Final number is 63 for sp'egg'tacular easter charity drive

The final tally for the pairs of shorts I have received from the sp'egg'tacular easter charity drive is 63. The drive was for 55 pairs and I received eight more than expected. Thank you so much to everyone who made it possible and a special thanks to Katherine Nott. It is very much appreciated. 

Although some of these pairs have already been given away to the children of the Anugrah home for Children at Ambarnath Maharashtra in Mumbai, India, please click here to check out the full collection received.

Thank you so much.

FY12/Week 19 - Long Shorts completed during the week 7May-13May-12 by Dress A Girl Australia

'sp'egg'tacular easter charity drive #6'. For FY12/Week 19, I spent sewing pairs of long shorts as I want to send more pairs to Uganda in the next parcel. I thought I had sewn up all the colourful fabric I had but to my surprise I saw more under the bed I was using for all pre-cut fabrics . The pre-cuts equivalent to 4 pairs must have fallen when I was trying to account for all the pillowcases I still have on hand. Tsk...Tsk...clumsy me. So here are the 4 pairs I did from the colourful fabric -

From donated fabrics FY12#12. Also, my work colleague Joan who donated the Mickey Mouse fabric keeps on reminding me to start making shorts for her so I could include it in my next Uganda parcel. This was the other reason why I focused on making shorts for the week. I was able to cut and sew six pairs from the donated fabric. Tried my best to make sure Mickey was in the front section.

These ten pairs are still included in the count for the sp'egg'tacular Easter charity drive for pairs of shorts as the fabrics were intended for the drive. I could have done more but I spent Saturday packing dresses and Sunday was Mother's Day so I didnt do any sewing or packing or anything related to Dress A Girl Australia.

Next week I will be concentrating on making T-shirt dresses or dresses with sleeves for my Papua New Guinea collection.

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #49 - Shorts from Sharyn of South Australia

'sp'egg'tacular easter charity drive #5'. Another batch of donation from Sharyn Paull are these 6 pairs of shorts which is counted as part of the easter charity drive.

Five pairs were made from recycling men's shirts. Sharyn is not only helping disadvantaged kids but also saving our planet. 

Well done Sharyn. Thank you so much for your donation. Much appreciated.

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #43 - Dresses from Sandra Price and her mum Betty

'sp'egg'tacular easter charity drive #4'. This batch of dresses and pairs of shorts is a combined mother(Betty)-and-daughter(Sandra) team effort and donation to help dress disadvantaged girls around the world.

For a long time Sandra was looking for a cause to support where she can put her sewing skills to good use and was thrilled to find Dress A Girl Australia's page.And what a 'thrill-a-day' it must be for her considering that she is a mother of 2, a part-time bookkeeper and a part-time Uni student and looks forward to many more donations. 

Sandra, thank you so very much for supporting the cause of dressing disadvantaged children around the world. Every effort and time you spend making dresses is very much appreciated. Please extend my heartfelt thank you to your mum Betty for sharing the task of making dresses with you and for sewing dresses out of Ruby's fabric donations. Thank you.

To all the daughters out there who is looking for something to do together with their  mums, well, I think we just found an activity that you can easily share with each other. A 'Mother-Daughter' Sewing Bee. Either one can learn from each other and if both are starters what a challenge it would be to learn how to sew and what a great way to spend time together even for just an hour or two on any  free day. And with Mother's Day coming up in nine(9) days, how about sending out those personal invites for a 'Mother-Daughter' Sewing Bee Day

I look forward to hearing more stories about mums and daughters making dresses together and dont forget to share your photos with Dress A Girl Australia. 

If you want to know more about Dress A Girl Around the world and its campaign of making sure that every girl owned at least one dress, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com.  

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #41 - Dresses and Shorts from Gillian Cockerill

'sp'egg'tacular easter charity drive #3'. The second time around for Gillian. Nine pairs of shorts as her contribution to the sp'egg'tacular easter charity drive and another eight lovely dresses.

