Pillowcase Dress Sizing Chart & Armhole Template

Suzanne, our Washington State rep, has uploaded the sizing chart for dresses and armhole template for dresses.  Rather than duplicate her efforts, here is a link to her blog "Sew Delightful".

http://sewdelightful.blogspot.com/search/label/pattern

Dress a Girl Connecticut is 2 years old! New sewing date this weekend!

Dresses made in Connecticut bless girls in Romania!

Dress a Girl Connecticut has been sewing and blessing girls for two years now!  How we have grown in just two years!  It started a small group of 25 women sewing at my church, Cornerstone Church in Cheshire.  We have grown to well over 200 across New England that have helped in some way!  Small groups of friends are coming together to sew in their homes, churches and clubs and then sending finished dresses to me.  I am humbled and touched at how this affects those that hear what we are doing to bless little girls worldwide.  I love that it moves them to get involved and make a difference in the life of a girl!  Girls are shown love when blessed by their very own handmade pillowcase dress.  They feel pretty and smile ear to ear when blessed.  Their self esteem is raised.  That is a wonderful thing!

There is a lot happening now with Dress a Girl Around the World!  We are currently sewing dresses nationwide to go to Cambodia in the fall.  We have a request for 10,000 dresses and the deadline to ship them to the port in South Carolina is the end of August.  We have sent about 500 so far from Dress a Girl Connecticut!  Keep sewing!

I would like to invite you all to our next sewing event.  We can fit about 60 so if you think you can make it, please RSVP to me as soon as possible. Come for some of the time or join us for the whole time.  If you sew, bring your machine and thread and we will set you up to sew.  If not, bring an iron and ironing board, sharp scissors, pins, PILLOWCASES, or a dish to share at lunchtime.  We will be working and having fun too!  Bring a friend if you'd like!

JOIN US!

Saturday, August 25, 2012
9am-3pm
Cornerstone Church
1146 Waterbury Road
Cheshire, CT
***** RSVP to dressagirlct@gmail.com ASAP *****

In June, I attended our first Dress a Girl Around the World conference in Arizona.  I'd like to share with you how our mission is changing from simply providing a pretty dress to a girl who may not have one to blessing a girl with God's BEST.  This means the dress must meet some criteria that we feel is very important.  Here's a wrap-up:

• Always start with pretty, clean pillowcases and materials.  Think to yourself, would I wear this or put it on my own daughter/granddaughter?  The material/pillowcase must NOT BE SEE THROUGH.  The test is, if you can hold your hand under a single layer of the material and you can see the outline of your hand, it is too see through.  Consider lining dresses with any thin materials/pillowcases you have or use these materials to make bias tape.  We want to respect the modesty and dignity of the girl.  This may also protect her from would be predators.

• The dress MUST BE CONSTRUCTED IN A DURABLE manner using proper materials.  Please remember these dresses may often be washed in rivers on rocks or on washboards with harsh homemade soaps.  There may be no delicate cycle in many cases!  Back stitch when beginning to sew and when ending your stitches.  Hide raw edges to prevent fraying and unraveling over time.  This can be done by serging edges, sewing french seams or encasing raw edges in a double fold.  When making a dress that is 36" or longer, please make a kick pleat at the bottom (side or middle) so the girl can run and play without having to hike her dress up.

• We have found that making the elastic pieces one inch (1") wider for the back of the dress fits the girl better.  We generally use 3/8"-3/4" elastics.  Be sure and tack them in place (backstitching) to ensure they will not fall out before you apply bias tape straps.

• Armholes should be cut between 3"-5" in from the top edge and down from the top of the pillowcase or fabric.  Do not make them any longer or deeper a cut or the straps will not be long enough and the girls chest may be exposed.

• Straps should be made of DOUBLE FOLD WIDE (1/2") BIAS TAPE or grosgrain ribbon.  When using grosgrain ribbon, use FRAY CHECK on ends to prevent raveling.  Stitch the ribbon in place on the casing so that ribbons aren't pulled out and not able to be re-inserted.  Do not use craft ribbon as this is not soft, can fray and is not washable.  Never use wired ribbon or rope of any kind.  Make sure the straps are long enough to go over the girls shoulder and tie in a bow!  Too often we receive dresses that are beautiful otherwise but cannot be used because the straps are too short to tie a bow.  A good rule of thumb is to make your straps a FULL 36" each no matter the size dress!  When sewing straps on, start at one end, folding in edges, backstitch, and sew to the opposite end, folding in edges, backstitch.

