More pairs for Uganda

Am back to sewing this time on pairs of shorts for my next parcel for the schoolboys of Katuuso, Rural Uganda. My plan is to increase the number of pairs I want to send to 40. At the moment I only have 25 so am intending to make a dozen and based on the email notifications I have received I have more pairs for pick-up at the postoffice so that hopefully would add up to 40. Here are the first three pairs of 12 I intend to make. After this parcel I think I need to sew more pairs as I no longer have any in sizes between 6 and 8.

And I just saw tonight that I am also running out of dresses. Looks like I will have to lower the number of dresses in the parcel I intend to send to Vietnam or delay the sending of the dresses. Will see when I do an audit of dresses this weekend.

This next batch of parcel for Katuuso, Uganda will be handcarried by the co-founder of the School for Life Foundation. 

Update on the dresses sent to Katuuso Rural Uganda

The dresses I allocated for the schoolchildren of the School for Life Foundation in Katuuso, Rural Uganda has now been hand delivered by Annabelle Chauncy, co-founder of the School for Life Foundation. We will be seeing pictures of this distribution in due course.

There is one thing very unique and special about this distribution. The dresses will be used as end of term prizes for the best students and what a great gift it will be for the little girls. 

The dresses are so pretty that any girl would want to own one…so I think each of them will try their very best in order to receive one. They will earn a dress for learning. They will earn a dress for a better future. The dress is just the beginning. Through learning, they will be able to help in the task of breaking the cycle of poverty in their community. And who knows ten or more years from now when they become teachers, engineers or whatever professional careers they have chosen to become, when they are able to contribute back to their community  they would remember to tell the story to the world that one of the reasons why they strived hard to learn, have become what they wanted to become is because they wanted to own one dress. And whoever made that dress should feel very proud.

To know more about the great work of the School for Life Foundation, just click on the image below :

Dress A Girl Australia supports breaking the cycle of poverty in Katuuso Rural Uganda. Contributes to the work of the School for Life foundation by providing dresses to the children.

FY12 Dress Distribution #4 - Childrens Joy Foundation Philippines

A dozen dresses to the 12 children being sheltered by the Children's Joy Foundation in the Philippines located about three hours away from the main city of Manila. Children who have been abandoned, neglected and orphaned and in their most vulnerable ages and through this foundation are given protection and special care for them to grow and develop to have a better life. 

These dresses were sent to my friend Edna Lisa Albufera early this year who together with her work colleagues are financially supporting this foundation in their own small way. Instead of buying her a christmas gift I thought it was a good idea to give her 12 dresses instead to distribute to the children in their foundation. It is so unfortunate that at the time I sent the parcel I didnt have dresses larger than a size 6 but hey they still found the  best way to wear the dresses.

Here is the note that my friend sent me with the pictures -

Hi gigi. I went to Children's Joy Foundation yesterday and distributed the dresses to the girls. They were so excited when they saw the dresses and each one got hold of the dress and wore them . One of the girls was doing some painting work so could not be included in the picture that is why one of the girls in the picture is holding the dress intended for her. The pictures are attached. I'll try to attach also the video because they played 2 musical pieces for you to see. If I'm not successful to attach here the video it will follow. I spent about 2 hrs with them, when I left they all said in chorus THANK YOU....
God Bless, Edna

Please see below more pictures from the distribution. In case you are wondering what the three girls are holding in the picture, it is the picture of the group of schoolteens from Bridgetown High School WA which was inside the pockets of each of the five dresses they made included in this distribution. I wished at the time I sent the parcel I already had pairs of shorts for the boys. Maybe next time I will reserve some for them. You can click on the images to see larger pictures and if you want to see the pictures individually and in larger format, click here.

Edna, thank you so much for finally finding the time to deliver the dresses and bring happiness to these children. It is very much appreciated. Looking forward to receiving the video but no rush. Please keep in touch.

Few more pictures from the Mumbai India Distribution

Here are a few more pictures from the dress distribution made by Kate Muir of QCCT in the Anugrah home for Children at Ambarnath Maharashtra, Mumbai India. 

Some of the children were still at school and Kate had limited time to stay at the Anugrah home as she had a flight to catch on the same day. From our initial conversation I think she only had about 6 hours or less to spare to go to the orphanage, give the dresses and shorts, have a chat and go back to the hotel and sometimes it takes two hours to get to the home due to traffic. I could just imagine how difficult it would be racing against time  with the traffic and the heat.

Kate Muir of Qantas Cabin Crew Team with some of the children  of the orphanage.

