Donation Acknowledgement FY2012 #147 - Pillowcases from F dela Cruz

MBCCD #27These dresses were sewn from pillowcases donated by my good friend Flor dela Cruz who lives in the US. There are about 15 more of these which have already been cut sometime in November of last year. All it needs are bias tapes which I run out of so the whole batch was left forgotten and I found them stack behind a couple of fabric bundles tonight. I will be sewing all of them until they are finished and be counted as part of the December donations and the christmas charity drive. Anyway the cut-off date for these two activities is still about a week away - 15th of Jan 2013. Besides I think my friend would like to see them donated for Christmas.

To my dear and good friend Flor, thank you for the pillowcases. There is more to come. Thank you.

What kept me busy today?

This is what kept me busy today. 5 pillowcase dresses and 3 t-shirt dresses out of a king-sized linen sheet.

My contribution to the World Humanitarian Day. T-shirts by heyboom shop.

Recommended Size Measurements

I am posting again this recommended size measurements in response to several enquiries received the past few days. 

Please make sure that the pillowcases and/or fabrics you will be using are not thin or the flimsy type but not too thick as well. Bear in mind that some of these dresses are sometimes handcarried by volunteers and I do not want them to be burdened with the extra weight they will be carrying with them nor do I want them to pay for the excess kilos. The cost for excess kilos is very expensive and if they have to pay they may not want to handcarry anymore next time.  Also a dress that is too thick when folded could be the equivalent of three dresses that have the normal and very good quality of fabric. So please understand and please use these guidelines when making dresses. Thank you for your understanding and kind consideration.

FY12/Week 15 - Dresses completed for the week by Dress A Girl Australia

Here are the dresses and pairs of shorts I have completed during the week. The Monday of the long Easter weekend helped me make 4 T-shirt dresses, 2 pillowcase dresses and 2 pairs of shorts.

The pillowcase dresses and 2 pairs of shorts are from fabrics I bought from a sale. When I saw this fabric two weeks ago, two words came to mind. Uganda and Africa. With the colour combination of the material, I thought it would look great on little girls in Africa and/or Uganda I had to buy it. I bought the last five metres available for $12.00 and looking at what I have sewn I have no regrets. Not everyone may like the bright colours but hey, making dresses are supposed to be fun and colours help too and I love it!

The T-shirt dresses are a combination of donations from 'i-craft i-sew' who donated a couple of dozens of T-shirts and the materials for the skirts are from fabrics I received from anonymous donors also from last year. They are remnants from fabrics that were pre-cut into pillowcase dress kits by my sister earlier in the month. With Dress A Girl Australia, nothing goes to waste.

I had included the pillowcase dresses in Hopeful Threads' "April 2012 Dress A Girl with Hopeful Threads" global project of 100 dresses since the fabric is a new donation to Dress A Girl Australia and would add value to the project since the 2 dresses have not been included in any count at all nor included in any forecasted or projected number of dresses to be included in a collection. 

As usual no how-to's but just information as to what I have accomplished during the last week. Thank you to 'i-craft i-sew' for the T-shirts and the 2011 anonymous donors for the fabric materials.

If you want to know more about Dress A Girl Around the World - Dress A Girl Sydney and Australia, please send me an email at dressagirlaroundtheworld@gmail.com.

Weekend Creations

Another weekend is over. I thought I would be able to make at least 5 pairs of shorts and 5 pillowcase dresses but I only ended up with just half of what I had planned. In between cleaning, shopping, walking for a personal cause (lose some kilos), eating, taking naps I was only able to finish 3 pairs of shorts and 2 pillowcase dresses and here they are -

The printed blue dress was made out of Michelle Karyn Reynders pillowcase donation and the printed pink dress was from one of the pillowcases donated by Jane Kelly, Marieka Ashmore and Liz Skinner of Coffs Harbour. I think I donated the fabrics for the pairs of shorts.

I may not have met my weekend target but at least I was 'sewing' productive. Cant complain and here is looking forward to another weekend.

