrations and poetic text to teach children about Jean Wright, a woman who worked as one of NASA's seamstresses. I always thought it looked like spaceships were covered in padded, insulating fabric, and it turns out that I was correct. Wright and other women sewed enormous, multi-layer coverings for spaceships, and this book introduces the science and art of their work without getting too technical for kids.

The poetry doesn't always flow perfectly, and there were a few moments where I wanted to change the punctuation to make the sentence structure clearer, but the book is well-written as a whole and tells a fascinating true story. The author's note at the end includes even more information, along with photographs. However, it isn't clear until the author's note how much time passed between Wright's childhood fascination with NASA and her future job with them. She started working with NASA in 2005, which is much more recently than I'd thought. I wish that the story had given a better sense of the timeline.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and I would recommend it to people of all ages who are interested in the history of space travel, like learning about little-known women who did remarkable things, or are interested in sewing and fabric arts. I'm interested in all three, so this was a great book for me, and I'm so glad I got to review it!

Sew Sister: The Untold Story of Jean Wright and NASA’s Seamstresses by Elise Matich is a wonderful story about a little known part of history. Sew Sister tells the story of Jean Wright and how she worked for NASA as a seamstress and how she served America. I loved getting to learn about Ms. Wright and the seamstresses and wish to hear more about their part in history. This book would be perfect for any reading setting! Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read this book. My review is also on Goodreads.