Gillian, thank you so much for the dresses and the shorts. The dresses are lovely. I think I will make some similar to it. And the hem looks good. As to the shorts, am sure there will be a few small bums out there that will be able to fit into these pairs. :-)

Again, thank you for supporting the cause of Dress A Girl Around the World. It is very much appreciated.

sp'egg'tacular Easter charity Drive is now closed

The sp'egg'tacular Easter Charity Drive for 55 pairs of shorts for the boys has now ended. Some parcels are still on its way to Sydney so I will be releasing the final tally by mid-May just to make sure that all pairs of shorts donated as part of this drive is fully accounted for.

Thank you so much to everyone who has helped make this drive a success. Dress A Girl Australia fully appreciates the time and effort donors have spent to make sure that the less fortunate boys around the world are provided with a pair they can call their own. Thank you!

Shorts from donated fabrics FY12 #10 - From Erin and other Donors

'sp'egg'tacular easter charity drive #2'. Nine more pairs of shorts were made by Katherine Nott from donated fabric materials bringing her total to 19 for the sp'egg'tacular easter charity drive.

Fabrics used for these batch were donated by Erin from Canberra and several other donors that I have not identified so far since I could not match the fabrics with the photos of donated materials. I will advise once I can find a match.

Again, thank you to Katherine for sewing these pairs of shorts and to the donors of the materials used. Thank you.

Shorts from donated fabrics FY12 #8 - from Becs Bags, Erin & Katherine

'sp'egg'tacular easter charity drive #1'. Here comes the first batch of shorts for the boys sent in by Katherine Nott. The first 10 pairs of shorts which will be included in the count for the charity drive for 55 pairs of shorts.

Fabrics used for these shorts were donated by Becs Bags, Erin from Canberra and from Katherine's collection. What a great way to start counting and see if Dress A Girl Australia has met its goal of 55 pairs. A number of the shorts that would be collected from the drive will be included in the 'India' collection and the remaining ones will be allocated for a collection I have started for Uganda and soon Kenya.

Katherine, thank you so much for sewing the shorts in such a short notice and once again, thank you to Becs Bags and Erin for the fabric materials donated.

Project Updates - How is Everyone Doing?

Earlier this month I wrote about two big projects happening this month of April. Here is a friendly reminder to all those who would like to join and have some fun making dresses and/or pairs of shorts for disadvantaged children around the world.

For those who have joined, your participation is very much appreciated. For those who are still about to join, please feel free to start those sewing machines rolling. There are still ten days left in the month to participate and catch-up. Come on...dont be shy. Just imagine the number of disadvantaged children around the world who would be smiling knowing that they soon would own a dress of their own.

The charity about to end at the end of this month is the sp'egg'tacular Easter charity drive for 55 pairs of shorts for boys. The drive has now exceeded 55 pairs but donations are still welcome until the 30th of April. There will be 55 disadvantaged boys who will have new pairs of shorts raised from this drive but there are more than 55 boys from around the world who need new pairs too.

The second charity project that is still going on and has raised more than a 100 dresses and is now aiming for doubling the target to 200 is Hopeful Threads' Dress A Girl with Hopeful Threads. A global project for the month of April for Dress A Girl Around the world. As of today, Dress A Girl Australia has contributed 4 dresses to the project and I hope to make it half-a-dozen by the end of this month.

This project is still going strong and still welcoming more dresses with open arms on behalf of all the less fortunate children around the world. If you want to join and want to know more details about it, please feel free to click on the image below. 

Dress A Girl Australia hopes to see you, your name or anyone, anyones name join in any of these two big projects, two big causes to support the less fortunate children around the world. Thank you in advance!

My Easter chick has moved again!

After 2 weeks of the Sp'egg'tacular Easter Drive for 55 pairs of shorts for the boys, for the second time my Easter chick has moved again. I have now received 23 pairs against my goal of 55 -

Thank you so much to everyone who has donated. Dress A Girl Australia appreciates every minute you spend making these pairs of shorts.  And dont worry if the 'easter chick' has reached its target of 55. There are more children in this world needing to own at least one pair of shorts each not just 55. Thank you.

