Dress Distribution #91/1A - 10/2015 - Final Parcel 3 for Project Soibada Timor Leste

The last 2 parcels for Project Soibada will be sent on Monday, 28-Sep-2015. These two parcels hold 84 dresses and 4 boys clothes which will bring the final number of dresses collected for this project (which includes both donated and sponsored) to 141 dresses and 19 boys clothes.
These are the two parcels -

and these are the final contents of the parcels -

made possible by the following sponsors and donors -
1) Betty Barrett and Betty Paull
2) Raye Weinthal
3) Karen Neilsen
4) Yvonne Henderson
5) Elaine Klein
6) Monika Osvald
7) Denise Scott
8) Sally Hodgson
9) Lyn Gibbs
10) Megan Jones
11) Jac Dow

For individual and larger images of the dresses, please click here. This link will take you to the album that will display all 141 dresses and 19 boys clothes. These clothes will be on their way to Soibada Timor Leste c-o Tamara Harding of the Pittwater Friends of Soibada in October.

Thank you  to all the donors and sponsors who made this third and final parcel of dresses for the kids of Soibada Timor possible. Your kindness and generosity is much appreciated. Thank you.

Sponsored Dresses for the week ending 26-Sep-2015 (Week 9) for Project Soibada Timor Leste

For this week ended 26-Sep-2015, three dresses were sponsored by Jac Dow. Two of the dresses will be included in the Project Soibada collection and one dress for Christmas distribution (Project Philippines). Proceeds from these dress sponsorships will be remitted to the Pittwater Friends of Soibada to help them raise funds for their ongoing construction projects in Soibada Timor Leste.

Thank you so much to Jac Dow for supporting my Dress Sponsorship program. Much appreciated.

Batch 5 Donated dresses for the month of September

Here are the donated dresses (Batch #5) for the week ended 26-Sep-2015 -
1) A parcel of 5 dresses from Sally Hodgson allocated to Project Soibada -

2) A parcel of 8 dresses from Lyn Gibbs allocated to Project Soibada -

 

 3) A parcel of 5 dresses from Megan Jones allocated to Project Soibada -

 4) A parcel of 12 dresses, 4 t-shirts, 4packs of boys and girls undies and school supplies from Monika Osvald. Dresses have been allocated to Project Soibada -

Thank you so much to all the donors for their kindness and generosity. With this batch of dresses, the collection for Project Soibada Timor LEste is now officially closed. Thank you for your support.

Active Project as of today - 23-Sep-2015

Active Project collection as of today is Distribution #98 - Project Philippines for Christmas 2015 distribution. Please take note of the cut-off dates. -
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First cut-off date is Friday, 23rd of October. Dresses that make it to this cut-off will be sent by Sunday, 1st of November.

Second and final cut-off date is Friday, 27th of November. Dresses that did not make it on the first cut-off will be included in this batch and will be sent by Friday, 4th of December.

Please make sure you send your parcels before the cut-off dates to make it to the dates.
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This will be the last distribution for the year.

Project Soibada collection officially closed today

Distribution #91/1A - 10/2015 - Project Soibada Timor Leste is officially closed today. If you were intending to donate to this project, mailing them today will not make it to the parcel I am sending on Friday. For everyone's info. Thank you.

Batch 4 Donated dresses for the month of September

Time to acknowledge dresses donated for the week ended 19-Sep-2015.
1) From Karen Neilsen allocated to Project Soibada Timor Leste -

 2) From Yvonne Henderson allocated to Project Soibada Timor Leste -

 3) From Denise Scott allocated to Project Christmas 2015 -

 4) From Elaine Klein allocated to Project Soibada -

 5) From the Guides Qld Aspley District TNT Guides c-o G Keating and L Fossey allocated to Project Christmas 2015 -

Thank you to all the donors for their kindness and generosity. Much appreciated.

Friendly reminder on dress guidelines

Just a friendly reminder on the type of fabrics to use when making dresses. please be guided by the guidelines on the link below to avoid inconveniences. thank you

Dress Guidelines.

