Amazing feedbacks from Dress A Girl (Around the World) Australia supporters

A couple of feedbacks from supporters and campaigners of Dress A Girl (Around the World) Australia which I'd like to share with you -

#1 - In Jabiru, the heart of Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory is an arts and craft group who started a Dress a Girl project about a month ago, hand-carving their own lino blocks to print their own fabric to make into dresses! Penny Hart said that they would love to send the dresses to Sydney for distribution once they're done and are very happy to see that an Australian group/campaign existed. Wow! Thanks heaps, Penny Hart!! Much appreciated!!

#2 - Sometime late last year I received an email from Mary Gast a textile technology teacher from Beaconhills college, victoria who wanted to introduce making dresses for Dress A Girl Australia as a co-curricular activity for her students. Today I received an update from Mary letting me know that she has 14 students on board making dresses and will be finished at the end of Term 2. Such a fantastic news that I am jumping up and down with joy. Another group of young girls helping other young girls who are less fortunate. What more can Dress A Girl Australia asked for. Thank you, Mary!!

If you want to help make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate children around the world, then come and join us in this journey of dressing girls around the world. Help make this dream of every girl owning at least one dress become a reality and not just imaginary. For each of us deserves to own at least one. What if that dress were made by you.

For more details and/or information about this campaign, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com.

What to do...maybe it is time to have a rest for a few days

Today is the 26th of March and in another 5 days the month of March would be gone and I have only made 13 dresses out of a forecasted 31 dresses for the 31 days of March. A lot of unexpected things happening which made it impossible to make one dress a day and I look at it as a sign that maybe I should stop dressing girls for a few days...have a rest!

First, it was my sewing machine. It just wouldnt move, If it does move, the threads are tangled and the sewing machine jams up. And when I started sewing again using my sister's sewing machine, last night I discovered I only had about half-a-metre left of bias tape. it wont even be good enough for one armhole. When was the last time I made bias tapes? cant remember! :-) Looks like ages ago. I did'nt want to make a dress and not finished it so no dress was done since last night. Then I thought maybe I should just print labels. But guess what. two cartridges of my printer has no more ink and usually when there is no more ink, most printers wont work even if the other cartridges still have some ink left. For my printer to work, it needs 5 inks. I didnt force it to print since I didnt want my printer to get damaged. I have ordered rolls of bias tapes this time (as I dont think I will find the time to make them anyway I can buy them at wholesale price) and also have ordered the ink cartridges. The shop I go to did not have the colours I wanted in stock. Without these two very important materials, am kind of paralyzed. Cant do much until I receive the items so I might as well have a rest and re-energized. I am still hoping that I could at least make a dozen dresses before the month of April starts on Easter Monday.

What to do! But I think I am enjoying and having fun overcoming these challenges! 
Here is a link to the 13 dresses I have made so far.

One dress a day for the month of March

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/03 #33 - Bundles of Fabrics from Joan

When I went to work last Monday the first thing I saw on top of my desk was a big plastic bag. I was thinking that whoever placed this plastic bag on my desk must have found it on top of their desk and wants to get rid of it by putting it on another desk which was my desk. (I think that is what some people do when no one is looking) . You see we just moved into a new office building and were told to always have a clean desk, keep everything inside the locker we were provided before we leave work as we may not be seated on the same desk the following day (they call it hot-desking) but since we moved I have been sitted on the same spot everyday. I go to work early so I always get the same spot. :-)

Anyway, I opened the bag and this is what I found inside. Three bundles of different fabric materials and definitely was meant for me as a few people at work knows that I collect fabrics for Dress A Girl. It wasnt until after about 10-15 minutes later that I found out who left it on my desk (not just anyone who wanted to get rid of a plastic bag. LOL!). It came from Joan Lui who was so happy to see the pairs of shorts I made for him worn by some school kids from the School for Life Foundation in Uganda she decided to start looking for fabrics again in her cabinet to give to me. Donation #33.

 To Joan, thank you so much for the bundles. Thank you for keeping me busy making a difference in the lives of a few disadvantaged children through your fabric donations. It is much appreciated.