Back to sewing a pillowcase dress

When I arrived home from work around 6pm today I felt so sleepy that I actually dozed off and the next thing I knew it was 8pm. Now I have a big problem since I will not be able to go to sleep when I want to. Then I thought why not make a pillowcase dress. I have not made one for quite a while now and before I forget how to do it I thought it was a good time to sit down on my sewing machine and sew one as am sure this will make me feel sleepy again. (haha!).

So here is the dress I made tonight and the pillowcase I used was donated by Michelle Karyn Reynders. It was right on top of all the other piles so naturally it got picked up.

Tomorrow I would decide where to include this dress in the collections I am doing for future distributions for as predicted I am feeling sleepy again.

Dresses from donated fabrics FY12 #7 - Katherine's and Katz Kreations

Last but not the least are Katz Kreations and Katherine's contribution to Dress A Girl Australia. Six dresses and a pair of shorts.

To Katherine and her Katz Kreations, thank you so much for everything. Everything you are doing for Dress A Girl Australia is very much appreciated.

Click here to see all dress donations under the Katz Kreations banner.

Click here to see all dresses and pairs of shorts' donations by Katherine.

Dresses from donated fabrics FY12 #6 - Amanda Sampson

Ok, you better believe this as I still have 2 more donors to thank for. In addition to the 7 dresses I received last December 2011, Katherine has made 10 more pillowcase dresses from Amanda Sampson's fabric donations.

To Amanda, thank you so much for your belief in this very worthwhile cause.

To Katherine, thank you for your unwavering support and patience in making these dresses.

To see all of Amanda Sampson's dress donations, click here.

Dresses from donated fabrics FY12 #5 - Renae Hambrock

Still on Katherine's list is number 4 donor Renae Hambrock for three pillowcase dresses. These dresses are in addition to what I have received in Dec 2011.

Arent these little girls so lucky to be wearing all these wonderful pillowcase dresses? 

To Renae, again, thank you very much for the fabric donations and to Katherine, thanks heaps! Your contributions to Dress A Girl Australia are very much appreciated.

To see more of Renae Hambrocks' donations, please click here!

Dresses from donated fabrics FY12 #4 - Becs Bags

Next on the list in Katherine's parcel #3 are pairs of shorts from Becs Bags. Next month to celebrate Dress A Girl Australia's one year anniversary of sewing and collecting pillowcase dresses for the less fortunate girls around the world, an official announcement will be made regarding a new campaign for the boys. Just like the girls they also deserve to own new pairs of shorts.

Becs Bags' pair of shorts will definitely be part of that campaign and the first on the list to be distributed to the less fortunate boys around the world.

To Becs Bags, thank you so much for your fabric donations and to Katherine, thank you for making those fabrics into pairs of shorts. 

Click here to see all donations of Becs Bags.

Dresses from donated fabrics FY12 #3 - Chicken Ink Creative

Still on parcel #3 from Katherine is another dress from the fabric donations of Chicken Ink Creative. This dress is in addition to the first 3 dresses received in December 2011.

Thank you to Chicken Ink Creative for the fabric and to Katherine for making the dress.

To see all dresses from Chicken Ink Creative, click here.

Dresses from donated fabrics FY12 #2 - em and femme designs

Last week I received parcel #3 from Katherine containing 21 pillowcase dresses and 4 pairs of shorts. In case you havent known yet, Katherine has been patiently sewing dresses from donated fabrics sent to her and as of today she has completed 60 dresses and 26 pairs of shorts. 

In this parcel is another dress from a fabric donated by em and femme designs. 

To em and femme designs, thank you for your fabric donations and to dear Katherine, thank you for making them into dresses.

To see all dresses from em and femme designs, click here.

Dresses from Donated Fabrics FY12 #1 - Christmas Donated Materials

With the number of bundles I am receiving, I better start prioritizing the things I have in my to-do list and re-ignite my love for sewing and make dresses as quickly as I can. I think I need another sewing marathon if I have to clear up all these bundles. The month of March would be a good time to hold one as by that time I have sorted and prepped up all the remaining dresses ready for packing and distribution.