More children wearing the dresses I think some are too shy to be in the picture or if they are in the picture they are hiding. If am not mistaken the stripe one  on the left was donated by Deidre Parker and the green at the back is one of the T-shirt dresses with orange skirt (I think) from The Sewing Library Group. 

You can click on the images above to see a larger picture and if you want to see the pictures individually and in larger format, click here. 

I havent had the chance to speak to Kate since she came back so I have not really extended my heartfelt thanks to her in person yet since she went to India and handcarried the parcel. But Kate, wherever you are, thank you so much for everything. Hope to see you soon!

Special Donation of Long Pairs of Pants for BFO Orphanage Papua New Guinea

Normally I would say that Dress A Girl Australia would love to have you donate pillowcase dresses, dresses with sleeves and/or T-shirt dresses especially for locations where open dresses are not acceptable (and most of these locations are actually in the Asia-Pacific region) and pairs of shorts for the boys. 

But for this particular parcel it had to be a special kind of donation. Not handmade by donors since I wanted to raise at least a dozen pairs of long pants which the BFO Orphanage in Mount Hagen, PNG needed the most. And in such a short notice I was able to collect 18 new pairs of long pants between the sizes of 3 to 14. 

I did'nt think handcarrying these items with the dresses and shorts my sister and I are planning to handcarry with us is a good idea as am not familiar with the customs regulations in PNG so I decided to post it yesterday. Eighteen new pairs of long pants in three colors and in different sizes. I removed the tags that normally comes with new pairs and replaced it with the Hope-4-Women International labels.

My heartfelt thanks to the group (I will just have to call them the 'fans' group or DAG groupies (:-)) of Dress A Girl Australia as they want to remain anonymous) for finding it in their hearts to come up with not only a dozen but 18 new pairs of long pants in such a very short time (I think in 3 days).  Thank you so much.

To Dave of orphanlist, if you are reading this article, the parcel is now on its way to PNG. I hope with the sizes of the long pants it will find owners in your orphanage.

"A bit of fabric goes a long way" for Dress A Girl Australia

An article on Dress A Girl Around the World - Dress A Girl Australia published on Hobart's Mercury - The Voice of Tasmania, Style Section (p26) today, the 25th of May, 2012.

Please click on the image to get a readable size of the article. The article is also available here.

Thank you to Amanda Ducker for featuring Dress A Girl Around the World - Dress A Girl Australia. Thank you for helping spread the word especially in Tasmania.

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #55 - Second Batch of Dresses from the Ladies of Kapundah South Australia

The second sewing bee event organized by Deborah Parish last 12th of May has produced 21 dresses. The event was attended by ladies not only from Kapundah, South Australia but this time from the nearby towns of Tonunda, Eudonda, Hewitt and Freeling. Here are the dresses sewn and donated by them -

Chris Redden

Sally Giles

Loris Pullen

Veronica Martin

Deborah Parish

                                  Liz D'Giacomo      Valda Ridley        Delilah Balmer


To all the ladies, thank you so much for your unwavering support of the cause and special thanks to Deborah for organizing the event. The time, materials and effort you all spent in making the 21 dresses is very much appreciated.

I'd like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Pastor Paul Smith for allowing these ladies to use the Light Church in Kapunda, S.A. for their sewing bee events not only once but twice and I hope for all the future sewing bee events that would be organised to make dresses for disadvantaged children around the world. Thank you!

Media Plug for Dress A Girl Australia

A couple of weeks ago I received an email with the subject of 'Media enquiry' from Amanda Ducker. I wasnt sure if it was real so I kind of hesitated to double-click on the email to open but in the end because I was curious I ended up reading it. She said she wanted to give my project a little plug in her column in the Hobart Mercury newspaper in Tassie and asked if I could provide her with some pix and if I had any Tassie contributors yet.

I thought it was such a great idea to be plugged (at the same time I was pinching myself asking whether this was really happening... someone wanted to plug Dress A Girl Australia in a newspaper) so I sent her 2 pictures and the Dress A Girl flyer so she can have a selection of which picture to post. I thought that was it, just a simple plug but she replied back and asked where the picture she chose was taken and if the dresses came from me and eight other questions which I replied to as best as I can. I think I was too excited not to reply to the questions. I didnt even hesitate to send a picture of myself when she asked for one although I wrote back to her and said that she didnt have to post my picture.:-)

This is the picture that she has chosen to publish (my favourite!!) and she is going to run an edited Q&A about Dress A Girl Around the World - Dress A Girl Australia on Friday, 25th of May issue of the Hobart Mercury newspaper (I think this is the name of the newspaper!).

