A Yekaterinburg resident, Olga Ilyinykh, has established a children’s sewing and cutting circle named “IONik” to ignite a passion for tailoring among schoolchildren. Ilyinykh, who primarily works in sales, views the circle as a hobby, with parental fees barely covering the rent.

Ilyinykh was inspired to start the program after guiding her son in a school project. Realizing that teaching schoolchildren the tailor’s craft was her calling, she acquired sewing machines and furniture to equip a small room on Gotvalda Street.

Students under Ilyinykh’s tutelage have been creating clothes that they wear proudly. The program focuses on simplicity to instill a love for sewing in children, avoiding tedious calculations and mathematical adjustments.

Designers Olesya and Evgeny Golovchenko contribute by sharing fabric scraps, allowing the young seamstresses to create new outfits from production waste.

In nine months, a child can typically sew five or six items, with one student achieving a record of 18 items in a year. Ilyinykh intends to organize fashion shows in schools and shopping centers to showcase the children’s work to a wider audience.