Status of my Shorts Marathon

When I launched the drive for 55 pairs of shorts last Wed, the 28th of March, the following day I decided to sew 2 pairs of shorts every night for the next ten nights. I had pre-cut the three bundles of fabrics I was going to use. Eight nights have passed and I have two more nights to go (tonight and tomorrow night) and this is what I have got.

Five pairs of shorts 

and 18 pre-cut fabrics.

And there is no way I will be able to catch up sewing all 20 by tomorrow night. What to do!

Well, at least I still have pre-cut fabrics to sew into shorts which makes me feel better compared to nothing to sew at all. And now am off to take care of a personal cause(walking to shed off some kilos).

My Easter chick is moving!

WooHoo!! My 'easter chick' is moving. As of today, I have received 18 pairs of shorts for the boys and received notifications from donors of another 24 on the mail. Thank you so very much!

Where my Easter Chick is As of the 6th of April 2012

Your generosity is so moving and so inspiring (and it is only the 6th of April...got 24 days to go till end of April) it makes me work harder and smarter to find more girls and boys around the world who deserves to own at least one dress or a pair of shorts you all have kindly donated. I know there are a lot of these children out there I just have to find the smartest and easiest way to get to them! 

And I found one! I made contact with a volunteer group who can distribute dresses between the sizes of 1 to 4. More on this in the coming weeks!

Donation acknowledgements will be coming up soon. Thank you!

Two Big Events in April - Come and Join Us!

Two big events are going on this month of April -

The Sp'egg'tacular Easter Charity Drive for '55 pairs of shorts' for the boys by Dress A Girl Australia. Will be running until the 30th of April.

and the 'Let's Sew 100 Dresses Together' April 2012 Monthly Project of Hopeful Threads. Please click on the image below to know more about this project.

Today is only the 4th of April so you have 26 days more to go to join in any of these 2 great projects. 

Dont think....just come and join us! It will be a lot of fun...you will not regret it!

 Sewing lovers coming together for a good cause. 
A global sewing project for sewing lovers if you are joining the 'Let's Sew 100 Dresses together'.
A good time to start with the long weekend coming up for Australians.

Sp'egg'tacular 10-night marathon for shorts for the boys

Dress A Girl Australia's Easter Charity Drive for 55 pairs of shorts is now on for the next 4 weeks and I am daring myself to spend an hour of my time starting tonight and for the next 9 nights to make 2 pairs of shorts to add to my 'children of India' collection. Below is my first 2 pairs -

and I hope I would have the energy to sustain this challenge and the will to go on for the next 9 nights as believe me I am a good procrastinator. 

As always, my creations are always at the bottom of the pile. I always give priority to items donated. What I make I use to fill in the gaps. So dont worry if I am able to complete the challenge(which means I have made 20 pairs) they always get allocated last. :-) And dont worry too if the goal of 55 has been reached as there will always be another distribution to be done.

If you feel like taking the challenge with me, there are still 9 nights to come. Come and join in the fun of making shorts for the boys and send me pictures of what you have made so far or post them directly in Dress A Girl Australia's facebook page.

To those who wants to know more about the Easter drive, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com.

If you are ready to send in donations, please send them to Dress A Girl Australia, P.O. Box 240 Casula Mall Casula NSW 2170.

Thanks heaps in advance!

'55 Pairs of Shorts' Easter Drive

Here I am once again seeking anyone's help to raise 55 pairs of long shorts for 55 schoolkids. Dress A Girl Australia is aiming for 80 pairs for 80 boys and I need your assistance to fill the gap of 55 more between the sizes of 4 to 10. 

To donate, please send to
                   Dress A Girl Australia
                   P.O. Box 240
                   Casula Mall Casula
                   NSW 2170

These pairs are scheduled for distribution in mid-May. This drive is running up to end of April to allow potential donors more time to sew up to the third week of April and allow at least a week to post. 

If anyone needs more information about this Easter drive, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com.

My heartfelt thanks in advance to everyone who is joining me on this latest drive. This time we are not only dressing the girls but also providing pairs of shorts for the boys. What a Sp'egg'tacular time it would be for the less fortunate boys and girls around the world!  Thank you.