I look forward to reading the article and will try to get hold of at least one copy to keep for my journal. And when the article gets published on Friday, for sure I will post it here on my blog for everyone to read.

My heartfelt thanks to Amanda for plugging the project and helping spread the word around especially in Tasmania. Thanks heaps!

Flash Update #2 - Dress A Girl Australia Activities

#1 - Christine Stephens from Tasmania, yes Tasmania, thank you for your dresses and shorts and welcome to Dress A Girl Australia.

#2 - Big welcome to the latest 'liker' of Dress A Girl Australia Patrick Odoyo, the program coordinator of Dago Dala Hera Orphanage and community of Kenya. Your parcel of dresses, shorts and soccer ball is on its way. Thank you for giving Dress A Girl Australia the opportunity to provide clothing to the children in your community.

#3 - This is where my sister and I are planning to go in late June and handcarry dresses and shorts for the children in the BFO orphanage in Papua New Guinea. Just click on the link below

http://youtu.be/cKJLeV9gs2o

#4 - From orphanlist.org’s facebook page status, guess what I found -
“We are very thankful for Gigi who helps run "Dress A Girl Around the World". It looks like they will be sending some dresses to our little girls in PNG this June. Thanks so much Gigi! Thanks for all of the prayers and support friends."

Dress A Girl Around the World is going viral

The campaign to dress girls around the world is quickly spreading via the internet, email and other types of media it is going viral. It is crazily spreading around globally and so quickly that you will miss the fun and enjoyment if you dont join in. 

We ladies are sewing by the pack because we want a world where every little girl owned at least one dress especially in the less fortunate places around the world. We ladies want to see disadvantaged children around the world wearing new dresses from our creations. We ladies want to see a real world where every girl owned at least one dress and not just an imagination for every girl deserves to own at least one.

So what are you waiting for? Come and join in the fun. You do not have to be a perfect user of a sewing machine to be able to contribute to this campaign. If you are just starting to learn, making dresses for disadvantaged children would be a perfect start for anyone. We have patterns and instructions to help you along the way.

If you want more information, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com. But hurry! Help us spread more the word around.

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #54 - Dresses from Leonie Harrison

This lady who donated this pack of 13 dresses became aware of Dress A Girl Around the World after reading an article about this campaign  in a UK Craft magazine and she immediately decided to make some dresses to send to Dress A Girl Australia. Leonie Harrison from North Manly, NSW is a mum of two little girls and a self-taught sewer like me.

For a self-taught sewer, your dresses are amazing and am sure whoever gets to wear these dresses will have a big smile on their face and happy to wear your creation.

Thank you so much for the dresses, Leonie! Much appreciated.

Flash Update #1 - Dress A Girl Australia Activities

Once in a while I do quick updates directly to Dress A Girl Australia's facebook page but it has come to my attention that there are several readers who prefer to read updates from this blog and do not visit my facebook page to check out updates. I do apologize for this. From now on I will make sure that whatever I post in facebook also gets posted in here as I want to make sure that all campaigners and supporters get to know what is going on with Dress A Girl Australia. 

You may not have notice it but I decided to go for a low D-A-G profile the past few days. I dont think I was being slacked. The last few months I spent writing letters and making connections with orphanages around the world, making decisions on which orphanages I wanted to support with clothing, finding the easiest and cheapest ways and means to get the dresses to these locations (including customs requirements), making followups, spreading the word about Dress A Girl Australia I just wanted to have a rest for a few days doing something for myself (which I actually did - recycled denim bag and printing few images on fabric which I intend to make into quilts.) Dont take me wrong. I am enjoying what I am doing and I am fully committed to making Dress A Girl Australia work for a long, long time. I have other plans in mind that deals not only with dresses and pairs of shorts (my mind is overflowing with ideas to help disadvantaged children around the world), I know which orphanages to support but sometimes your mind starts to slow down a bit especially at a time when you need it the most and you know it is time to stop and have a rest. I have fully recovered and my energy is fully revived.

Yesterday I was supposed to be on my scheduled 'no-D-A-G-day' but that didnt stop me from making this poster which I intend to use in my 'spread-the-word' about DAG moments. The countries I have listed are the locations I intend Dress A Girl Australia to support and focus on distributions at this stage. 

I think I did a good job making this. haha!