At the start of 2012 I made a promise to myself that I would make at least a dress and a pair of shorts every week and so far I have made only 6 dresses (after almost 8 weeks) and these are 3 of them from the Christmas pack. Nowhere are the shorts for the boys to be found.

Fabric materials from the Christmas pack

As of today, I have a backlog of 2 dresses and 8 pairs of shorts so I better start catching up. 

Dress Measurements for Fabrics

Here is a good guide on measurements especially for some of you who are sewing dresses or pillowcase dresses out of fabrics. The measurements are good for sizes from 6 mos to size 10. Good sizes we would love to see the girls grow up on the dresses especially if it is the only dress they will possibly own and be wearing for many years to come.

If you have any questions, please feel free to write to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com

5 dresses in exchange for vacuuming

Some people think that I am a very organize person but really am not. I probably am when it comes to work or to other tasks I commit myself to but not when it comes to personal things. Am a very good procrastinator when it comes to doing chores at home. Sometimes I know I have to clean the house and start taking out the vacuum cleaner etc early in the morning only to end up for these cleaning tools in the same position same place I had them in at the end of the day. But sometimes I do end up with a new handmade card or a new image printed on a fabric sheet or finally magazines fully closed on top of the dining table which has been left opened on a particular page for almost a week.

I found another excuse for not cleaning so much so that images like the ones below are common to see in the house these days. You find  a pair of scissors, a needle and spool of thread on top of a bench, piles and piles of fabric materials, folded pillowcases, laces and accessories in one corner of an unused bed or pillowcases on top of a coffee table. (Mind you these are materials needed to make pillowcase dresses or waiting to be made.)

But it is because of these areas that are messy that I can find the time to make pillowcase dresses and this week I made 5 of them.

5 dresses, 5 big smiles for 5 girls around the world. And am happy with what I have accomplished for the day.

Last of the Bandannas for 2 dresses and a pair of shorts

This week was quite a busy week at work and in between work, house chores and watching The Big Bang Theory on TV at night I finally managed to finish making a couple of T-shirt dresses and a pair of shorts from the last 6 bandannas I had.

Dress A Girl Australia hopes to see 2 little girls and a little boy with big smiles on their faces with these 3 creations. Am glad that these bandannas will not be occupying a space in my cabinet but will be happily worn when the time to make another dress distribution comes.

What's Up with Dress A Girl Australia

When I came back from my holiday, I experimented on T-shirt dresses and then....bang....I stopped doing anything including Dress A Girl activities with the exception of going to work everyday. I would start to do something and then let it go unfinished. After a 10-day hiatus from doing just about anything, am back doing what I love doing in whatever spare time I could find and that is 'crafting'. I've started making dresses again and I think I will be busy in the next few weeks making handmades to sell for Christmas. Have a pile of ideas for Advent calendars and a bunch of fabric panels to make into calendars and Christmas Tree quilts. These are some of my favourite things to make especially for Christmas.

Click on the link below if you want to see some of my fabric advent calendars and my favourite Christmas Tree
https://picasaweb.google.com/dressagirlaustralia/ChristmasTreeQuiltsAndAdventCalendars?authuser=0&feat=directlink.

During those inactive 10 days though, I still was able to receive some donations from wonderful people, still found the energy to drop a few Dress A Girl labels inside an envelope to mail, also managed to convince someone to start using her sewing machine which was still inside its original box and somehow managed to reply to emails that I received enquiring about the campaign although replying to those emails were not as quick as I would have replied before . Which reminds me, by the way, to let anyone know that the best way to get in touch with me regarding Dress A Girl Australia activities is via email (dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com).

