Katie Nidermaier

“I call my project “The Pocket Project”. I have been making belts for women recovering from breast cancer surgery since 2012. I usually work alone but once or twice a year the plastic surgeon’s office that I donate my belts to will host a sewing day and several ladies will come together to create belts. I also include my children’s Girl Scout troops and my sons Boy Scout troop in the making of the belts.

After breast cancer surgery women can have up to eight drains coming out of their surgical sites. I am a five-year breast cancer survivor and after my surgery, I wanted an easy way to keep my drains out of site from my children and others, so I designed elastic belts with removable fleece pockets. The belt is worn under your shirt and the pockets each hold a drain after breast cancer surgery. As your drains are removed you can remove extra pockets from the belt so you have just number you need. The belt idea was so helpful to me. I now make hundreds of belts and donate them to my plastic surgeon’s office. My goal is for every woman who comes into the office for their breast cancer surgical consult to have a belt to take with them for use after their surgery!” explained Katie.