Second Round of Dresses by Lilia

In the city of Cagayan de Oro Philippines about 10 hours away from Sydney by plane (about 3,409 flying miles away) and where I did my very first dress distribution is a lady who is sewing dresses the second time around. Lilia (Ramos-Tapia) feels she is so lucky and blessed to be able to sew dresses, able to make a difference and distribute to the needy children in the area. Lil, thank you so much for your support.

Dress A Girl campaign in Canungra South East Queensland

Canungra South East Queensland 

In the small village of Canungra located in the beautiful Gold Coast Hinterland between Mt Tamborine & Lamington National Park is a lady by the name of Julie Binskin who has been busy sewing dresses for Dress A Girl (Around the World) Australia. Together with her 4 other friends they have made about thirty dresses to date (and I never had a clue!).

She is busy with her plans on how to spread the word around her community. She will be holding a 'Dress A Girl' party at their local library. The library I think is giving her and the other supporters of the campaign the use of the facility free of charge after learning about Dress A Girl Around the World and several friendly chats with one of the librarians. (Whenever I read the word librarian it always reminds me of my high school days when together with classmates we always got reprimanded for giggling inside the library. LOL!) Even a cafe has offered to donate a morning tea for the sewing ladies. And she also plans to speak to the headmistress of their local primary school to see if she can encourage some of the children to become involved in such a very worthwhile project as Dress A Girl Around the World. Big, big plans of Julie who is so used to making a difference. Together with her friends (Canungra Valley Circle of Friends) they make quilts for disadvantaged children and ill members of their  community for several years now.

To Julie, welcome to Dress A Girl (Around the World) Australia and good Luck!

Anyone living near the area who wants to be involved in this campaign of dressing girls around the world for every girl deserves to own at least one dress, who wants to make a difference can join Julie's circle of friends.

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/04 #43 - From Prudence Mann

Second parcel for the month of April and number 43 on the list is from Prudence Mann of Melbourne. A parcel of 21 dresses in various sizes -

To Prudence, thank you for dressing 21 girls, 21 dresses for 21 girls who deserves to own at least one dress each. Thank you for your kindness and generosity. It is very much appreciated.

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/04 #42 - From Sarah T for the month of April

Number 42 on the list is from Sarah Tanmahapran who has been consistently sending dresses and pairs of shorts every month since the start of the year and this time is her donation for the month of April. An inspiring example of someone who is living the year of 2013 making a difference.

Here are the 3 dresses and more on the pairs of shorts 10 of them to make more boys smiling. - and guess what..they are all ready to wear pre-washed and pressed! 

To Sarah, thank you so much for joining in this journey of living the year of 2013 making a difference. It is much appreciated and on behalf of all the girls and boys who are benefitting from your kindness and generosity, am sure they all would agree of a thank you coming from the heart. You really are making a difference and.... making a difference...rocks!! Together we rock the world to make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate children. Thank you.

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/03 #41 - From the Ladies of Kapunda S.A.

Number 41 on the list and the last parcel standing for the month of March from the Ladies of Kapunda S.A. A parcel of 6 undies, 6 small and 10 large shirts, 10 shorts, 3 bibs and 7 sleeping pants. 

Thank you to Sharyn Diamantopolous, Nelda  Hossack, Deborah Parish, Sue Scmidt, Loris Pullen and Jan Tompkins for the assortment of boys' goodies. Also, thank you to Barb Schwartz for the bundles of fabrics she donated through the library at Kapunda and to the "treasure chest" op shop in Nuriootpa for the fabric they also donated to the cause. Thanks a whole lot, ladies, for your unparalleled kindness and generosity! Much appreciated.

Also, Deborah Parish will be talking about Dress A Girl Around the World and its activities(i.e. sewing bees, how to donate) at the Eden Valley Lutheran Ladies Guild this coming Friday. She will be taking patterns and dress samples to show to the group and might be joined by Loris Pullen. Good Luck Ladies!

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/03 #40 - From Christie of Joyfoolery

Number 40 on the list and the second to the last parcel for the month of March is from Christie Sturre of Joyfoolery. The parcel includes 3 dresses and 2 pairs of shorts.
Here are the goodies from Christie - 

To Christie, thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. The support you and the rest of the campaigners have given to Dress A Girl (Around the World) Australia is inspiringly unparalleled and the word of thanks may not be enough to repay but it comes from the heart. Thank you!

New Donation Received from Wee Pots

This very cute little pot which you can use to keep your jewellery together instead of scattering them on top of a desk or bedside table, you can use to serve sauce or other spices on the dinner table was donated by Wee Pots. 

Owned by Joe Wolf, she hand builds pottery that are either small, tiny, little or mini in a 2x2  sqm laundry room! At Dreamers Market these mini pots  were selling like hotcakes! At the end of the market, she handed this item over to me to sell in my Dress A Girl website. She said it is not that much but will help in my fundraising.