Next on my list are the new campaigners who joined Dress A Girl Australia the past three weeks from Toowoomba, Qld and Melbourne, Vic. Welcome to Dress A Girl Australia.

To Angela Collins who is organizing a pillow case/fabric collections at her daughter's primary school to make dresses. Thank you!

To Deborah Parish who is such a big help in organizing sewing bees in Kapunda, South Australia. Well this time she gave a talk at the local CWA about Dress A Girl and hopes they will all come on board. What an awesome contribution  and I thank you so much for it. Thank you!

And last but not the least, I will soon be sending dresses to Vietnam. And earlier in the day I was thinking of splitting the parcel into two as sending 112 dresses in one box might be a bit risky as authorities might think I am trying to compete with the country's textile industry. I find it a little bit funny to be in competition for 112 dresses only but rules are rules....and I dont want to be expelled from entering the country. :-) Vietnam is in my list of locations to be visiting soon.

Two more donation acknowledgements and a small writeup on a unique parcel to Papua New Guinea and I think my administration tasks' backlog is clear for now. :-)

Second Sewing Bee by the Ladies of Kapunda South Australia

It happened once again!  Last Saturday was the second sewing bee event organized by Deborah Parish in Kapunda, South Australia. Here are some of the ladies who joined in sewing 21 dresses during the day for the disadvantaged girls around the world.

Many of the ladies bought fabrics especially for the sewing bee event. Deborah's feedback about the day was that all attendees were more relaxed compared to the first event they had for every one knew what to do this time and so everyone enjoyed the lovely atmosphere. Everyone is looking forward to the third sewing bee event scheduled at the end of June. 

To Deborah, thank you for organizing the sewing bee and special thanks to Veronica from the Dookery ( a sewing and alteration shop) and Margaret Doecke from Eudunda ("Country Fabrics N Things ") for donating heaps of fabrics for the ladies to sew. All the time, materials and effort everyone spent in making sure that the sewing bee event was a success by all the ladies of Kapunda, South Australia who attended the event is very much appreciated. 

Thank you and thank you all for your unwavering support of the cause of Dress A Girl Australia! 

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #53 - More dresses from Sharyn Paull

Wow! I received another parcel full of dresses from Sharyn Paull. Twelve lively and beautifully made dresses.

Sharyn finds it very inspiring to see all other dress contributions being made she said she has not even started on her fabric stash yet so expect more donations from her in the future. 

Sharyn, thank you so much for all the dresses and your unwavering support to the cause of Dress A Girl Australia. It is very much appreciated.

If you want to support Dress A Girl Australia's campaign to dress disadvantaged girls around the world and want more information, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com.

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.

Happy Mother's Day

                                                       M other

                                                       O riginal

                                                       T houghtful

                                                       H eaven-sent

                                                       E ternal

                                                       R ay of sunshine

"...to the world you might just be one person....but to one person you might just be the world...."

Happy Mother's Day everyone. 

Enjoy your special day!

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #53 - Fabric for Mum's Day

      ...if mama ain't happy....ain't nobody happy.

To celebrate Mama's day today, I bought this fabric with my $10.00 Lincraft voucher. Two metres of cotton drill to make six pairs of shorts to make all the mamas out there in the less fortunate locations around the world happy that there little boys will own new pairs.

To all you mama's out there, you are in my thoughts on your special day! Happy Mother's Day!

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #52 - Dresses from Sarah Petrie

For the second time, Dress A Girl Australia is a recipient of nine dresses from Sarah Petrie. She has been doing a lot of sewing lately for disadvantaged girls around the world.

Sarah, thank you so much for your unwavering support of making sure that disadvantaged girls around the world own at least one dress. Every effort you spend making a dress is very much appreciated. Thank you.

If you feel the same way as Sarah and want to donate to Dress A Girl Australia's cause, please send donations to Dress A Girl Australia, P.O. Box 240, Casula Mall, Casula 2170 NSW. For more information, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #51 - Dresses from Christie of Joyfoolery

'Dress A Girl with Hopeful Threads #4'. Eight dresses from Christie of Joyfoolery. 

Christie participated on the Dress A Girl with Hopeful Threads and these eight dresses are her contribution to the global project. Her passion for sewing shows on her tutorials which you can find on her blog here. She also has a shop at madeit for her wonderful handmade items which you can visit here.

Christie, thank you so much for these dresses. Joining the project was such a nice gesture on your part and donating to Dress  A Girl Australia. Thanks a lot!

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #50 - Dresses from Gaylene Hermann

Third time around this time 12 dresses is donation #50 from Gaylene Hermann.

