A Polish great grandmother in Brimbank has been recognised with a Medal of the Order of Australia for her decades of service to the Polish community of Brimbank.
Janina Archabuz, a self-taught costume maker, volunteer fundraiser and cook has long supported community organisations including the Sunshine Polish Charity Association, the Polish Senior Citizens Club and the Polish Jesuit Centre.
Her richly-detailed traditional costumes, sewn for Polish dance groups in Ardeer, helped give the community visibility and pride as generations transitioned from being Polish migrants to Australians of Polish heritage.
Mrs Archabuz said she developed her passion for sewing and dressmaking at a young age, with her first project being a garment for a toy doll made by her father.
Although she was pleased with the doll’s skirt, the young Mrs Archabuz was annoyed to find she had sewn the sleeve of the top to the bodice with the seam on the outside
“That was a struggle but mum’s rule was don’t get angry and frustrated,” she said.
“And I was thinking, and I made [the top], and I dressed the doll. Everything was on the right side and I was happy.”
Mrs Archabuz’s dreams of being a seamstress were put on hold during World War II.
She said it was the most challenging period of her life.
“When my son was born, I had nothing. Absolutely nothing,” Mrs Archabuz said.
“But I got one square [of material], that was my towel, and five triangles [of material], that was the nappies. And for his bed, that was a box from the rubbish tip and some straw and a little scrap of material.”
Mrs Archabuz migrated to Queensland with her husband and two children, spending periods apart from him when he was contracted to work in the sugar cane plantations.
Tragically, her husband later fell ill and was hospitalised
“And this is what started my trouble. Two children, no income, nothing,” Mrs Archabuz said.
She found work helping locals with various household tasks, but her husband eventually died.
After moving to Melbourne’s western suburbs, Mrs Archabuz spent the 1980s and 1990s making traditional costumes for the Polish group Wesole Nutki (Merry Notes) and also helped with catering and fundraising.
She created garments without patterns, relying instead on pictures of dresses.
“But I didn’t see the back [of the dresses], only the front,” Mrs Archabuz said.
“When I asked the [dancing] teacher, ‘how is the back?” she said, ‘I have to think’.
“‘Then think quickly, there’s not much time,’ I said, ‘I need time’. And she explained it to me, and that was exactly it.”
Mrs Archabuz said she would create eight dresses from one stretch of material, utilising every scrap she could.
Locals praised her for the exquisite detail and craftsmanship of her work.
Reflecting on her life, Mrs Archabuz said her greatest pride comes from the garments she created and her catering work.
“I was doing [lunch] for 200 people. Everybody was happy,” she said.
Next month, she will celebrate her 100th birthday.
“I am the oldest one in the family that I have known,” Mrs Archabuz said.
