SEWING FOR CHARITY – How it Started!

Over the next few months, I have a goal.  I am planning to make approximately 20 dresses and 10 pairs of boy shorts.  Why am I doing all this sewing for charity?  

UPDATE: 4 more parts in this series have been released.

• Part Two – Ready Set Sew
• Part Three – The First dress complete with pattern and tutorial.
• Part Four – Making 20 dresses including “how-to’s” for decorating and things I learned while making the dresses
• Part Five – The final chapter includes making of the “Britches for Boys”.

Read on and I will tell you the story of how this all started…..

Pillowcase Dresses – What are they?

One spring day, I was searching for a cool summer dress for my granddaughters and over and over I was directed to various patterns for a pillowcase dress.  What is it? 

Well, I found out that this style of dress has been around for 100 plus years. They were simple to make out of available materials which meant they were inexpensive for families to dress their daughter during difficult economic times.     A pretty little dress could be made from potato sacks, old linens, and of course a pillowcase.

Today there are all sorts of variations.  Some with ruffles, without ruffles, tiers, with ribbon, with applique, with or without pockets, with elastic, long, short, baby to adult.   And every color you can imagine.  I even started a Pinterest Board dedicated just to Pillowcase Dress Ideas!

Why I am Sewing for Charity

Doing more research on the pillowcase dress, I came across this fabulous charity – Little Dresses for Africa (LFDA).   

Their Mission is to plant in the hearts of little girls that they are worthy through the distribution of handmade little dresses, made of pillowcases by loving hands from all over the world.  Since LFDA was founded in 2008,  over 8 million dresses have been distributed.  And their job is not complete until these little dresses are actually on the little girls that need them so desperately. 

Although called Little Dresses for Africa, the organization has sent dresses to 87 countries with 47 of them being in Africa and also in times of crisis or when asked, to Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, The Dominican Republic, The Philippines, Cambodia, South Dakota and the Appalachian Mountain regions.

In 2018 the were named a Top Awarded Non-Profit.  If you don’t sew but would like to help you may donate supplies like material, ¾ inch elastic, or double bias tape.  Some donate by check or on line to help with shipping costs to   get the dresses to mission teams or to mission points in Africa. 

Buying the Fabric

I went a little crazy and bought enough fabric to make a couple dresses for my granddaughter PLUS at least 15 more for LFDA.

LFDA also sponsors “Britches for Boys” and  wants shorts for the little boys so I ordered 8 more yards of fabric (enough for at least 10 pairs of shorts). 

I am definitely going to be busy.  But will update you as I go!

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Getting a Fabulous Deal on Clearance!

Connecting Threads offers fabulous clearance fabric for reasonable prices.  I bought 25 1/2  yards of assorted fabrics for $110 including shipping! (plus that nasty thing they call sales tax)

I have used Connecting Threads fabrics for a lot of my quilting projects.  It is good quality fabric for a great price.  They have their own line of fabric and at times will offer collections from other manufacturer’s such as Northcott, RJR, Wyndham and more.  Regular prices usually range from $7-11 per yard but the clearance prices can go as low as $3.00 per yard.

Here is a picture of the design table showing some of the fabrics I bought. Yes, you can put your fabric choices on a design wall to see how they look together.  

And their thread is the best!  I won’t use anything but Connecting Threads thread (unless I absolutely have to).  I also buy all my batting from them.  Yes, I am an affiliate. Because I believe in their products, they were actually the first affiliate program I applied to.

OK, enough about this fabulous company. 

Join me in my first Sewing for Charity project!

If you want to join in and sew  some dresses for LFDA, I will be posting a tutorial on how to make these simple little dresses as soon as my fabric arrives!!

Join me.  It will be fun and we will be helping a great cause!  The world covered in pillowcase dresses.  How cool is that?
And remember if you want inspiration check out my Pinterest Board.  I will continue to add Pins as I find them so f you have any Pins that I can add to the board, please leave me a comment.

UPDATE – PART TWO IS AVAILABLE HERE !! AND THE TUTORIAL CAN BE FOUND IN PART THREE