Gaylene is a pioneer to the cause of Dress A Girl Australia and has been regularly sewing dresses to donate to Dress A Girl Australia.

Gaylene, you are such an admirable lady. Thank you so much for your unwavering support of Dress A Girl Australia. It is very much appreciated.

Preview of the Mumbai India Dress distribution

I received some photos of the dress distribution made in Mumbai India last night. Here is a preview and I hope to publish the other pictures available soon or this weekend.

Dont they look very happy although I think they are a little bit camera shy.

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 #48 - Dress from Alison of W.A.

Here is a cute yellow dress from Alison Harley of W.A.

Thank you Alison for a very cute dress. Much appreciated.

If you want to donate cute dresses such as this yellow dress from Alison, please write to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com for more information.

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #47 - Dresses from Amanda Regan

We have finally identified the donor of the fabrics used by Katherine on the dresses below : They were donated by Amanda Regan.

Amanda, thank you for the fabrics and the dresses made out of the fabrics you donated to Katherine. Much appreciated.

Katherine, thanks for helping identify the fabric donor. And thanks for making the dresses.

===========================================================================
*** Previous posting on this site with reference to the dresses was made on the 27th of April, 2012 -
       Dresses from donated fabrics FY12 #9 - from em & femme, Renae Hambrock and others
===========================================================================

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #46 - Bundles of fabric donations from Sash Hinton

Almost there but almost missed this one. Donation Number 46 are these bundles of fabrics from Sash Hinton.

According to Katherine, these bundles actually produced for her a whopping 32 cuts of dresses. And we all know what that means. 32 girls somewhere out there will be receiving one dress each which they can call their own. 

To Sash, thank you so much for your generosity. Much appreciated. These bundles would contribute a lot to the cause of Dress A Girl Around the World - Dress A Girl Australia. The more donations we receive, the more happiness we are giving not only to the girls but also to the parents of the children. Thanks a lot!

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #45 - Fabric donation from Jacaranda Handmade

Wow! A few more donations and I will have reached number 50. Donation Number 45 are these two bundles of fabrics donated by Lindsey Jones of Jacaranda Handmade.

These bundles are now in the able hands of Katherine who will be converting these materials into dresses.

Thank you very much to Lindsey for the donation and to Katherine for offering to sew the dresses. We are definitely on our way of making Dress A Girl Around the World's imagination of a world where every girl owned at least one dress a reality with your generous donation of materials and time. Thank you.

Lindsey has a facebook page and an on-line shop that sells handmade clothing, toys and accessories for kids and ladies. Feel free to check them out by just a click of the mouse on the above links. 

FY12/Week 18 - Dresses completed during the week 30-Apr-6-May-12 by Dress A Girl Australia

In addition to the 10 dresses I completed during the weekend, I have been sewing one T-shirt dress a day since the start of the week from Monday(30/4) to Friday (4/5) which brings the total number of dresses I made for the week ending 6th of May to 15. What a record and I am not even sure if I can repeat this productivity.
These dresses are all donated and sewn by me.

And here are all the 15 dresses -

And all these dresses will be included in my collection for the children of Papua New Guinea.

T-shirt Dresses from donated fabrics FY12 #11 - From Meredith Kain

Nothing goes to waste with Dress A Girl Australia. I think I was too productive this weekend. I was able to make 6 Size 6 and 4 Size 2 dresses.

The fabric materials in the skirt section of all these T-shirt dresses are remnants from the fabrics pre-cut by my sister to make into dresses last month from fabric donations made by Meredith Kain. The T-shirts are the last remaining t-shirts donated by i-craft i-sew. By the time I got to Dress No 8, I got tired of ruffles I decided to do pleats in the last 2 instead. All these dresses will go to my collection for the children of Papua New Guinea and I think they will all look cute in these dresses.

Thank you Meredith for the fabric materials and i-craft i-sew for the T-shirts. Much appreciated!

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #44 - Dresses from Theresa Kazmierczak of New Zealand

'Dress A Girl with Hopeful Threads #3'. These dresses came all the way from our Kiwi neighbour New Zealand more specifically from Christchurch. Theresa made them as her contribution to the Dress A Girl with Hopeful Threads global project for the month of April.

Love the pockets (My earlier dresses used to have heart-shaped pockets) and the ruffled hems. The heart-shaped pockets was inspired by the hearts sent to Christchurch residents from people all over the world when they had that earthquake tragedy about a year ago. Theresa received one and thought it was time for her to send a heart back in the form of a pocket to a disadvantaged little girl somewhere out there. What a very lovely and thoughtful gesture. When you learn what motivates that someone to do something, to make a difference even in a very small and unconventional way, it kind of melts your heart. 