This pot is made of earthenware clay with Japanese tissue transfer and double-fired. Diameter is about 7cms and a height of about 2.5cms. If you are looking for a little treasure that is handmade with love in a 2x2 sqm laundry room, then this item is for you. This will be sold at only $5.00 in my Dress A Girl Australia e-shop (normally retails for $8 I think or when on sale). Postage is $6.60. It comes in a box for easy gift-giving. The sale of this item will help pay for the postage of at least 3 dresses anywhere in the world. And if you asked me how much I treasure this little item, it is currently in my cabinet sitting next to a 30-year old vintage teapot set I have. It will remain where it is until it gets sold or might end up there permanently (LOL!)

Check out below other products handmade by Wee Pots in her 2x2 sqm laundry room - Am not sure if she has an on-line shop for her wee pots. You can send me an email if you are interested in any of her weepot handbuild items and will gladly forward it to her.

Thank you Wee Pots!!

More Donations to the TSL Dolly Drive

These bunny snugglies that makes sounds like a rattle as well was given to me by a wholesaler late last year. They are very good quality and fabric used was very soft and had some embroidered images on it. I wasnt sure if I wanted it to be included in a parcel as the heads although they were very, very soft were not foldable and would occupy too much space in the box and that would mean less dresses to pack. I thought it would be a good idea to give to the TSL Dolly Drive so they can give it to sick babies anywhere in Australia.

Yesterday morning, I posted them to Karin Maltby the Western Australia admin for the drive. These bunnies are in addition to what I have already posted to the NSW admin about 5 weeks ago and I hope each bunny will find a deserving owner somewhere in Perth, W.A. very soon.

Disappointing March results (one dress a day campaign)

Yes, a bit disappointing result for my one-dress-a-day journey this year. Out of 31 days I was only able to make 13 dresses out of a forecasted 31 for the 31 days of March and spent only 9 days out of the 31 days sewing. If anyone is wondering how I managed to end up with 13  for 9 days that is because on day 77 I did 2 dresses and day 82 I made 4 dresses. I tried to make up for the missing days but unfortunately a lot of things happened that stopped me from achieving my goal this month including a broken sewing machine. All the pink dresses you see on the image below means no dresses were made.

My sewing machine is still broken. I have my sister's sewing machine but a bit late to catch up. I hope to make up for the missing days in April and the months to come as I still want to reach my goal of 400 dresses this year. So far, for the first 3 months of the year 2013, first quarter of 2013 I have made 77 dresses out of a possible 90 dresses.

Thank you to the following donors for helping make the 13 dresses possible:
1) Flor dela Cruz
2) Heyboom shop
3) Monika Osvald
4) Linda Smyth
5) Sash Hinton
6) Jenny F
7) Louise Wright

Thank you ladies. Much appreciated.

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/03 #39 - From Betty Barrett

She is really unstoppable. Number 39 is a parcel of goodies from Betty Barrett. A parcel of 6 dresses, 7 pairs of shorts, 5 mini-bags for little girls to put their little treasures and carry-around with them and 41 hair ties. Her energy is amazing and the willingness in her heart to share these creations with the disadvantaged little girls and boys is inspirational. You sure do make this world a better place. :-) Check out the goodies below -

To Betty, your unwavering support of Dress A Girl Around the World with your friend Betty Paull is really inspiring. Thank you very much for helping little girls own at least one dress and make them more pretty with your hair ties and with those mini bags for their little treasures, they sure are the lucky little girls in this world. Thank you Betty and Betty!

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/03 #38 - From Sharyn

Number 38 on the list still for the month of March is a parcel of 16 dresses from Sharyn Paull. Sharyn who found her love of sewing about 2 years ago is into vintage sewing and repurposing and in between what keeps her busy she makes dresses for Dress A Girl Australia. Here are the 16 dresses she sent this time -

Thank you Sharyn for your kindness and generous support of Dress A Girl Australia. It is very much appreciated. Good Luck on your new venture!

With one click of the mouse on the link below, you will find out what is keeping Sharyn busy these days. Please like her page if you find anything you like. 

Two Bettys

                                                    

Thank you to the Steven Walter Boutique Op Shop in Katoomba

There is this boutique opshop at 150 Bathurst street, Katoomba that has been a big help to one of our Dress A Girl Australia supporter Monika Osvald. It is the boutique op shop of the Steven Walter Children's Cancer Foundation which is a not-for-profit organisation that is supporting childhood cancer research.

The opshop's Manager Helen and all the volunteers are doing a very good job not only promoting their own charity work but also our Dress a girl around the world campaign. They help collect fabrics and give it to Monika to make into dresses to donate to Dress A Girl Australia. A couple of months back, Monika decided to make dresses that she could sell to help raise funds and the Boutique opshop allowed her to display her dresses (3 at a time) and a week ago she had her first sale. WooHoo!!

She wrote and said it is not that much but a good start and hope it will pick up in the future and then asked me what to do with the money. So I told her she can use it for postage or buy more materials to make into dresses. She said she had heaps of materials to use so she preferred to use the money to buy t-shirts, socks, undies for the children in need and so with any sale she will have in the future. 

