Sew Much Better

::edit 6/15/13 I discovered my photographs were no longer displaying, so this may not make as much sense...::

I'm going to use "sew" in place of "so" until everyone is sick and tired of it.

I just had the Grandma-est New Year. I totes mcgotes spent it sewing. The night was all mine, free to do absolutely anything I wanted... go to a party, find friends who were out, have dinner with my bestie, stay in all night and do everything that I love doing when I'm alone-- listen to 90s pop, make up silly dances (not gonna lie, it's what I do when no one is watching), read, play Wii, watch cheesey movies, watch my new Britney Spears concert on blu ray...

... Britney made it into my blu ray player. But I stayed in my office and sewed.

Granted, I do have a purpose this month. When I first mentioned on Facebook that I have a sewing machine, one of my former coworkers told me about a cause for which I can sew clothing for children. Easy dresses for little girls and shorts for little boys. It's called Little Dresses for Africa. The dresses and shorts have been donated to 31 countries in Africa as well as Honduras, Cambodia, Philippines, Mexico and Haiti. AND they are currently being sent here in the states to places in the Appalachian Mountains and South Dakota. Now that I think of it, South Dakota could use warmer clothes than dresses...

Anyway, the point is that my resolution has been to be a part of big causes each month this year. A couple of years ago, I started to become more active in a few causes and it felt amazing. At that point, it was just on my Life List to be a part of something much bigger than me. Welp, I'm addicted. It's true that the little things, like a dollar donated to St. Jude's while you're shopping, help. But it feels soooo good to really spend time helping someone in need. Whether it's doing something silly and fun, like raising money through the Polar Plunge, or making these dresses. Those little people are facing hardships that I've never known and when I was making the one dress this evening, it felt cool to think that something I was creating was going to travel and provide smiles to a little girl somewhere. Something as simple as a dress.

I'm getting rambly. Obviously, it is late.

But I wanted to share what I made. Be gentle. It's my first attempt at a dress! I imagine it'll fit a small 6-ish year old.

Again, the photo quality is horrendous... it'll be a beautiful day when my camera charger emerges. ::sigh::

This is what the fabric looks like (except more vibrant and not so orangey)


And this is the dress :)

Okay. It's true. I'm proud of it. And have a really cute fabric for the next one, which I'll probably size for a girl who is closer to age 9.


Happy 2012! I hope your NYE was less Grandma-y than mine, but equally enjoyable!