Dress Distribution #22 - Parcel for the children of Mbale East Uganda (Bushikori Christian Centre)

This parcel is long overdue. I had wanted to send it early December but then I thought maybe after Christmas would be ok so the chances of it missing in the posting is less especially that there are no insurances for parcels to Uganda. I lost a parcel in December and that was only here in Australia. I finally found the time to complete the packing and added t-shirts and undies I had received and collected during the Christmas season and finally the parcel is sent. 

Dress Distribution #22 is a parcel of 54 dresses for girls, 12 boys and 24 girls’ undies, 12 t-shirts for small boys and 1 small clothing for a baby and is going to the needy children of a community in  Mbale, Eastern Uganda care of the Bushikori  Christian Centre. The community is situated in a rural area and the Centre organises sponsorship of orphans and desperately needy children so that they can be educated and be employed. According to Lianne Foord who is a member of the of the Australian Support Committee, the children in their program often only own one item of clothing which is sometimes in poor condition. . Today I started sorting the second parcel which I intend to send mid-April.

Here are the contents of the parcel -

made possible by the following donors -
1)Jane Kelly, Marieka Ashmore and Liz Skinner of Coffs Harbour
2) Holly Landman
3) Karen Interlandi
4) Nicole Devet
5) Gaylene Herrmann
6) Miss Mollie and friend
7) Christie of Joyfoolery
8) Alison Harley
9) Sharyn Paull
10) Leonie Harrison
11) Ladies of Kapunda S.A. 
12) Sandra Price and her mum
13) Sarah Petrie and daughters Claudia and Charlotte
14) Sandra Hart
15) The Sewing Library facebook group
16) Prudence Mann
17) Liz Lynzaat
18) Deborah Steed
19) Heyboom shop
20) 2Bettys - Barrett Barrett and Betty Paull
21) Helen McMahon
22) Monika Osvald
23) Anonymous Donor

For larger images of the items, please click here. For more details on dress distributions, please click here or on the 'dress distribution' tab which can be found at the top of the page.

Thank you so much to all the dear donors who made this parcel so very possible. A special thank you to Lyn Crossley, Valda Ridley and Monika Osvald for the t-shirts and the undies. Through your kindness and generosity, some of these children will own another clean and decent dress. Thank you.

To know more about the works of the Bushikori Christian Centre (Supporting orphans and widows in Uganda) please click here.

Time to say 'thank you' once again.

After having filled 4 boxes the past couple of days and I think I can still go on (if I had not run out of boxes to fill), I feel the need to stop doing anything and say 'thank you' to everyone for your support, great kindness and generosity, for helping make a difference to some disadvantaged children around the world....with one small dress at a time.

 You all are indeed living the year 2013 making a big difference and we are only in the month of March. Imagine what we all can do by the end of the year.. still with just one dress at a time. 

Thank you everyone. The time, effort and cost you all have contributed is very, very much appreciated. Thank you.

Dress Distribution #21 - Parcel 1 for the Children of the Garden of Life, India

For the children of the Garden of Life, India is Distribution #21. This is the first parcel of 66 dresses. Coming up with the collection was quite easy but the sending has been quite a challenge. There is no other way to send the parcel except by airmail and the cost was beyond what I had allocated for it. I didnt want to use the funds that I had already allocated for the other parcels so the sending had to be put on hold until I could come up with the rest of the amount.  

And finally here are the dresses that have been allocated -

and the list of donors are listed below -

1) Ladies of Kapunda, South Australia

2) Frances Cornish

3) Sharyn Paull

4) Liz Lynzaat

5) Katherine Nott

6) Cassie Ashley

7) Monika Osvald

8) Wendy Yates

9) Heyboom Shop

10) Dress A Girl Australia

For larger images of the dresses, please click here. For more details on dress distributions, please click here or on the 'dress distribution' tab which can be found at the top of the page.

To all the donors, thank you so much for helping make a difference in this world, helping make a difference in the lives of the girls who will soon be receiving and wearing these dresses. This parcel of 66 dresses has been made possible through your kindness and generosity. Thank you. It is very much appreciated.