Theresa, whoever receives your dress am sure will have a glowing face when she sees the heart on her new dress. Thanks a whole lot for the green dresses. Much appreciated.

And when you have a spare time, please drop by Theresa's 'Sew Sister' blog.

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 #42 - Dresses from Ruby Schalk

If this does not touch you, I dont know what will. This is 93 year old Ruby Schalk from Queensland holding the two dresses sewn by Sandra Price' mum from Ruby's personal fabric collection  for donation to the cause of Dress A Girl Australia. 

According to Sandra, her mum was talking to their dear friend Ruby about sewing dresses for disadvantaged girls when Ruby then went through her cupboards and found a material for the cause. There are still a lot of dresses to be made from her donation and how lucky the recipients of her dresses will be. 

To Ruby, you inspire all of us to make a difference especially in the lives of the less fortunate children. I hope I get to your age and still making and/or collecting dresses for disadvantaged kiddies. Thank you very much for your donation. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

To Sandra's mum for sewing the dresses for Ruby, thank you so much and to Sandra for sharing this picture with me. Thank you.

Dress A Girl Australia supports the Dago Dala Hera Orphanage in Kenya

Dress A Girl Australia is happy to support the Dago Dala Hera Orphanage and community in Kenya. Very soon it will become a recipient of dresses and pairs of shorts donated by kind-hearted ladies of Australia. The orphanage and the children are very excited to be receiving their special gift of dresses and shorts from Australia. And a soccer ball will be received with lots of smiles and giggling.

Dago Dala Hera Orphanage will be one of the five orphanages and communities Dress A Girl Australia will be supporting around the world and will be a regular recipient of dresses and pairs of shorts I would be able to sew and/or collect from willing donors.

More on this orphanage coming up soon!

Thank you all for the kind words

These are some of the notes and cards that I received with dresses donated to Dress A Girl Australia.

I'd like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the donors for their kind words and  words of encouragement. It is very much appreciated.

I also would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who sends me an email to let me know what a wonderful job I am doing. Thank you for the 'digital pats' on the back. They are all very much appreciated. Thank you.

I think I have mentioned this before that I keep all these notes and cards that I received from donors and that one day these will all become handy when I start writing a journal about Dress A Girl Australia.

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.

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #40 - Mickey Mouse Fabric from Joan

About a week ago, Joan gave me a vintage Minnie Mouse fabric material. This time a 3-metre Mickey Mouse cotton material which she wants to be made into pairs of shorts for boys.

According to her both fabrics have been lying idle in her cabinet for years. She bought them when her daughter was only 5 (and now 15) and never knew what to do with it.

To Joan, this time the fabrics will be put to good use. Thank you.

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #39 - Polka Dots and Satin Materials from Jenny

I  love polka dots! From a very good friend Jenny are these 2 fabric materials : the polka dots and the satin yellow fabric. 

Jenny is not new to Dress A Girl Australia. She is one of the very first donors of fabric materials which I sewed into a pillowcase dress and was included in the distribution last year.

Jen, thank you very much for supporting Dress A Girl Australia!

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #38 - Dresses and 2 totes from Karen Interlandi

This parcel from Karen Interlandi of Victoria had nine dresses and surprise - two tote bags made by her mum.

Karen, you just gave me an idea with the two tote bags. I can imagine a couple of girls wearing new dresses with a tote bag each. 

Please extend my thanks to your mum for making them  and thanks a lot for the dresses. They are very much appreciated. 

If you want to know why this site is packed with images of pillowcase dresses and plenty of thanks, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com.

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #37 - Dresses from the Ladies of Kapundah

From the ladies of Kapundah who did their first sewing bee last Mar 31st organized by Deborah Parish are the 17 dresses below in different sizes.

I hope I did not mix this up with another donor's dress but am pretty sure I received 17 dresses from the following ladies : (1) Deborah Parish (2) Jade Balmer (3) Cassie Ashley (4) Veronica Martin (5) Johanna Sawyer and (6) Margaret Doeke.

Two more sewing bee events have been scheduled on May 12 and June 30 in Kapunda. Click here for more details.

To Deborah and the rest of the ladies of Kapundah, South Australia, thank you so much for these dresses. Thank you for your support and in helping make a difference in this world especially to the disadvantaged children around the world....one dress at a time. Thank you.