If you’re at prom and a Strath Haven suit catches your eye, you’re looking at the work of Mr. Patrick Keaveney!
With a lot of time on his hands during the COVID pandemic, Keaveney taught himself how to sew, and it has been a creative escape of his ever since.
“While I’m focusing on sewing, I can’t focus on what’s going on in other places or at school,” Keaveney said. “It’s an enjoyable hobby where I can concentrate on just that, and I love seeing the finished product and having something that hopefully lasts for a while at the end.”
Keaveney’s work consists of custom attire ranging from tropical shirts to sports-themed suits, with his most notable project being the Strath Haven suit.
“I was standing there at the prom, just your average joe, and he was wearing the complete Panther suit! He really goes to the highest degree to take a talent like that and do anything with it,” senior class advisor and history teacher Mr. Timothy Styer said.
Keaveney can often be seen wearing his own pieces, and he also uses his talent to make specialized clothing for his colleagues.
“Not only for us and for the class, but he’ll share it with other people. He’s made us shirts specifically for our families and kids and made Harry the Eagles suit, so he’s selfless in that way,” Styer said.
Sewing also serves as a way for Keaveney to express his own style, specifically with the bowties he makes.
“Sometimes, he’s the truest about his bowties. He’s going to be full-on around the neck tied, he doesn’t like anything clip-on,” history teacher Mr. Richard Foulk said.
Through his sewn creations, Keaveney’s strength lies in his ability to adapt patterns to make high-quality custom work.
“He’s imaginative and fully custom, and is able to mimic other patterns to build something based on something else,” Foulk said.
Despite the busyness of Keaveney’s educational career, he makes it a point to carve out time for sewing whenever he can.
“It probably takes me longer to make stuff than most sewers, because I kind of stop and start,” Keaveney said. “When I get a chance in the evening or on the weekends, that’s when I get to do it. My kids are older, so I have more time when I go home to do things.”
For Keaveney, sewing is a creative outlet that sparks joy, and he is grateful for the positivity it has brought him.
“It’s the fact that you can make something that lasts, I’ve made things in 2020 that I still wear and that’s kind of neat,” Keaveney said. “That’s what I really like about it, the fact that I’ve created something and get the chance to enjoy it over and over again.”