And lastly, my very special and heartfelt thank you to two big-hearted 85-year old craftivists, two Bettys for their continued support, great kindness and generosity. I was able to raise the needed funds to send this parcel to India through selling the handmade items (bags and doorstops) Betty Barrett made and making sure the items got to Sydney in time for my market by Betty Paull. Thank you Bettys, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Feedback on dresses with sleeves

No dress made today as am spending my time sorting and packing dresses. I appreciate very much the dresses that you make and send but to all those who are making dresses with sleeves or peasant style dresses, please do not be offended but please do not make the neckline of the dress too wide as the dress might fall off the child wearing it. This is the first time am packing dresses with sleeves and I noticed that some necklines are too wide. Even if the neckline has an elastic, I think some are still too wide. Dresses with sleeves are going to Asian countries such as India, Bangladesh where sleeves are required but these children are not of heavy build. Please take this comment positively as a guide to making a more beautiful dress and one that a child can enjoy wearing. Thanks everyone!

Feedback from Parcels sent to PNG and for the children of Katuuso Uganda

I thought I would share with you all the feedback(parcel acknowledgements)  I got from the parcel of forks I sent to Papua New Guinea and the parcel for the schoolchildren of Katuuso Uganda.
The first note is from Aunty Rosa of the BFO Orphanage, Papua New Guinea -

The second note is from Annabelle Chauncy, co-founder of the School for Life Foundation in Katuuso Uganda -

Thank you to everyone who made these parcels possible. Much appreciated.

For more details and/or information on dresses, shorts and other items' distributions, please visit my Dress Distribution page whenever you have the chance. You can also click on the tab 'Dress Distributions' which you can find at the top of this page.

Back to Sewing

After missing 12 days this month sewing dresses for my one-dress-a day campaign, I am back again and hope to make up for the missing dresses between now and the end of March. I am still hoping that I would be able to make 31 dresses for the 31 days of March. 31 dresses in honour of the memory of my high school classmates who have left this world quite early.

Last night I did 2 dresses from the fabric donations of Linda Smyth and Monika Osvald and tonight I did a t-shirt dress from the fabric and t-shirt donation of Monika Osvald. Here are the 3 dresses -

Thank you to Monika and Linda for their fabric donations which made these 3 dresses possible. Thanks Heaps!

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/03 #32 - from Gaylene

A parcel of 51 dresses and 1 pair of shorts from Gaylene Herrmann is donation #32 on my list. I think I have mentioned this before that Gaylene is one of the pioneer donor of dresses. In fact she is  the second person to donate dresses to Dress A Girl Australia.
Here are the dresses she has donated this time -

and here is the pair of shorts -

To Gaylene, thank you so much for your kindness, generosity and support of the Dress A Girl (Around the World) Australia program. It is very much appreciated. Thank you.

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/03 #31 - From Heather and friends

Donation #31 is a very good example of sewing and spreading the word among family and friends. 9 dresses made of fabrics donated by her sister Debbie Nikolic and friend Wanda and sewn by Heather Harris. Everyone gets a chance to help make a difference in this world by helping one another and here are the dresses that will dress 9 lucky girls around the world -

Thank you to Debbie Nikolic and friend Wanda for the fabrics and to Heather for sewing them into dresses.  I love the good deeds that the three of you have accomplished. It is what Dress A Girl Around the world is all about and makes everything about this campaign more rewarding. 
Thank you so much!

Important Notices

Been quite busy the past few nights preparing for the Dreamers Markets' Autumn market. Am keeping my fingers crossed that it will be another lucky day for me. Being lucky would mean more and more girls around the world will be made happy.

Two things worthy of special mentions -

1) I will not be able to pick up parcels at the post office this Saturday, 16th of March due to Market Day. I have 2 parcel card notifications which I picked up at my postbox last Tuesday (as usual the postoffice was closed when I got there). I received two emails letting me know about parcels so my guess is that these 2 cards are for those email notifications received. Will try to pick them up early next week otherwise it will be done next Saturday.

2) For those who sent me emails since Tuesday this week) and requires responses, just to let the senders know that I have read your emails and will be responding after Saturday's Market Day. Thank you for your understanding.