Three dresses added to the Dress Sponsorship Program today

These dresses were added to my Dress Sponsorship Program today and are looking for sponsors. If you are wanting to make a difference this Christmas, this would be the best way to do it especially if you do not sew or you do not have the time to sew - To Sponsor, click here or click on the image below -

More dresses added to the Dress Sponsorship Program

These dresses were added to my Dress Sponsorship Program today and are looking for sponsors. If you are wanting to make a difference this Christmas, this would be the best way to do it especially if you do not sew or you do not have the time to sew - To Sponsor, click here or click on the image below -

Baby & Kids Fabric Panels for Sale

Yesterday I looked into my personal fabric collections and decided to sell a few of my baby and kids fabric panels. These panels are great for softbooks and other quilting and baby projects. Here are a few of them and the complete line you can check out in my soft treasures e-shop. Just click here or click on the image below -

Please check them out and if there is anything you like to make a purchase. Proceeds from the sale of any of these items will help pay for the cost of sending the parcels for Christmas distribution. 

There will be more of these panels including christmas ones and a few of my 100% quilting cottons to be up for sale in the next few days.

Update on active projects as of 13-Sep-2015

Active Projects as of today, Sunday, 13th of Sept -
1) Project Soibada Timor Leste - Deadline is Wed, 23rd of Sept.

2) Project Christmas -
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First cut-off date is Friday, 23rd of October. Dresses that make it to this cut-off will be sent by Sunday, 1st of November.
Second and final cut-off date is Friday, 27th of November. Dresses that did not make it on the first cut-off will be included in this batch and will be sent by Friday, 4th of December.
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I would like all sizes between 1 to 12 to have at least a fair share of number of dresses to distribute so I am requesting anyone who is donating more than one dress to at least think of sewing an equal number of dresses of any size between 1 to 12. (If you are planning to donate 5 dresses, if you could please donate perhaps 2 or 3 of sizes 1-5 and/or 2 or 3 of sizes 6-12 or vice versa). I currently have almost a 100 dresses of the sizes 1 to 5 so if I find that I am getting more smaller sizes, the second and final cut-off date for the christmas distribution will be focused on larger sizes only. And please follow guidelines on making dresses to avoid inconveniences. Thank you.

Parcel on its way

The parcel intended for Project CDO Philippines was picked up early this morning and is on its way to dress up 178 girls and 22 boys. My own small way of sharing everyone's blessings to these 200 disadvantaged kids this month of Sept. Thank you to those who contributed and making this distribution possible.

Project Christmas 2015 (Distribution #98) is now open

With Christmas fast approaching, I am pleased to let everyone know that Project Christmas 2015 opens today. The collection is open for sizes between the ages of 1 to 12 but I do encourage everyone to be more open-minded by donating new handmade dresses between the sizes of 6 to 12 as these are the ages of girls that I believe really needs clothing the most. Since it is Christmas I will not be setting a maximum number of dresses that can be donated but remind everyone that it is quality of dresses that counts the most and not quantity. Guidelines on dress making should be strictly adhered to. You can checkout the guidelines here.

I do not plan to send the parcels for Christmas distribution at the last minute and also there is a cut-off for Christmas parcels that will make it for Christmas delivery with the freight transport that I am dealing with which is the 6th of December so I am setting two cut-off dates. 
First cut-off date is Friday, 23rd of October. Dresses that make it to this cut-off will be sent by Sunday, 1st of November.
Second and final cut-off date is Friday, 27th of November. Dresses that did not make it on the first cut-off will be included in this batch and will be sent by Friday, 4th of December.
Please make sure you send your parcels before the due date as this is the Christmas season. Deliveries become very slow. Also, it takes time to sort, pack and organize the sending of these parcels especially because it is Christmas. 

Please do not send any dress donations after the second and final cut-off date as those dresses will have nowhere to go.

For those who do not sew or do not have the time to sew, why not try my Dress Sponsorship program. For $10.00, you get to share your Christmas blessings and make a disadvantaged child feel special this Christmas. Check out my Dress Sponsorship program here. Proceeds from the Dress Sponsorship will be donated to the Pittwater Friends of Soibada, a non-profit organization based in Avalon NSW to help them with their construction projects in Soibada Timor Leste.

All donations must be in my postbox by the cut-off dates specified above. Postal address is Dress A Girl Australia P.O. Box 240 Casula Mall Casula NSW 2170.

Any questions, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com. This Christmas project will be the last distribution for the year 2015.

