One idea, spread to many, can do so much good…..it becomes a force, a powerful surge of goodwill that can effect so many lives. Our friend, Zoe, has one of these ideas that really drove home with us recently! “Pillowcase Dresses and Drawstring Shorts” is an effort to clothe as many Haitian children this summer as possible. The sewing / blogging community is a great way for sewists all over the world to work together, doing a bit of good…globally speaking.

Why did this strike a chord with us? Several families in our community are going through the Haitian adoption process right now….we’ve followed their stories, heard their struggles, and seen pictures of these darling, precious children. This work has faces and names to us.  

Read below to find out how you can help in this effort…. We’ve already picked out our fabric and are ready to make a difference in the lives of four little ones!

Hi, Let me introduce myself, I’m Zoe and I blog over at SewitGirl. The church that I am a member of does several Missions trips every year. Haiti is one of “our” stops. I have never personally, been to Haiti. I have yet to go on a mission trip. I’m not sure if God will call me to the mission field “overseas” in the flesh or not. But, I know that He has given me the gift of sewing, and a gift of having a lot of wonderful friends! When I learned that some of the ladies at our church have been getting together and sewing pillowcase dresses and drawstring shorts for the Haitians I could barely sit still… I KNEW that I was being called to do this… I know that I can sew several dresses but I also wanted to reach out to the online sewing community and get y’all involved too!

A friend of mine has gone to Haiti. She is heading up this trip. Being curious, I asked her what it was like when she went last year. This is what Jennifer had to say; “The village town is extremely rural, the people have very little. We’ll distribute clothes to at least 200 kids, if not more. Kids of all ages, many that we saw last year wore clothes either too big or way too small, including shoes. We were horrified to see many of the older boys with shoes that barely fit half of their foot, their heals literally hanging off the back out of the shoe, flip flops/crocks. One precious girl came in with no shoes, her feet and legs caked in mud, and was wearing just an oversized shirt and undies. The needs are so great.” >——– HEART BREAKING!

So, for the ENTIRE month of June, I’m asking for your help! The cost doesn’t have to be great, go to your local thrift store and pick up one (or more) gently used pillowcase. Or you can use some of the fabric in your stash… you can make the dresses as simple or as fancy as you like. Feel free to use this pattern from Nancy Notions or use one that you already have on hand. As for the shorts, we have been told that “any” drawstring short pattern will do. There are really no “rules.” If everyone reading this post were to participate, so many would benefit!

Please mail all dresses and drawstring shorts by June 30, 2013 to: (If you are a little past the June 30th deadline… that is ok. The trip is not scheduled until August.)

RIVER OAK CHURCH
ATTN: Women’s Ministry – Haiti Missions
255 Great Bridge Blvd.
Chesapeake, VA 23320, United States

Thank you so much for taking the time and consideration in this humanitarian cause. Please let me know if I can answer any other questions for you!

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