Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #29 - Bundles of Fabrics from Linda's Friend

Donation #29 to Dress A Girl Australia's cause is from a friend of Linda Smyth who gave her bundles of fabrics and agreed to donate it to Dress A Girl Australia.

My sister was able to make 6 pillowcase dress kits out of these bundles : 
                            Size 8 = 2 kits
                            Size 7 = 2 kits
                            Size 6 = 2 kits
From the remaining fabric cuttings, two lengths of fabrics measuring about 10" x 36" was also cut which can be used as skirts for 2 t-shirt dresses. She was also able to salvage or cut 28 pieces of 8" x 8" block of squares which can be used for pockets on the dress kits and other dresses which would need pockets. Trust my assistant for being able to maximize the most that she can get out of the bundles. :-)

To Linda's friend, thank you so much for the bundles of fabrics. It is very much appreciated. 

FY12 Dress Distribution #1 - 60 Dresses for Katuuso, Uganda

Finally the box is leaving on a jetplane! 60 dresses for the school children of 'Katuuso' in rural Uganda. The 60 dresses will be travelling with Annabelle Chauncy, one of the co-founder of the School for Life Foundation (formerly known as the United Future Foundation) on the 13th of April.

Most of the dresses on this collection, if not all, are between the sizes of 6 to 10 (lengths of more than 26 to 32inches) to allow the children to wear it for many years to come or outgrow the dresses. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the following donors for making this collection possible and to Annabelle for taking these dresses with her on her visit to Uganda for the school girls:

1. Sarah Petrie and her two daughters Charlotte and Claudia
2. Margaret Blanch
3. The Sewing Library facebook group
4. Penny Grey
5. Linda Smyth
6. Gillian Cockerill
7. Gaylene Hermann
8. Pam of Threading my Way
9. Ladies from Coffs Harbour (Jane Kelly, Marieka Ashmore and Liz Skinner)
10. Sandra Hart
11. Michelle Karyn Reynders
12. Anonymous Donor from the 'share the love' charity drive
13. Anonymous Pillowcase Donors
14. Dress A Girl Australia
The dresses from the pillowcases donated anonymously were sewn by me and Dress A Girl Australia contributed 4 dresses to fill the gap and meet the goal of 60.

Click here to see all the dresses included in this collection.

60 more children in this world will be proudly wearing new dresses they can call their own in a few weeks time.

Also included on this parcel are 18 packs of 10-pc mini colour pencils from a previous school supplies charity drive I did and has been laying idle in my garage. I think the schoolkids of Katuuso can make better use of these colour pencils than my garage. :-)

School for Life Foundation is focused on 'breaking the cycle' of poverty through education and the construction of a combined primary school and vocational training centre called 'Katuuso' in rural Uganda. To know more about this foundation, click here. Or check out their facebook page here.

If you want to be involved in Dress A Girl Australia's campaign to dress disadvantaged girls around the world and need more information, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com.

"Imagine a world where every girl owned at least one dress and what if that dress were made by you."

Fabric flowers for embellishments

A couple of weeks ago I finally met Linda Smyth when I went to pick up dresses she wanted to donate to Dress A Girl Australia. In addition to the dresses and bundles of fabrics given to her by a friend which I still have to acknowledge, she also gave me some fabric flowers which she uses to embellish the dresses she makes. With all the fabric scraps I have collected and never throw away, I thought I finally have something I can make to put all my scraps into good use. Here are the fabric flowers I got from her -

And today while finalizing my packing for the dresses for the Katuuso Children in Uganda, I attached one of the fabric flowers to one of the dresses included in the collection.

I hope one day to introduce fabric flower making as a creative activity for girls in need of support and assistance to make their lives a little bit better. 

Sewing Bee in Kapunda South Australia

There is going to be a sewing session tomorrow, Saturday, 31st of March from 12:30-4pm. Location is corner of Brown St and Main St (Light Church) organized by Deborah Parish. Calling all ladies who have no plans tomorrow afternoon, how about joining the other ladies in their first sewing bee. If you know of anyone who might be interested in this kind of activity, please help spread the word around.

If you miss this session, dont worry as Deborah plans to hold more sewing bees. The tentative schedule for the next session will be on the 5th of May. More details will be posted on this site when available.