• Extra touches make the dress even more special.  Add good sized pockets-minimum 5" wide- (girls love to carry little things around in pockets!), trim such as ric rac, and sewn on bows.  Ruffles are pretty too.  Buttons can be used decoratively as long as they are sewn on sturdily.  Please, NO hot glued items adhered to the dress.  They can fall off over time.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone for your prayers, donating supplies, money for buying supplies and shipping costs, time for helping out, prepping materials, sewing, rolling and bagging, packing and shipping dresses.  It is all of you who make Dress a Girl a success.  To date, Dress a Girl Around the World has blessed over 101,000 girls with our pillowcase dresses in 59 different countries.  We have people sewing in all states of the US, in the UK, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Australia, Canada and Uganda.  There are many more girls out there waiting for a dress of their very own, so please keep sewing! 

I feel like the more I share what we are doing, the more girls will be blessed.  I would love to come and share what Dress a Girl is doing with your church, group, or organization.  Please contact me to schedule a convenient time.  Also, we are in need of financial contributions to help with supplies and shipping to our contacts.  If you feel you can help out in any way, please make checks payable to Cornerstone Church-Dress a Girl Ministry and mail to Cornerstone Church, 1146 Waterbury Road, Cheshire, CT  06410 (this is a tax deductible donation) or bring to our next sewing event!  I hope to see you there and meet more of you all in person!  If you have not gotten involved and would like to, call or email me with any questions you have!

Please continue to keep Dress a Girl Connecticut in your prayers.

DRESSES READY FOR SHIPMENT!

I need your help!  I currently have 134 dresses packed and ready for shipment (and more waiting to be packed and shipped).  These dresses are headed to Cambodia with missionaries that have requested a total of 10,000 dresses from Dress a Girl Around the World.  There is great need in Cambodia to lift up the girls in prayer and to bless them with their own handmade pillowcase dresses!  A new dress for a little girl who has never had one will raise her self esteem and make her feel pretty.  It is a selfless act of love to make these dresses for a girl you may never meet.  It shows her that she is loved.  By others and by God.  We are seeking to provide God's best in the dresses we make.

I estimate that it will cost about $60 to ship these dresses the the port in South Carolina where the group will load them with all the others coming in from all over Dress a Girl sewers onto the ship that will sail to Cambodia in the next few months.  Please pray for the girls of Cambodia and if you can help us with any of the cost of shipping, please click on the "DONATE" button on the right of this page.  100% off you donation will go to helping us bless little girls.  Thank you.

Let's give them smiles like this!

Like us on Facebook!

 

Click below for link to Facebook page for Dress a Girl Connecticut:

www.facebook.com/dressagirlconnecticut

How to make a pillowcase dress with a SHAM pillowcase

One of my newest sewing ladies, Marcia, sent me this helpful tutorial this week.  It shows step by step how to make a pillowcase dress for girls using a sham pillowcase.  You know the ones- it's opening is split in the back near the center.  Usually, I cut them all apart and piece them back together to make the dress.  She however has a unique way of putting the dresses together in less steps and with a row of pockets!  Sew cute!  As Marcia says, "It takes a little longer to complete a dress using pillow shams, but they do come in pretty patterns and make attractive dresses.  I love to recycle!! "

 

Example of a pretty SHAM dress

Step 1:  

Remove stitching around perimeter of sham
(usually 3 inches from edge of sham).

Step 2:   

 

Turn sham over; the back becomes the front of the dress.  

 Step 3:

Trim off bottom of sham to open it up.

Step 4:

Turn inside out and stitch overlap to dress front (sham back).  
 Don't stitch all 3 layers together!

Step 5:

Turn the dress right side out and stitch vertically across the wide pocket to separate it into 2, 3 or 4 narrower pockets. That way the wide pocket won't 'gap' out.  
Finished Dress!  Pockets all along the front of the dress!