Dress Distribution #91/1A - 10/2015 - Parcel 2 for Project Soibada Timor Leste

Yesterday I posted the second parcel for Project Soibada to Tamara Harding so I do not get too squeezed with sorting and packing at the end of this month. The second parcel had 43 dresses and 7 boys clothes. I was not able to take a picture of the parcel because I was in a hurry to make it to the postoffice but you can see the postage docket here and below were the contents of the parcel -

made possible by the following sponsors and donors -
1) Monika Osvald
2) Denise Scott
3) Marlene van Zetten
4) Ana Carvalho
5) Joan Lui
6) Monique Naranjilla
7) Jen Fegredo
8) Frances Cornish
9) Beth Sun
10) Jetty Sun/Susan Angeles
11) Colleen Mundt
12) Rose Cunningham
13) Sharyn Cafee
14) Starshine J Sun
15) Lynne Stupple
16) Candace Quach
17) Dress A Girl Australia

For individual and larger images of the dresses, please click here.

Thank you to all the donors and sponsors who made this second parcel of dresses for the kids of Soibada Timor Leste possible. Your kindness and generosity is much appreciated. Thank you.

Sponsored Dresses for the week ending 11-Sep-2015 (Week 6) for Project Soibada Timor Leste

A total of 8 dresses were sponsored this week. Three from myself and five from a donor who did not want to be identified. The dresses with sleeves were allocated to Project Soibada and the five pillowcase dresses were allocated to Project CDO Cabaraban which is scheduled for distribution at the end of this month.

Batch 3 Donated dresses for the month of September

It is time to acknowledge donated dresses for the week ending 11-Sep-2015. All dresses have been allocated to the current active projects including for Christmas distribution.
1) A parcel of 3 dresses from Frances Cornish allocated to Project Soibada -

2) A parcel of 18 dresses, 3 boys' clothes set and 4 headbands allocated to Project Soibada and for Christmas distribution from Betty Barrett and Betty Paull -

 3) A parcel of 14 dresses from Raye Weinthal and allocated to Project Soibada and for Christmas distribution

 4) A parcel of 19 dresses from the YWCA Patchwork Group Broken Hill NSW and allocated for Christmas distributions -

 5) A parcel of 20 dresses from Kaye Hardman and allocated for Christmas distributions -

Thank you to all the donors. Thank you for your kindness and generosity.

Update on Dress Sponsorship Program -10-Sep-2015

I thought I would share with you an update on the construction of a Training Centre and Guesthouse Faciliies in Soibada East Timor from the Pittwater Friends of Soibada especially to those whose proceeds from dresses they sponsored were donated to the construction fund. Date of email was 3-Sep-2015 -
==========================
Hi Gigi
Happy Birds day in September.
Thank you very much for the donation of $150.-.
Tamara and I just send some more money to East Timor yesterday. The Guest House is coming along just fine.
Father Tiago always has to travel to Dili, there are no banks in Soibada. This is a 5 hour trip. This time he purchased doors and windows.
Thanks Juerg Richter
===========================
As of today, I have collected and donated $452.00 from the Dress Sponsorship Program. Due to a tight schedule in the last week of Sept/early October, dresses I have collected (both sponsored and donated by individuals and groups) as of last Monday 3-Sep-2015 have been sent to Tamara Harding yesterday 10-Sep-2015 to free up some time in my schedule. Thank you to everyone who sponsored and donated. Thank you for making a difference to the lives of the people in Soibada, Timor Leste.

Quality is of utmost importance.

With the Christmas collection opening up very soon, I would like to remind anyone who wants to donate including groups that quality of dresses is what counts the most rather than quantity. Less to distribute but would last longer for the child is better than a thousand to distribute and only half of this would last a week. Please follow the guidelines when making dresses. Unfinished hemlines will not be included in any of the distributions. Thank you.

