Every ONE matters!

Friends, I just had to share this most touching post with you all this morning as a reminder that EVERY SINGLE DRESS SEWN MATTERS!!!!! Read what Suzanne at Sew Delightful shared here.

Notice this precious girl is wearing a dress in only one of these pictures....you HAVE to read why!!!

Smaller Dresses

 I had a special request for smaller dresses and wanted to share this for those of you that might be interested. I was able to make five size 2T-3T dresses from 3 yards of fabric, pretty good I thought! (Plus there's a nice scrap strip for that "gonna happen one day" quilt that lives in the back of my mind!)

Start by folding your fabric in half with selvage together. This will make the height of your fabric rectangles 22 inches. Cut the width at 20 inches and cut the fold to make 2 rectangles for each dress that are 20"x22". With the selvage at the bottom, you will only have to turn the hem up once since there isn't a raw edge. I always love fewer steps!

Mark your armholes 3" on top and 5" down on one side. Fold rectangles in half lengthwise and cut your armholes. Stitch sides closed. Hem bottom and make neckline casing with elastic just as you would if using a pillowcase. (pattern link in sidebar)

 One tidbit about bias tape if you aren't familiar with it, I wasn't when I first started, one side is slightly shorter than the other on purpose, as you can see in the above picture. Apply the bias tape with the shorter side facing up when sewing as in the picture below and this will ensure that you catch the longer side on the inside of the dress more easily. I know, genius right? Who knew they did that for that very reason??? ;)

I'm working on another even smaller, probably 12-24months and I'll post any different measurements and details once finished. Having a blast with these sweet, little dresses, they turn out so cute!

Craft Hope/Creative Kindness

So, how many of you are familiar with Craft Hope? Do you have the book? I'm thinking this is a "Must Have" for my collection!

I have an older, but similar book called Creative Kindness written by Nancy Zieman (YES, from Sewing with Nancy!) and Gail Brown.

 Here's a link to some on-line sewing suggestions, patterns and instructions by Nancy's Notions.

I love that there are so many resources to enable and inspire sewing for others! It really is a practical and tangible way to make a difference! YAY FOR SEWING!!! :)

If you have other resources, suggestions or links to patterns/tutorials, I welcome you to comment with them here!

First Dress MADE!!! ....and further inspiration!

 The fabric I used as the trim for this purple polka dot "fun"dress is a cute princess print. So I found this tiara printed elastic in my stash to make a matching headband. You know, EVERY Princess needs her accessories! ;) My girls are going to try and make a matching bracelet for each dress too....that requires a trip to the fabric/craft store for supplies though. What a bummer huh???

I thought this rainbow of binding laid across my working table would help inspire the others. And yes, there is a "bias" towards pink....sorry, couldn't help it....think maybe I've smelled too much hot glue this weekend! :) Anyway, would LOVE to see/hear about your progress or planning!

Progress Report.....well kinda! :)

 (free tutorial for ruffle scarf)

 

I've been sewing and crafting like CRAZY this week! It all started with the idea that I would work my cutting table clean by completing the projects sitting there rather than shifting them to another pile. Well, let's just say that cutting table sure can hold a lot!!! And while I have made progress I haven't yet made it to my dresses. How about you? Any dress progress? I did however find some I had already made that I will be including in my finished stack, as this whole cleaning the cutting table thing has kind of turned into the first bite of SPRING CLEANING for me too. Thankfully the sunshine and temperatures around here have been just right to keep the inspiration flowing!

March is just over a week away....guess I better get busy!

Welcome "Dress A Girl" Founder!

Just wanted to offer a very warm welcome and very excited "shout out" to Rachel Eggum Cinader, the founder of Dress A Girl Around the World who has joined us!

We are SEW happy and honored to have you here!

And remember seamstresses, your dresses this month can be sent to her lovely organization to make a difference for a little girl possibly a world away! Check out the link above for more information.

February Project Announcement!

Ok sewing friends, here we go! Our February sewing project is Pillowcase Dresses! We will be sending the ones we make this month to two different places...

Some will accompany some dear friends of ours to Ghana. They will deliver them to little girls at their son's orphanage when they go to pick him up. To learn more about the service to these precious children or how you can reach out to them yourself, visit Feeding The Orphans.

Others will be sent to Cambodia as gifts for girls served by Children In Families.

Both of the above organizations are doing amazing work to care for children and we are proud to know the amazing people behind the work! If you would like to join me in sending your dresses to either of the above organizations, feel free to follow the links provided. 

Another option that is linked in the sidebar is Dress A Girl Around the World. Dress A Girl challenges you to "imagine a world where every little girl owned at least one dress". Their website provides a free pattern and video tutorial for making Pillowcase Dresses. You can send the dresses you make to them, address on their website, and they will distribute them to various places. They also have some pretty neat ideas of how you can help too, so check them out!

Or, perhaps you know a little girl in your neighborhood, at your church or your child's school whose life would be touched by a handmade dress. This is a simple dress that wears beautifully and can be paired with tights and a turtleneck for the cold months. Wherever you choose to send them, we hope you enjoy making them and would love to have you share your experience and/or photos with us!

Happy sewing and happy touching the lives of others while having yours touched as well!