Happy Sewing!!

The month of May in Review!

What a crazy month it has been!  So much is happening and I have fallen behind in my blog!  Oh no,  Let me bring you up to date!

In the beginning of the month, I was blessed to be part of West Hartford's Spring Stroll and partnered with BK&CO, a beautiful women's boutique, to showcase what Dress a Girl Connecticut and Dress a Girl Around the World has been doing.  I sold some of our dresses to raise money for supplies, shipping and labeling dresses!  I was so touched at how many people came out and not only learned more about what we do, but donated by purchasing a dress for $25.  That money will make at least another 13 dresses and get them to the girls around the world!  The best part is, so many were touched by this and were thrilled to be able to help and share with whomever the dress will go to what it means and that with their support, many girls will be blessed.  I owe a huge thank you to Barbara and Karen, owners of BK&CO for promoting and supporting our mission.  Thank you ladies!

In late April, I was in Kansas and met up with a friend that I hadn't seen in 2 years.  When we brought each other up to speed on what we'd been doing, I learned she has started going to Haiti with a mission group called HUT OUTREACH.  Joni told me that these kind folks were an organization that aims to help with basic needs of the people in Les Cayes, Haiti.  (Yes, clothing is a basic need-like a dress for a young girl!)  I told her all about my involvement with Dress a Girl and we discussed how God has worked in each of our lives to help us by helping others.  We agreed that it would be great if she could take some of my dresses to Haiti in the end of May with her group.  When I returned home to Connecticut, we emailed each other and she asked me if she could have 1,000 dresses for Haiti!!!

Of course I said yes and set right to emailing, posting and pleading with everyone who helps us in sewing to send me their dresses.  Fortunately, we are an organization that is growing!  Everyone was so helpful and eager to get their dresses sent to Haiti that I was overwhelmed with offers to send dresses to me.  At the time I had to send dresses off, I counted and recounted and was only 53 dresses short! Amazing!  One month and 1,000 dresses!  God is good!  I emailed a few other reps and found that the Chicago rep could send Joni the additional 53 dresses.  We made our goal!  Thank you all who helped in any capacity!  Joni has promised me TONS of photos and a few have already showed up on her Facebook page.  I am dying to see more!  I have many requests from those who sewed to see photos.  I am sure they are hoping to see their dress on a little girl!  What a great feeling that is!

Nicole of HUT OUTREACH on left and my friend Joni on the right with girls blessed with our dresses!

Look at that smile!  Doesn't it speak VOLUMES???  All girls are all smiles when they receive our dresses!

Nicole and Joni holding some of our dresses!  Smiling in anticipation of blessing little girls with them!

In May I also did a Girl Scout event with two troops in Kensington.  Daisies and Brownies gathered donations from local churches, schools, the senior center and other organizations prior to our event.  Then I went to speak to them and explained we'd be painting designs on the hems of the pillowcases.  This would add something special to the dresses we would make out of their pillowcases.  I will send them photos when the dresses are finished.  I just love girls helping girls!  Sew sweet!

Daisies and Brownies hard at work embellishing with fabric paints.

Daisies and Brownies hard at work embellishing with fabric paints.

This month I also was contacted me by a lady named Donna.  She was teaching her 8 year old granddaughter Addi to sew.  They decided to sew a pillowcase dress for Dress a Girl and Addi set out to buy bandanas to sew into a "pillowcase" dress.  She insisted on purchasing the materials with her own money and with Donna's assistance and guidance, she made her first dress-nearly entirely on her own!  I emailed back and forth with Donna and she told me this:

"The dress is now in the mail to you.  Thank you so much for this.  Addi is such a wonderful little girl.  She has a heart of gold.  It is so sweet to see her realize children are not as blessed as she is.  She calls it lucky because at 8 years old she doesn't know there is no luck, it's blessings.  I did take a photo when she finished the dress, I'll send you a photo tonight.

The dress isn't perfect.  I started to re-do it but my husband said that wasn't right, that Addi had took so much time with it.  There is a card in the pocket.  If you feel you can't use the dress do what you must.   She has fabric picked out for her next dress."
  