Since the day my sewing machine broke down, I have not been able to make dresses for my one-dress-a-day campaign. I borrowed my sister's sewing machine but then my time is being eaten up by the preparations I have to do for this coming Saturday's market. I will resume making dresses perhaps on Sunday and try to make at least 31 dresses for the 31 days of March. I hope! :-)

Back with a bit of vengeance

The terminator said 'I'll be back' in the Terminator movie. Gen Douglas MacArthur said 'I shall return' during WWii to fulfill a promise he made to go back to the Philippines and save them from the Japanese invasion. (I wasnt even born yet :-)). 

Now it is my turn to say 'I am back' with my sister's sewing machine. I will be back to continue on my mission of one-dress-a-day after the Dreamers Market on Saturday, the 16th of March at the Riverside Theatres, Parramatta and aim to catch up and make at least 31 dresses for the 31 days of March.

Mini Pillows and Buttons for Sale

When I took more than a year off from work a few years ago I needed to find something to do to keep myself busy. I went travelling, created websites, cardmaking, did a lot of quilting, gardening and made a lot of pillows just to be busy. Earlier from reading magazines I found that I can actually create my own fabric or print images on fabrics using an inkjet printer that when I travelled to the US the first thing I did was look for the materials that was mentioned in the magazines I was reading. When I came back to Sydney I handcarried two reams of the special inkjet fabric sheets. I printed pictures and graphic images one sheet after another that I ended up with almost 25 small pillows created. LOL! I started selling them one at a time when I decided I wanted to go back to work but I didnt expect that I would immediately find a job. It was my first application/interview so I ended up not being able to sell all the pillows.

Today I decided I was going to bring all the remaining pillows at the Autumn Market of the Dreamers Market this coming Saturday to sell. I hope they would sell so I can raise more funds. Here are the pillows that I will be selling -

In addition to making pillows I also did a lot of button making and I have pinned some of the buttons on the pillows where appropriate. These items will also be available for sale at the Dress A Girl Australia e-shop soon.

More buttons are also available for sale for the Easter event. These are new items I created during the weekend when I could not use my sewing machine.

These will be posted in my e-shop very soon.

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/03 #30 - From Katoomba NSW

This lady has been kept busy. A combination of dresses, pairs of shorts, scarves and a pencil case from Monika Osvald is Donation #30. Yehey!! Now I've got something inside my school supplies collection box again after I emptied it last week to send to the schoolchildren of the School for Life Foundation in Katuuso Uganda. 
Here are the items I picked up from the post last Saturday morning -

Heaps of thanks, Monika. Every time and effort you spend making these items is very much appreciated. Thank you so much.

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/03 #29 - Another parcel from Leonie

Another parcel of 8 dresses from Leonie Harrison is number 29 on the list. Since the last time she made and donated 12 dresses which I think was in May of last year, she has been meaning to send more and here they are -

Thank you so much Leonie!  I am sure these eight dresses will make eight girls very happy. Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. It is much appreciated.

Ladies of Kapunda Sewing Bee #2 for the year

Here are some of the Ladies of Kapunda who joined the scheduled Sewing Bee for the month of March. They completed 120 dresses and pairs of shorts. Isnt that an incredible job!

The dresses and shorts they have made this month and for the next couple of months are in preparation for their 'Buy A Dress-Send A Dress' promotion of Dress A Girl Around the World upcoming May event in collaboration with the Kapunda Quilters' Quilt Exhibition. The money they raised will be used to sponsor women in the business programs of Hope-4-Women Intl by the ladies of Kapunda S.A.

My sewing machine is broken!

I am broken-hearted. Looks like the bobbin in my sewing machine has finally given up on me after 15 years of sewing just about anything and dresses for the past two years. Last night I spent almost 4 hours making just one dress when it should only be for at least an hour. The bobbin kept tangling the thread and jams up the machine. I tried all possible combination of fixes but nothing seemed to work and I broke two needles. Today I tried to make a dress but unsuccessful and broke 2 needles again in my attempt so I stopped as I didnt want my day to be spoiled because of a bobbin.

Tomorrow I am going to window shop and shop for a new sewing machine. Until such time that I can buy a new sewing machine or have my sewing machine fixed, it will be very quiet and lonely and miserable days here at Dress A Girl Australia.