Thank you Monika for sharing your big heart and generosity to the children in need and please extend my heartfelt thanks to Helen and all the volunteers in the Boutique Opshop for their great support too.

For those who love vintage finds and/or repurposing, please visit the Boutique opshop at 150 Bathurst street, Katoomba.

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/03 #37 - From the Ladies of Kapunda S.A.

It is April 1st today but am still on the list for the month of March. :-) And the Ladies of Kapunda, S.A. are back again with donation #37. A box full of undies and 10 sleeping pants.

A few weeks back Deborah Parish sent me an email letting me know that they received a donation of thicker fabrics similar to the fleece materials that are usually being used to make jogging pants and she asked if it were acceptable to make into something because if I did'nt see any use to it or too thick to send anywhere they will donate the materials to another charity. I said they were ok but when I replied (and so typical of me most of the time) I was not really thinking of what can be done out of it. Then Loris Pullen asked if I was thinking of something that can be made out of it. Ring!!! Thanks to my friendly 'memory' at that particular time, (my brain started to rollback to all the information I have gathered, collected, read, enquired, provided and stored all this time about orphanages and communities around the world), I thought of the special boys of the BFO Orphanage in Papua New Guinea, homeless kids who sleep on the street, how they sleep in the garage of Aunty Rosa's house, on hammocks and sometimes on the ground since there wasnt that much space for them to be accommodated. I was thinking maybe if they had some thicker clothing on them when they sleep they would not feel that much pain sleeping on the hammock or on the ground. So I replied to Loris that I was thinking of making them into something similar to the jogging pants that they can used for sleeping and that is how these 10 sleeping pants were born - specially handmade for the boys by Loris Pullen and her cousin Jo Haugh. Thank you so much! And these sleeping pants were included in the parcel I packed last week and about to leave for Mt Hagen Papua New Guinea.

Also included on this parcel from the Ladies of Kapunda, S.A. were loads of boys' and girls' undies -

My heartfelt thanks to Loris Pullen and Jan Tompkins for making the sleeping pants, Caroline Wilksch(16), Jan Tompkins(2), Loris Pullen(12) and Sharyn Diamantopolous(6) for the undies and again to Jan Tompkins for the bundles of fabrics she has donated for the ladies to sew and to Deborah for organizing all of these. Thank you so very much for your boundless support of dressing girls and boys around the world. Thank you for the time, money and effort you all spend supporting this campaign. You all are making an amazing difference to the lives of the less fortunate especially to the children of the world. Am speechless! Thank you.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Easter!

Sewing Bees

My most frequently received emails (FRE's for short :-)) are enquiries on Sewing Bees. I would love to organize a sewing bee. This is the number #1 wish I have on my bucket list and still does not have a tick mark after 24 months. Due to circumstances beyond my control(i.e. work, family, coordinating,organizing,raising fund tasks for Dress A Girl including sewing at least one dress a day which I don't want to give up but I have been missing a lot of days now) sewing bee is still a dream for me which I hope to achieve in the near future... BUT.... there is a group called BobKin Sewciety by Vanessa Gowans. I believe the current members are in the process of organizing sewing bees and they come from different locations around Australia, please join the group and join in their discussions on organizing sewing bees. And if you live in Kapunda S.A. or in any suburb near Kapunda, there is a group called Dress A Girl Around the World-Kapunda Ladies sewing group, you may want to join in this group too for sewing bee schedules being organized by Deborah Parish. 

Here are the links to the facebook group -
1) for the Bobkin Society -
                           https://www.facebook.com/groups/BobkinSewciety/?fref=ts
2) the Kapunda Ladies sewing group -
                           https://www.facebook.com/groups/433445666746866/

Join any of these groups whichever is more convenient for anyone and have fun making dresses! Thanks!

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/03 #36 - from Kaylee Healy

This time it is from Kaylee Healy for Donation#36 of 6 dresses also from NSW and a good friend of Laurel Murphy. Here are the dresses sent in by Kaylee in shades of red -

Haylee, thank you for your kindness and generosity. Another 6 happy faces on this planet we will be generating with the 6 dresses you have made. Thank you.

If you want to know what's keeping Kaylee busy during her spare time, check out her blog.

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/03 #35 - From Laurel Murphy

Donation #35 still for the month of March is a parcel of 11 dresses from Laurel Murphy from NSW sent in by a good friend Kaylee Healy.
Here are the 11 dresses from Laurel -

To Laurel, thank you for making 11 girls happy this time with your dress donations. It is very much appreciated. Thanks!

Donation Acknowledgement FY13/03 #34 from Lyn Granger

I better continue my acknowledgements before the month of March ends and before I get inundated with unopened parcels. :-)

#34 on the list is from Lyn Granger of NSW. This time (this is the second "filled with love" parcel from Lyn) inside the parcel are 5 dresses and 6 pairs of shorts and here they are -

To Lyn, thank you for making this world a better place for 5 girls and 6 boys from the less fortunate locations anywhere in the world with your donation. Thank you for giving these kids the opportunity to own at least one dress or one pair or shorts each especially if they never owned at least one. Much appreciated.