Lent has already arrived and so one of the things that I’ve determined to do during this time of prayer and sacrifice is to spend Sunday afternoons working on the dresses that I love making for those who have a LOT less than most of us.

My friend’s mom went to Haiti last month to watch the graduation for a student that their church had sponsored. Her mother knew what to expect, but even knowing the poverty that existed it still somewhat shocked her when she actually saw it. One of Jay’s coworkers went to Jamaica for a week at the beginning of February to help build houses with his church. Now, this guy is not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, but even he felt like a millionaire when he saw the poverty there. Needless to say, he returned to the States with only the clothes on his back as he had given everything else away.

The dresses that we make for the Dresses for Missions go to the girls in Haiti who have absolutely nothing. I know that I’ve mentioned it before, but this is why I try to ‘girly’ up the dresses that I make. I want the girls who receive my dresses to feel like princesses. It might only be a scrap of lace and a little bit of ribbon to us, but I would like to think that those little girls feel like the most precious jewel on earth as they wear the dress and feel the lace tickling their legs.

Dress #19

My mom and sister have provided me with quite a few pillow cases to use for my dresses. This was one of them. Even though it is my nineteenth dress that I’ve made I think that it’s one of my favorites.

It’s very feminine with the pink and purples flowers, and I think that the yellowish cream makes it feel a bit elegant, too. Luckily I had the perfect ribbon and lace to set this dress off.

You can’t tell very well in the picture, but the lace has an iridescent thread running through it so it gives off some of the same colors as the flowers. Then I simply lined the hem with a cream colored silk ribbon. This dress really has to be viewed in person to really appreciate how pretty it is.

Dress #20

When my sister was home at Christmas we went to the local Salvation Army to see what they might have for various projects. My mom was looking for cotton sheets and men’s super large cotton shirts for her quilting. My sister was looking for decent fleece and flannel pajamas to make blankets for the humane society where she volunteers. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, but I happened to stumble across some very pretty pillow cases. I brought them home and washed them. Then they just sat…

Until this afternoon. With these busier patterns I try to accent them instead of overpowering what is happening in the fabric. This one I had some pink lace that worked perfectly on the hem, and I accented it with a simple ribbon. You can’t really tell, but it has a felt-like flower pattern embossed on it. I finished it off with a simple line of lace across the top. Very cute and very girly!

I figured that I had to justify the trip that I made to Hobby Lobby earlier this week. That place gets me into trouble every time! Their spools of ribbon and lace were on sale, so I picked up a few more of those to replace what I had used up. Then I found another spool of lace in the clearance area. Oh! And they had some cloth embroidered trim in the clearance area, too, so I grabbed that.

Last weekend Jay installed another light in my sewing room for me and so that has helped a lot. It’s a very relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Just me and my cats…

The good thing about these cats is that they are out of my way, just hanging out on my wall. They don’t whine and they don’t leave clumps of fur all over. Not that I know any cats who would do that…