Donate a dress without a location condition

Good Morning Ladies. I have had people asking me to send their dresses to specific locations like Uganda. Unfortunately I do not tolerate this kind of request. If one is donating a dress it should not have any condition as to where it should be going. 

Just to let everyone know that it is now November 4 and the only location that is open is the Philippines. If there is anyone who does not want their dresses to go to this location, please do not mail your dresses to me as I have no space for safekeeping. Thank you and have a good day!

Reminder on Dress Guidelines

It is time to publish this note again to remind those who want to donate dresses that there are guidelines to be followed especially on the kind of material to use when sewing dresses. 

Here is the link to the guidelines on how to make dresses. Thank you.
                                                          GUIDELINES

Any dresses that do not meet the guidelines will not be included in any of the distributions. You will be contacted so I will know what to do with those dresses so an email address is required to be included in the parcel. 

Reminders on Dress Guidelines

Good Morning everyone! It looks like there are new ladies joining this campaign. I want to remind everyone again about the guidelines on dresses especially on fabric materials to use. If you want Dress A Girl Australia to feel inspired and motivated to continue to accept dress donations from those who wants to make a difference, then please follow the guidelines. It is not easy to raise money to pay for the cost of sending these dresses to different locations around the world even if they are handcarried as excess baggage has to be paid, not easy to find recipients and not easy to find willing volunteers to distribute in remote areas so I repeat guidelines, guidelines, guidelines. Thank you.

Dress A Girl Australia Labels

The past few days I have been brainstorming again on how to minimize my cost of running this campaign so it is sustainable. I have identified Dress A Girl Australia labels as one that could contribute to lowering cost. Instead of totally phasing out the labels, I give possible donors the option to still attached labels by printing the labels themselves. I have converted the label file into a pdf format which can be requested via email to be sent to you as an attachment and you can do the printing yourself or you can print directly from this blog.

If you decide not to put labels on your dresses that is fine with me. Especially for those dresses that do not meet the guidelines where I am being ask to drop them in charity bins, it will make the task easier for me as I do not have to remove the labels from the dresses although I would still be encountering cost doing this errand as I have to drive to the location where these charity bins are located so I still insist on guidelines.

If you want to do the printing of the labels yourself, all you have to do is go on the left navigation pane of this page, (1) locate 'Dress A Girl Forms' section, (2) locate "Print Dress A Girl Australia labels', point your mouse to the selection and 'click' your mouse. The label sheet will be displayed on your screen.

To print, make sure your paper size is 'A4'. Color should be Color and if you have the option of 'Fit to page' to select, make sure you tick on this box.

If you want to save the file on your drive, you must select the 'Downward arrow' key and select 'Download'.

If you want me to send the .pdf file to you instead, you can either send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com or select the Request for Dress Labels in pdf format

There will be more changes as they are identified and will be published here for everyone's info. Thank you.
.

Sharing some pictures from South Africa

I received these two pictures today from South Africa, on a day I consider a very special day. These are some of the kids who were recipients of the South Africa winter collection which I sent in ealy July. It is pictures like these that keeps me going and why I insist that guidelines have to be met. It is time for people show some respect on what is needed to make this campaign a success and makes the dresses worth sending to different locations around the world. From today,  ignoring the guidelines means donations will also be ignored.

At the end of the day, the decision is final. If the dress does not meet the guidelines, the dress is not going anywhere. There will also be no returns of dresses rejected. If you want your dresses to be returned, you can send me a prepaid satchel that I can use to send the dresses. If after 4 weeks, I do not hear from the donors with rejected donations, they will be dropped off to the nearest charity bin. Note that taking these dresses to the nearest charity bin also incurs a cost as I have to drive.

A good question to ask when deciding whether to donate or not.

For one who wants to sew a dress or a pair of shorts to donate, I think this is a good question to ask when looking at the clothing you just made. If I were asked to wear the dress or pair of shorts would I wear it? Would I go out, hop, jump, run and walk around wearing the dress or pair of shorts? Would you like to see your child wearing it? If you can answer a 'YES' to all of the questions, then you are meeting the guidelines on how to make a dress. If you cannot, then I do not really know why you are still making it into something. Is it just for the sake of donating a dress? To keep you busy perhaps? A few of the dresses and/pairs of shorts I received even had big stains on the fabrics so I wish I knew what was on people's mind why they would want other people to wear it and not them. It annoys me to see these kind of donations. We give them something new to wear to at least make a difference to the life they are so used to . Why give them something to wear with a stain? It does not make it any different from what they are already used to wearing. I hope people would think about this the way I think about it and you will understand why I keep on insisting on guidelines and why I am rejecting some donations. Thank you.

