Charity
Sew Mama Sew Giveaway #2
Handmade with love, each of the items sold at Sewing Hope for Asia’s new Etsy store represents the hope of new life for women in South Asia. One hundred percent of the proceeds from each purchase goes directly to the Asian mission field to provide women with sewing machines of their own, so they can create and sell beautifully stitched items to provide for themselves and their families.
I’m so excited to be a part of this new venture to allow crafters to create and donate items to benefit families in need in Asia. Sewing Hope for Asia has donated a beautiful handmade 18″ doll outfit for me to give away in Sew Mama Sew’s Giveaway Day to help spread the word.
The seamstress who created this outfit and the many others that you’ll find available at Sewing Hope shares her vision of using her sewing machine and her skills as a seamstress to bring hope to women on the other side of the world here: Madelyn’s Story.
To enter to win, simply leave a comment here sharing either who you’d love to give this doll outfit to or how you enjoy blessing others with your craft skills. The winner will be chosen at random on December 18th. (We’ll be a little busy with a wedding the night before, so it may take me until Sunday to post.) If you have questions about donating handmade items to Sewing Hope, please contact Gospel for Asia at 1-800-WIN-ASIA (946-2742) or email strategicgiving@gfa.org.
Happy 40th Birthday to Me . . . to Me . . .
40 pillowcases, sewn up over 40 days, are all finished in time to celebrate my 40th birthday! Thanks so much for cheering me on and joining in to sew with me! (In case you missed my 40 Day Challenge, you can read about it here.)
I have a wonderful day planned today spent with friends and family. I’ll post some pictures of all the fun tonight or tomorrow morning!
Pillowcases 36, 37, 38, 39 & 40!
With no time to spare, here are pillowcases #36 and #37: Pirate Bears & Sea Turtles . . .
. . . #38 and #39: Buggies & Froggies . . .
. . . and last, but certainly not least, #40: Apples & Pears!
This project was such a blessing to me, and I honestly feel a little sad that it’s done. Each of these pillowcases represents a child and his or her family in what is surely a very difficult time in their lives. Much prayer was poured out over these pillowcases as I sewed. I hope that this gift given for my 40th birthday brings comfort and joy to those who receive them.
Pillowcases 34 & 35 Are On Safari
The last five pillowcases are coming later today because my birthday (and my deadline) is tomorrow!
Pillowcases 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32 & 33: More for the Boys
I did say that I was trying to do plenty of pillowcases that little boys would love, didn’t I? I think all seven of these fall well into that category!
#27 & #28 Riding the Range
#29 Sailing Away & #30 Dinosaurs!
#31 Wee-Oh Wee-Oh Trucks, #32 Footballs & #33 Dirt Bikes
Only two days left until my birthday and seven pillowcases to go! I’m still having a great time sewing them up.
A Quick Sewing Lesson Produces A Stack of Pillowcases
Friday afternoon, we had a group of friends from our local homeschool group over to sew pillowcases with us! I think everyone had a great time, and we turned out a slew of pillowcases. The kids each made two pillowcases, one to keep and one to give. My hope is that the pillowcase that they kept will remind them to pray for the sick child who receives the matching one.
Folding
Cutting
Pinning
Sewing
(I love this one of me sewing with Jamie!)
And, the kids, each showing off one of their finished pillowcases:
We used the Hot Dog Pillowcase Tutorial with a French seam to make these, and they turned out great! The donated pillowcases will go to ConKerr Cancer’s Miles of Pillowcase Smiles project.
Monkeying Around with Cupcakes: Pillowcases 25 & 26
Pillowcases 25 & 26 are ready to go:
I used the Hot Dog Pillowcase tutorial from the Conkerr Cancer website to sew these two, finishing them up with a french seam. The group of beginning sewists who are coming over to sew pillowcases this afternoon will be using sewing machines rather than sergers, so I thought I’d try this method out and see how it works. It is so cool! I think the kids are going to really enjoy it.
For more information about my personal challenge and to find my 9 1/2 Minute Serged Pillowcase Tutorial, check out this post: Pillowcase Challenge.
A Little Local Quilting Store Love
We headed out after our book-work was done this morning to do some shopping and a little on-the-road learning. This Friday afternoon, we have a group of moms and children from our local homeschool group dropping in to sew pillowcases with us for the Crafthope pillowcase project. I thought my kids and I would enjoy a trip to Historic Downtown Carrollton to pick out fabrics for their pillowcases at The Old Craft Store.
We did a little math on the way. “If you need 3/4 yard of a main fabric and 1/3 yard of a trim fabric for one pillowcase, how much do you need for two pillowcases? How many inches is that?”
The kids did a great job picking out their fabrics. I was so surprised that Allen was the quickest, and Samantha took the longest! (I’ll post pictures of their finished pillowcases on Friday so you can see the fabrics they chose.)
This sweet quilt shop is packed full of beautiful fabrics, and I’m in awe of the projects that they have on display. I think I could spend a whole day wandering around gathering ideas to add to my sewing list. The ladies who run the quilt shop are amazing, too–they were so encouraging and so patient with my littles. It’s so nice every so often to just drop in to a place where you can shop and chat about your love of sewing and enjoy some comraderie with fellow sewing enthusiasts.
Moving Right Along: Pillowcases 21, 22, 23 & 24
Four more pillowcases on my way to 40 for Craft Hope’s latest project . . .
Kitties in the Garden
Pink Elephants
Monkey Business
Just Fluttering By
Halfway! Pillowcases 17, 18, 19 & 20
Hoot!
Bearfootin’
Under the Big Top!
Ladybugs & Friends
For more information about my personal challenge and to find my 9 1/2 Minute Pillowcase Tutorial, check out this post: Pillowcase Challenge.
To see all the pillowcases I’ve done so far, click here!