Dress Distribution #88/1B - Project CDO Cabaraban

These are the details of the distribution to be made sometime at the end of this month in CDO Philippines. It is a parcel of 168 dresses (7 of which were sponsored), 10 girls tops/shorts/skirts sets and 22 boys clothes set. That is a total of 200 kids who will be receiving something special by the end of this month.
This is the parcel -

and these are the contents of the parcels -

made possible by the following donors and/or sponsors -
1) Denise Scott
2) Lesley Kroese
3) Ana Carvalho
4) Jac Dow
5) Melanie Chester
6) Mrs D K Mathers
7) Monika Osvald
8) Patchwork Angel
9) Stitchers Cupboard
10) Kay Innes
11) Yvonne Henderson
12) Chelsea Oliver
13) Vintage Fabric Addict
14) Linda de Vos
15) Di Menzel
16) Millhouse Collections
17) Sally Neideck
18) Colleen Mundt
19) Sharyn Cafee
20) Karen Neilsen
21) Lynne Stupple
22) Elaine Klein
23) T-shirts by Megan Jones 
24) Dress A Girl Australia

To see larger and individual images of the contents of the parcel, please click here.

Thank you to all the donors and sponsors who made this distribution possible. Your kindness and generosity is much appreciated. Thank you.

Project Soibada Donations now due a week earlier - Wed., 23-Sep-2015

Good Morning everyone. I am moving forward by a week the due date of dresses to be donated to Project Soibada Timor Leste to Wed, 23rd of Sept from Wed, 30th of Sept due to a change in my schedule. I will not be available for pickups on the last week of Sept(starting the 28th of Sept until 7th of Oct) and these dresses need to be prepared on these days of which I am not available. So for those who are intending to donate dresses for Project Soibada Timor Leste please take note of the change in due date - Wed, 23-Sep-2015. Please try to send your dresses as early as possible. Thank you.

Forced to close collection for Project CDO Cabaraban today

This is my parcel for Project CDO Cabaraban. It is currently holding about 35 kilos of clothing(about 200 dresses) and is very full.It is quite a very big box and heavy. I know that the deadline for all dresses to be donated to this project is still on Wednesday, 10th of Sept. 

Although I am not expecting anymore parcels to arrive between today and Wed in my postbox unfortunately I can no longer squeeze in any more dresses so any dresses still to arrive and intended for this distribution will be allocated for the Christmas distribution project. For everyone's info. Thank you.

Six dresses added to my Dress Sponsorship Program

Yesterday I added these six dresses to my Dress Sponsorship Program and are looking for sponsors. The Dress Sponsorship program is now actively helping raise funds for the Pittwater Friends of Soibada non-profit organization based in Avalon NSW to help them realize their dream of completing the construction of a Training Centre and Guesthouse facilities for the community of Soibada in Timor Leste. These projects will go a long way for the future of everyone in the community.

If you are looking for a unique way of making a difference in this world, why not sponsor a dress. For $10.00 you get to provide a dress for a kid in the community and at the same time help complete the construction of these buildings to provide hope and a better future for the people in the community of Soibada Timor Leste.

To sponsor, just click on the image above or click here. Thank you.

Sponsored Dresses for the week ending 4-Sep-2015 (Week 5) for Project Soibada Timor Leste

Lucky me for this week I was able to raise another $100.00 for the Project Soibada Timor Leste fundraising drive to help raise money to fund the completion of the construction of the Training Centre and Guesthouse facilities for the people of the Soibada Community in Timor Leste. These proceeds were paid to the Pittwater Friends of Soibada last week and I also added in $50.00 as my personal contribution being my birthmonth. Once I have received the tax receipts for these contributions I will be forwarding them to the individual donors -
1) From Sharyn Cafee -

 2) From Rose Cunningham -

 3) From me and when I have the time I will need to make another 3 dresses -

 4) From Beth Sun and Jetty Sun/Susan Angeles -

 5) From my niece Starshine Jolly Sun -

6) From Candace Quach -

My heartfelt thank you to all who sponsored these dresses. Your kindness and generosity is very much appreciated.

As of today I have raised and remitted $402.00 for the Pittwater Friends of Soibada which in a small way will help them in their dream of completing the construction of a Training Centre and Guesthouse Facilities in the Soibada community of Timor Leste.

For those who want to help make a difference and give hope to the people of the Soibada community in Timor Leste, you can help by sponsoring a dress. For a small sum of $10.00, you will be surprised how far or how big a difference it will make to the people of the community, how bright the future would be for them. To sponsor - click on the link below. Thank you.

Dress Sponsorship Program

Batch 2 Donated dresses for the month of September

Acknowledging the second batch of parcels received for the month of September which I was planning to do on the weekend but thought I needed a rest. These parcels brought in a total of 26 dresses and have been allocated to different projects respectively -

1) A parcel of 5 dresses from Karen Neilsen and allocated to Project CDO Cabaraban which is about to close off in the next few days and there will be no extension.