Donation Acknowledgements FY2012 #28 - 10 Pillowcase Dresses from Margaret

Donation Acknowledgement time once again! This time it is from Margaret Blanch from Cairns. All ten of them. Included in the parcel was a small note from Margaret which read - 
"I hope these few dresses will help with your campaign. I managed to pick up the pillowcases for $2 each at our local 'Pillowman' store. I tried to make each one individual by different trims. I hope to make more from my own fabric stash and also hope to help out with the boys shorts. Keep up the good work!" 

Here are the 10 dresses that Margaret sent -

Two of the dresses will be included in the dresses to be sent to Uganda next month and the rest of the dresses will be included in the collection for the children of India.

Margaret, thank you so much for the pretty pillowcase dresses and thank you as well for the 'pat on the back'. It is very much appreciated. 

Slowly but surely the word has started to spread around about Dress A Girl Australia and its campaign to help the less fortunate girls and boys around the world own at least one dress or pair of shorts. 

If you want to know more about Dress A Girl Australia's back-to-back campaign, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com. 
   

Update on the ECPAT parcel

I received an email last night letting me know that the parcel I sent to ECPAT Phils containing 20 pillowcase dress kits has been received last Tuesday, 27th of March by Ms. Dolores Alforte- ECPAT Executive Director.

Soon girls from this home will be learning new skills to help make their future a little better and this has been made possible through your support of Dress A Girl Australia's campaign to help disadvantaged children around the world. 

Thank you everyone!

Ujamaa Children of Tanzania wearing their precious gifts

In early December I made 2 pairs of shorts for Ally and Kelvin of the Ujamaa Childrens Home in Tanzania. I want to share with you this picture of Ally and Kelvin wearing their precious long shorts which I made, first ever pair of shorts I have sewn in my life. And can you imagine how I feel looking at these 2 boys wearing them with big smiles on their faces?

And here is a clearer view of the pairs of shorts made especially for them -

It was when I was sewing these pairs that I made up my mind to launch the 'shorts for the boys' campaign. And just looking at the picture above confirms that I made the right decision.

If you want to help Dress A Girl Australia bring more smiles to all  the other Allys and Kelvins in this world, please make donations of handmade shorts and/or fabrics to make into boys' shorts to Dress A Girl Australia.

If you want more information about Dress A Girl Australia and its campaigns to help the disadvantaged children in this world, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com.

Sp'egg'tacular 10-night marathon for shorts for the boys

Dress A Girl Australia's Easter Charity Drive for 55 pairs of shorts is now on for the next 4 weeks and I am daring myself to spend an hour of my time starting tonight and for the next 9 nights to make 2 pairs of shorts to add to my 'children of India' collection. Below is my first 2 pairs -

and I hope I would have the energy to sustain this challenge and the will to go on for the next 9 nights as believe me I am a good procrastinator. 

As always, my creations are always at the bottom of the pile. I always give priority to items donated. What I make I use to fill in the gaps. So dont worry if I am able to complete the challenge(which means I have made 20 pairs) they always get allocated last. :-) And dont worry too if the goal of 55 has been reached as there will always be another distribution to be done.

If you feel like taking the challenge with me, there are still 9 nights to come. Come and join in the fun of making shorts for the boys and send me pictures of what you have made so far or post them directly in Dress A Girl Australia's facebook page.

To those who wants to know more about the Easter drive, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com.

If you are ready to send in donations, please send them to Dress A Girl Australia, P.O. Box 240 Casula Mall Casula NSW 2170.

Thanks heaps in advance!

'55 Pairs of Shorts' Easter Drive

Here I am once again seeking anyone's help to raise 55 pairs of long shorts for 55 schoolkids. Dress A Girl Australia is aiming for 80 pairs for 80 boys and I need your assistance to fill the gap of 55 more between the sizes of 4 to 10. 

To donate, please send to
                   Dress A Girl Australia
                   P.O. Box 240
                   Casula Mall Casula
                   NSW 2170

These pairs are scheduled for distribution in mid-May. This drive is running up to end of April to allow potential donors more time to sew up to the third week of April and allow at least a week to post. 

If anyone needs more information about this Easter drive, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com.

My heartfelt thanks in advance to everyone who is joining me on this latest drive. This time we are not only dressing the girls but also providing pairs of shorts for the boys. What a Sp'egg'tacular time it would be for the less fortunate boys and girls around the world!  Thank you.