Change on Guidelines Policy effective immediately

I think this month I spent quite a sum of money paying for postage of dresses that did not meet the guidelines. This should not be happening as it is adding more burden on the cost of running this campaign. So effective immediately any dresses that I received that does not meet the guidelines of a project or a drive will not be returned. You will be contacted and advised how many dresses will not be included at all in any of my distributions and if you want your dresses back to send me a pre-paid satchel. I will keep the dresses for 4 weeks and if I donot hear back from those advised after four weeks they will be dropped in the nearest charity bin. Please be guided by this new information to avoid inconveniences. Thank you.

Size preferences for Dresses and info

A lot of people are asking about dress sizes and size preferences are for girls between the ages of 8 to 12 as these can be given even to kids between the ages of 6 to 10. I have about 100 dresses between the sizes of 0 to 4 which I find difficult to distribute because these ages are difficult to access. Volunteers need to go to the houses of these kids and sometimes the locations are not that safe. For donors, once they send their donated dresses, they think that their job is done but for me the job has just began. People dont realize that I also think about the welfare of the people who go out to distribute dresses and their safety. 

A lot of people donate small sizes. I can understand this because perhaps it is expensive to donate larger sizes but if you can donate 10 dresses maybe you can just make 6 out of the fabrics not 10 so you can give more to the length. Really if you think about it girls that really need dresses are between the sizes of 7 to 12. Girls you see in some of the pictures are between the ages of 7 to 10 wearing dresses sized 5 and 6 because this is what I receive which needs to be distributed. I am happy that they get to wear new dresses but not really that happy because I know they wont be wearing it for a long time because of their lengths (these kids are growing not sideways maybe but taller) and keep wishing that if only I could add more to the length they will be walking, hopping and jumping around wearing the dress much longer. So if any of you feel the same way that I do, please be more generous with the lengths of your dresses so they can be outgrown by the kids who get to own them.Thank you.

Repost of Guidelines when making and donating dresses

I am reposting these guidelines if you are making dresses to donate. If you want your dresses to be included in the distributions, please make sure you read these guidelines.

Simple things to remember when making dresses

Guidelines on how to make dresses.

Recommended Dress Sizes and Measurements

If some of you appreciate the work that I do to help all of us make a difference to the lives of the less fortunate, the time and effort I spend making contact to different communities, finding volunteers willing to spare their time and money travelling to remote locations in some locations and raising funds to pay for the cost of sending these dresses to different locations around the world, then you will appreciate and understand why there are guidelines. Thank you.

Label requests

Good day everyone. I have limited number of labels left and find it difficult to find the time to make new ones as most of my spare time is spent on finding ways to raise money for postage. I will be filling up requests but going to cut down the number of labels to send vs what was requested. This way I am able to provide labels to more donors. Thank you.

Also, if you want labels, please can I ask that you fill up the form to request labels. I dont think it is too much to ask. This way, I only have to look at one log and able to do the job effectively. Let us make a difference by helping one another too and filling up label forms makes quite a difference to the tasks I have to do on my limited spare time. This way, you dont keep on sending me emails asking where your labels are. 

Starting today I will only fill up requests send using the form -
Here is the link to the form - click here. The link can also be found on the left side navigation pane under the 'Dress A Girl' forms -

Sizes for pairs of Shorts

Ladies, please make sure that when you sew pairs of shorts, they are children's sizes and not adult sizes. I have a problem distributing large sizes of shorts. Note that even if these kids are 14 years old most of them are size 10 only so an adult size 16 are really big especially in the Asian locations. Sometimes it is better to sew 2 size 8 rather than sewing an adult size 16. You are able to give to 2 kids compared to a size 16 that can never find an owner.Please help volunteers easily find owners of the clothes that you sew Thank you.

Too thin and flimsy materials used

I have to say this so anyone who wants to donate will start to think twice before donating. I am very disappointed with some of the dresses I received in June. They really are very thin and flimsy that if the child has a tattered undie underneath it will show through the dress. The purpose of why we make dresses is to give a child a decent dress to wear and to give them a thin and flimsy dress that shows everything underneath...I do not see the purpose of why we still provide them a dress. Perhaps they are better off with their tattered dresses. I am not going to beg to make sure your dress materials are acceptable but if you want to help make a difference by donating a dress, please make sure that they meet the standards otherwise they will not be included in any of the distributions nor am I going to spend so much time reminding everyone or letting donors know that their dresses are too thin and flimsy. The cost to send these items are very expensive and I want to make sure that I send only the ones that are of good quality and will last for a long period of time. Thank you.