Here are some major activities that happened in Dress A Girl Australia during those lazy days:

1) Received a dozen T-shirts for girls of assorted sizes from a friend (i-craft i-sew). Thank you!
Instead of giving them to girls to wear as is, I was able to convince my friend to make them into t-shirt dresses as then I was experimenting on making t-shirt dresses. No need to buy the fabrics as I have lots of them from my personal collection including extra cuttings I have saved from previous dresses I made (am not only a fabric hoarder but am also a saver of the smallest size one could imagine) and we really didnt need that big fabric sizes. I showed her how I would have done it and...woohoo...check out the dresses that have been made from our combined efforts ((her time+donated shirts) + my fabric materials)

Here is the link to all the t-shirt dresses made so far out of the 12 t-shirts.
         https://picasaweb.google.com/dressagirlaustralia/ICraftISew?authuser=0&feat=directlink

A link is also available on the left navigation bar under 'Dresses Received by Dress A Girl Australia - 'i-craft i-sew'.

2. Received an additional 6 pillowcases from Samantha Richards of Wollongong, NSW. Thank you!

I am thinking of starting to make pillowcase dress kits out of these 6 pillowcases. A high school classmate wants to help make pillowcase dresses and I plan to send her kits in the next couple of weeks. She is going to make them into dresses and then distribute to deserving little girls hopefully to wear on Christmas Day. I hope to complete the dress kits in the next few days. The kit is still missing the instructions which needs to be printed but my old and best mate 'printer' has run out of black ink.


3. Last but not the least, two dresses I was able to make in the last few days which brings Dress A Girl Australia's total dresses collected and on hand for distribution in December to 26. Still a very, very long shot from my goal of 500 dresses but based on the calendar, Christmas Day is still 63 days away so am still very positive that this goal will be met.

The bundle of laces given to me by a highschool classmate is now making a difference in the dresses I make.

Come and join me and everyone else who in their own little way have contributed to this very worthwhile cause of dressing little girls around the world for each of these little girls deserve to own at least one dress. With Christmas fast approaching, now would be the best time to share and spare to these little deserving girls to make their Christmas day something different, something new, something memorable this year.

For more information, please write to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com. Dress A Girl Australia would love to receive those spare fabrics you may have and/or pillowcases to make into dresses.

New T-shirt dresses by Dress A Girl Australia

Fully settled after arriving back in Sydney after almost two weeks away, am starting to make dresses again in whatever spare time I could find and becoming more resourceful and adventurous in the kind of dress I make. Have decided to learn how to make t-shirt dresses.

For an hour last Saturday, I did a clean-up of my cabinet for some tshirts that I have not worn in a long time. Most of them had only been worn once or twice and because I take good care of my clothes so well, they still look new. I no longer wear them and I dont think I will be able to wear them again so I decided to make them as the upper section of the dress. Here are 2 dresses I have made out of recycled t-shirts. The fabrics I used in the lower section are remnants I bought in a sale from a fabric shop years ago.

I hope you like them because I know that they would look good when worn by any little girl somewhere out there because she deserves to own at least one dress. These dresses would make a great Christmas present for any girl. These dresses would be included in Dress A Girl Australia's planned second distribution in December.

Sewing Marathon 1 - Day 16 to 20 Dresses

Sewing Marathon 1 is about to end and am still on track on one dress a day for 30 days.  Busy days in the past week but finally made a chance to take shots of dresses from Day 16 to 20. Day 21 to 26 dresses are made but still havent taken pictures of it. By Tuesday which is the last day for the Sewing Marathon 1, Dress A Girl Australia would have 30 more dresses for little girls around the world.

My fabric collection for Dress A Girl Australia is dwindling and soon I will run out of fabrics and/or pillowcases to make into dresses. I am wishing that someone out there would like to donate some pieces of fabrics they no longer want to make into dresses.

To know more about Dress A Girl Australia, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com and would gladly explain what Dress A Girl Australia is all about.

Sewing Marathon 1 - Day 11 to 15 Dresses

Yes, marathon is still going on and here are the dresses for Day 11 to 15. A week late in posting as I have been quite busy with other things the past week but me and my sewing machine are still on track to make 30 dresses in 30 days. Sewing Marathon 1 started last Aug 8 and is going to end on the 6th of Sept.

Dresses sewn for Days 16-20 will be posted in the next few days. To see all dresses sewn for the marathon, click here.  Some of these dresses will be distributed in December.

Please help Dress A Girl Australia meet its target of another 125 dresses for Christmas by joining sewing marathons. For more information, send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com