A message from CDO - Happiness which money cant buy

If anyone can remember about three weeks ago I featured a classmate of mine by the name of Lilia Tapia who made pillowcase dresses from kits I sent her sometime in December. Well, I received a message from her today letting me know that she has given away the dresses she has made to the children whom she thought deserved it the most and this is what she has to say after she made her distribution -

     "it was a different heart warming experience i have, seeing the children and even the mothers, tongue tied, big wide smiles, couldn't say anything but, thank you! 
     thank you again for trusting in me to help you share the talent and conquered skills for children's once in a lifetime happiness which money can't buy.
        GOD BLESS YOU!! more power and pls take care........... lilia"

Lil, I look forward to seeing the pictures when you are ready to upload. Thank you so much for helping in making a difference to the lives of these children. It is very much appreciated. Thank you.

Feedback Update on Dress Distributions

Good Morning everyone. 

Just to give everyone an update on dress distribution. Feedback I got recently was that volunteers doing the distribution on behalf of Dress A Girl Australia is finding a little difficulty distributing dresses between the sizes 2 to 4 so the distribution on these sizes will be kind of slow as sometimes the areas they go to have more of the size 6 to 10 children rather than the small ones. (Size 6 to 10 are for children between the ages of 5 to 9. I provide dresses one size bigger than they probably are to make sure that they can wear or outgrow them.)

But rest be assured I will make sure I find homes for these dress sizes but need more patience from those who have donated these sizes who are eager to see their dresses worn. So anyone who is thinking of donating dresses, please if it is possible, to donate bigger sizes preferably between 6 to 10. I will still be accepting smaller ones if that is what anyone prefers but please take note of the feedback. Thank you very much! 

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.

Another girl to inspire all of us

This is Sigourney. She is 8 years old and is sewing dresses for disadvantaged children around the world.

Just like her mum, Karin Maltby from Perth, Western Australia who is doing a great job making dresses and spreading the word, she has been so inspired by the Dress A Girl Around the World project that she has taken an interest in learning how to sew! And look, she is holding the first dress ever she has made. The fabric that she used to make the dress was donated by a friend of Terry Medley whose passion was sewing and wanted him to look for a home of her vast collection of fabrics before leaving this earth. And what a great place the fabrics ended up with. 

Just like Dress A Girl Australia, Sigourney is imagining a world where every little girl owned at least one dress. She is making this a reality by learning how to sew and helping make those dreams of children owning at least one dress in their lifetime come true for each of us deserves to own at least one. Doesnt this touch your heart and inspire you to do the same? 

First there were the group of schoolteens from Bridgetown High School of Western Australia, then my 21-yr old niece Samantha, then Charlotte and Claudia and now Sigourney. I wonder who is going to be the next kiddie on Dress A Girl Australia's block helping disadvantaged kiddies around the world. It makes me feel very happy and very proud of what I have accomplished this past year, inspiring young people to be involved, (and by accident because of this campaign) finding another way of creating a more close and fulfilling relationships between a lot of mothers and daughters through sewing and at the same time helping disadvantaged children.

If you want to help make a difference in this world, come and join us on this great campaign of dressing girls around the world. Please help us spread the word around.

For more details about this campaign, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com. Dress A Girl Australia needs you.

The Best Picture ever for Dress A Girl Australia

My sister Joan came to my house yesterday to see where I am at with Dress A Girl Australia. In fact I was still at the postoffice picking up parcels when she rang to let me know she was coming over. She looked at all the dresses I have collected this week and all the bundles of fabrics I have received and read the notes that came with some of the donations and said - 'I feel like putting these dresses in a suitcase, fly to India or Haiti and  dressed the children. I can carry two suitcases if I have to'. Hahaha! As if it was that easy. She used to travel a lot in her old job and she used to tell me stories about children on the streets in places where she used to go. She went home taking some of the boxes filled with fabrics to help me with the cutting and making them into kits. She is an expert in using a rotary cutter. She is a great crafter, a gifted artist and teaches painting. 