I told Donna that of course we'd use it as Addi poured her heart into it!  I asked Donna to take a photo of Addi with the dress before she sent it to me.  She did that and I first received the dress. I was shocked when I opened it.  It was beautiful!  My daughter was standing nearby and saw it as I opened it.  "I LOVE THAT!" she exclaimed.  I told her about Addi and she was shocked it was made by an 8 year old!  She is about to turn 12 and couldn't believe an 8 year old could make it!  And so cute too!  I opened the card in the pocket from Addi and was brought to tears by it!  Two days later, I received the picture of Addi holding her dress.  Could she be any cuter??

Addi (8) holding the dress she made.

Beautiful!  Made by and 8 year old girl!

Sweet note in the pocket!

Sew pretty!

In May I was also contacted by a woman whose mother had passed this past winter.  Carolyn was a nationally acclaimed quilter and had a house full of beautiful fabrics and notions etc.  The daughter asked if I would be interested in fabrics and of course I said YES!  She delivered to me a car full of boxes all sorted and full of fabrics, notions, tools and more.  There was a miscommunication, however, as she looked at a website and thought we only took in white materials for dress making.  Knowing she was donating materials to be made with her dear mother's fabrics into darling dresses for little girls, I couldn't say no and happily accepted them.  We will lot dye and tie dye the materials and make dresses with it all.  It may take a few years, but we will use it all.

With that being said, I would like to say as a general rule:

WE DO NOT USE WHITE MATERIALS OR ANY THAT ARE SEE THROUGH!

We test for sheerness by holding our hand behind a layer of fabric-

If we can see our hands outline-IT IS TOO SHEER.  

Let's respect the modesty of all age girls and 

provide dresses they will feel comfortable in and not self conscious.

After all, we want to provide God's best for the girls!

HOST A DRESS A GIRL TIE DYE EVENT WITH YOUR 

FRIENDS, CHURCH YOUTH, GIRL SCOUTS OR SCHOOL!

On the same line of thinking, if you have a group or organization that would enjoy hosting a tie dye event for a good cause, please consider taking a box of material from me and dye it so that it becomes a useable fabric for us to make dresses with.  Lot dying is also a possibility.  Please contact me at dressagirlct@gmail.com for more information.  Remember, I am in Connecticut and we would need to find a way for you to come and pick up the fabric.  I can provide direction in how you can obtain good and vibrant dyes to use.  The dyed dresses are really cute!!

If you would like to get involved and sew for us, please contact me.  I have supplies that I can provide to you and instruction as well.  The dresses are quite easy and quick to make and have a HUGE impact on the girl that receives the dress!

Keep up to date by following me on Facebook.  Please "like" my Dress a Girl Connecticut page to hear what we are doing and see recent pictures!  If you like what we are doing, share it with your friends.  The more people that hear about what we are doing, the more that may get involved and help us to bless little girls!

Visit us in West Hartford this Saturday!

I am honored to have been asked to partner with a fabulous woman's boutique ~BK & Co~ in West Hartford Center this weekend for the West Hartford Spring Stroll.  Click here for more information!

They seek to bring attention to charities that business owners in West Hartford support.  It is a wonderful opportunity for me to share Dress a Girl with even more people and perhaps get more people involved in donating and sewing!  This just means more girls will be blessed with dresses!

I will be selling pillowcase dresses for $25 to raise money for shipping dresses and to help buy more supplies to bless more girls.  100% of the money will go back into Dress a Girl!  It is a wonderful way for me to raise money and for you to out one of our cute dresses on a little girl in your life.  Walking advertising too!  Just share where the dress came from and how your money has dressed that many more girls!

Think you'd like to help sewing dresses?  I will also have kits available for $5.  Kits include a pillowcase or fabric sewn into a pillowcase form; all the notions needed to make the dress, directions and an address for you to send the finished dress back to me.  In this way, you can sew a dress, donate a small amount and bless a girl.  If you find you enjoy it and want to continue, you can start collecting pillowcases and supplies needed to sew the dresses!  I am always in need of more help sewing!

Please come out and support Dress a Girl Connecticut!  I look forward to meeting you!