No metallic or breakable items will be accepted

Just a reminder to those who donate dresses not to include anything that is metallic as security screening is very rigid and strict again these days. If you want to include a headband make sure that they are made of fabric and not metal. Any kind of metallic items or breakable items like plastic headbands that I receive will not be included in any of the distributions. 

Please be guided with this latest information. Thank you.

Saving the flimsy dresses by matching with pairs of shorts

One of the things I have to do when sorting to prepare for distributions which delays the packing is finding a match for some of the dresses I have identified as 'not wearable' with pairs of shorts. These dresses are tagged as 'not wearable' and therefore cannot be included in any of the distributions because of the fabric materials used. The materials are too flimsy or too thin and you can actually see through the dress. I do not and will not repair any dresses that I receive which I find not suitable. I think that with all the things I have to do which includes lifting these boxes to take to the postoffice it is no longer fair that I still have to do repairs so I put these dresses on the side until such time that I can figure out when it can be included in the distributions. I even think that some donors should feel lucky that I still try to find a way for these dresses to be distributed and not just put them or drop them in charity bins. I could do that if I want to but I know how much time and effort you spend sewing these dresses.

If I can match the dress with a pair of shorts, then I include them in parcels. Matching them with shorts will more or less cover the lower part of the dress which is see-through. Although the upper part of it is still flimsy, at least it will not be as bad as the lower section or if the whole dress is completely see-through. Here is a sample of a matching I recently did and saved the dresses. 

So again, I would like to reiterate for everyone who intends to donate dresses to please make sure that you use the right fabric materials. I also encourage future donors to please write their email addresses or contact details and insert these notes inside the parcel so I can get in touch with anyone whose dresses donated have problems. Please be more understanding and not make comments that it is my job because my job is to help anyone who wants to make a difference but in the right way and I dont believe it is that difficult to follow proper procedures. I, too, want to spend some of my spare time sewing dresses so I can see some of the children wearing the dresses that I made.Thank you.

Another reminder on Dresses

Another reminder especially for those who prefer to use ribbons instead of bias tapes, please try to run a few stitches at the corners (armpit area) to hold the ribbons permanently and also please be generous with your ribbons. I noticed some of the ribbons hardly make it to the shoulders for tying. Please be guided with these important rules if you want your dresses to be included in the distribution. I know some people think I complain a lot and do not appreciate the dresses being donated but I do not really see the point of sending these dresses to these kids if they cannot be worn. Thank you.

Size Preference Update

Dress size preference at this time and for the next few months will be between 8 to 12. For those who are intending to donate, please be guided with this information. If you still prefer small sizes you can still do it but please note they will be very slow moving. Thank you.

Pretty good example of a girl, a dress and a smile

I know it is 9:30pm but sometimes it is at this time that I can really think of what to say plus I am on work call again tomorrow and may not remember and have the time to write this. Please have a look at this picture so everyone will understand why I kind of go crazy and start reminding everyone again about the kind of materials to use when making dresses to donate.

I am not an expert dressmaker, in fact, dressmaking is the farthest thing in my mind when it comes to crafting although I love sewing. The dress on this picture was given to this beautiful kid about 6 months ago and look at the dress. Even if the color has somewhat faded but it is still a very much wearable dress which the girl enjoys wearing perhaps almost everyday (wash tonight wear tomorrow). I do not believe using thin materials and washed in rugged environments will last the same way this dress has. And imagine how this girl would feel if after washing the dress she founds out that it got torn and damaged and can no longer wear it. These kids do not have the luxury of getting to own and wear new dresses all the time. They would be lucky if they get to own a new one at least once a year and that is why they treasure every minute they get the chance to wear it. 

So PLEASE before you sit down in front of your sewing machine check that you are using the right materials, materials that can withstand rugged environments, materials that would look good on every kid who gets to receive one. Let us keep sewing dresses that will make the kid who gets to wear it have that big smile on their face whenever she gets the chance to wear it.....and until the next time she gets a new one. Thank you!

Reminder on Materials to use

I think this will have to become a monthly reminder for anyone who wants to make dresses and donate to this cause to PLEASE PLEASE do not use thin or flimsy materials. Being able to see through the dress is not helping at all and there is no one who can make repairs to these dresses so PLEASE take note of this requirement. Thank you.

Friendly Reminder on Dress Materials

A friendly reminder once again to please make sure that the materials you use for the dresses are not thin or flimsy materials. If one of the ideas as to why we want them to wear these dresses is also to protect them then using thin or flimsy materials where you can see through the dress is not going to help. So please bear in mind no thin or flimsy dress materials. Thank you.