Anyway, I showed her a wall version of the CD calendar I made which I had printed with Vista Print and paid only for the postage. In fact the only one and was going to give it to my Mum that it really got me annoyed when I received the first print as the postman left it outside my door and got wet because it rained that day. So I had to ring Vista Print to let them know what happened and that they should have wrapped it with plastic so it does not get wet if it rains. Lucky me, they sent a replacement. 

This is the calendar -

and this is the picture we were looking at.

I told her how I managed to get to this place (with the help of the Zonta Ladies of course) because sometimes it is not easy to go to areas such as this unless you know someone. While looking at the picture, she suddenly said - 'they are wearing the 2 dresses I made'. In fact, the fabrics that she used to make these 2 dresses were given to her by an Australian-Vietnamese lady who owned a fabric shop in Fairfield, Sydney (she and another sister of mine, Marie, drove all the way to Fairfield to buy the fabrics) after knowing that she was making dresses for the children of Africa (this is what she said at that time). After her comment we really looked at the picture and saw how memorable and significant this picture is not only to Dress A Girl Australia but to my family as well because -

1. the dresses were distributed to the children of the place where we were born and originally came from before the whole family migrated to Australia 30 years ago.
2. the dresses worn by the children were made by me(blue dress) and my two sisters Joan(printed) and Monique(pink dresses). Our first ever dresses made. The money used to buy the pink fabric was donated by our Mum. She gave me $10.00.
3. the fabrics used on the 2 printed dresses were the first fabric donations received by Dress A Girl Australia
4. the yellow dress worn by the little cutie on the left was donated by Deidre Parker the very first donor of dresses to Dress A Girl Australia
5. this picture was taken on the very first distribution of dresses by Dress A Girl Australia last Sept 2011.

Haha and Wow! Am glad I showed my sister the calendar. This is one of those things that sometimes one just take for granted. I wouldnt have realized how significant this picture is and now my sister has decided she will have this picture blown up on a canvas and framed to hang in her living room wall and soon it will become a great conversation piece. 

And one day I hope to see the 4 of us sisters and maybe with my Mum fly to Haiti with one suitcase each filled with dresses to distribute and dressed the children. Never doubt the power of your dreams to make a difference in this world. And wouldnt that be great!

Process Change in Request for Labels

************************* Important : Please Read.**********************************************

This has been a very difficult decision to make but after a very careful consideration, starting today, I will only be providing dress a girl labels to be attached to the dresses if the dresses are donated and/or sent to Dress A Girl Australia. This way I am able to minimize my spending on the cost of printing the labels, give label priority to dresses sent by donors directly to Dress A Girl Australia and save some money for other expenses. 

For those who send me dresses without requesting for labels, you have nothing to worry about. I automatically attach labels to your dresses when I receive them the same way I attach labels to pillowcases or fabrics that are made into kits. I make sure that every dress and/or kit I send out are identified as Hope4Women International's Dress A Girl Around the world campaign dresses.

Hoping for everyone's understanding on this change. Thank you.

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.

My Collection for the Children of India

Since I launched the campaign of pairs of shorts for the boys, I have been getting a very good feedback. I have been receiving emails letting me know how glad they are that they can now make and donate shorts as well.

To everyone thank you so much for supporting not only the pillowcase dresses for the girls but also the shorts for the boys. It is very much appreciated.

Tonight I made this pair of shorts to add to a collection I have just started for the 'children of India' and I hope to be able to complete my sorting of what I have on hand (dresses and shorts I have received) to add to this collection this weekend.

10 more days before craft month is over

Hello everyone!  Ten more days ....and the clock is ticking.....and craft month will be over. What has everyone been doing lately? Have you started on a new craft, about to finish a project or  have you completed what you were crafting. Great job for those who have done something.

If anyone is still unsure on what to make...you still have 10 days left. Not to worry and here is a small suggestion. How about a pillowcase dress for a girl and/or a pair of shorts for a boy for a very worthy cause such as Dress A Girl Around the World - Dress A Girl Australia. 

Make your month of March a very fulfilling one. Make a difference in the life of a disadvantaged child by making them own at least one dress or a pair of shorts. 

If you want to know more about this pillowcase dress-pair of shorts back-to-back campaign of Dress A Girl Australia, please send an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com.

Let us all imagine a world where every little girl or every little boy owned at least one dress or a pair of shorts. And wouldnt that be nice if they were made by you...or helped make these kids' dream come true.