 2) A couple of dresses from Sharyn Cafee and allocated to Project CDO Cabaraban and Project Soibada Timor Leste -

 3) A parcel of 13 dresses from Lynne Stupple. Six dresses were allocated to Project Soibada Timor Leste and the other seven were allocated to Project CDO Cabaraban. I also received a packet of undies which I have distributed among the dresses -

 4) A parcel of six dresses, pencils and fabric bags from Elaine Klein. The six dresses have been allocated to Project CDO Cabaraban and the school supplies will be allocated later on to some dresses that require school kits -

Thank you Ladies for the wonderful donations. Your kindness and generosity is very much appreciated.

Dress Sponsorship Program for Soibada Timor Leste until 31-Dec-2015

The Dress Sponsorship program which am currently promoting to help raise funds for Project Soibada (Pittwater Friends of Soibada Timor Leste) for the completion of the construction of a Training Centre and guesthouse facilities in Timor Leste will be running until the end of the year, 31st of Dec 2015. If you want to help make a difference to the lives of the people of the Soibada community in Timor Leste now is the best time to help and avoid the Christmas rush which is just around the corner. You can sponsor a dress for Christmas distribution to another location (not necesarily for Soibada) but proceeds of the sponsorship will be donated to the Pittwater Friends of Soibada Timor Leste.To Sponsor - click on the link below - Thank you!

Dress Sponsorship Program

Batch 1 Donated dresses for the month of September

Acknowledging the first two parcels I have received of 16 dresses for the month of September.
1) A parcel of 11 dresses from Colleen Mundt. One dress has been allocated to Project Soibada and the rest of the dresses to Project Cabaraban -

2) A parcel of 5 dresses from Sally Neideck allocated to Project Cabaraban -

Thank you to Colleen and Sally for their wonderful donations. Much appreciated.

Sewing Dresses is also a Textile class project

This is a picture from a textile class of Teriesa from Picnic Point High School who are eagerly sewing dresses and very enthusiastic to finish their project and make a difference to the lives of disadvantaged kids through their sewing. Thank you for sharing Teriesa.

National Sewing Month

This month is National Sewing Month in the US and perhaps in Australia as well and is a good time to sew and share. Good time to make a difference in this world through sewing. If you are not into sewing or do not have the time to sew, let someone do the sewing for you through Dress A Girl Australia's Dress Sponsorship program and help make a difference to the lives of the people in the community of Soibada Timor Leste. For more information and how to sponsor, please click on the link below - Help spread the word around and thank you.

Dress Sponsorship Program

Dress A Girl Australia's Lavender dresses for sale

Last year when I was active in market stall selling I made these lavender dresses to sell. Underneath each dress is a lavender pack weighing about 40gms each and comes with a miniature hanger to make it easy for anyone to hang the lavender dress inside their cabinets. Size of each dress is about 10-12cms in length.

Now am putting it up for sale in my Dress A Girl e-shop as a Dress A Girl Australia specialty item. Designed and made especially for Dress A Girl Australia projects. Although sales from my e-shop are very, very slow I still have a lot of hope that once in a while I would make a sale and help sustain Dress A Girl Australia's activities. I know there are still people out there who believes in what I am doing even if I can no longer accept hundreds and hundreds of dresses to distribute. Sometimes one has to be realistic in what one is capable of especially financially. It is better to do it in small numbers and be happy about it than in hundreds and/or thousands and feel miserable about it. And that is how I feel about it these days now that am back to being in control of something I love doing. I may be making a lot of people unhappy but at least I know that I am able to sustain making a difference to other people's lives and feel very happy about it....in my own small way...one small dress at a time.

Each dress sells for $10.00 plus actual postage of $2.10 (total of $12.10). To check them out, click on the image above or click here.

First Deadline for active project (Distribution #88/1B) - Thursday, Sep 10

Today is the first day of spring. 1st of September. Just a friendly reminder that Project CDO Cabaraban (Distribution #88/1B) is ending in 9 days time. All parcels should be in my postbox by Thursday, Sep 10, 2015 to make it for distribution. My parcel is ready, sorted and packed and just waiting for those who find it in their hearts to help make a difference to a few disadvantaged kids this September. Thank you.