Fabric, sheets ,homemade Bias tape, sheets, Pillowcases, sheets,dress shirts, Did I mention the sheets!

Yesterday I spent the day tackling my donations of sheets, they seemed to be multiplying. I'm not complaining as they are a great source of fabric. Soft, hard wearing and make some great dresses.

But I decided I would take the day and cut some of them up to make pillowcase shapes ready to make dresses.Some I cut up using a dress pattern . And some I cut up  to make homemade bias tape. I used my handheld little Clover brand bias maker. It Actually works pretty good, but I still have to iron it my self ( not my favorite job :-) . But I just keep thinking each yard I make is one more strap for a dress for a girl , so it's worth it. And also the money saved from buying ready made is also worth it.
I am still Coveting and dreaming about  the Simplicity Automatic bias maker and am saving my pennies. But now I am hearing mixed reviews . So I need to get it for a good deal for it to be worth it.
I also cut up some dress shirts, to make some cute dresses and some I  cut into bias tape.

Often friends ask me how I can make multiple dresses so quickly. This is what I do.

1 I take the time to cut out a bunch of dresses at once, either pillowcases, or from a pattern that I have.

2 Then I sit down at my serger and serge away,to make the side seams for the dresses. If I have used fabric instead of pillowcases. Or serge the tops. The serger is the best invention ever!

3 Then I press all my casings at the top for the elastic and press up any seams I may need to do, if I didn't use pillowcases.

4 Then I go back to my sewing machine with my stack of dresses. And sew the casings and hems. For those that   quilt  you will know what I mean when I say , I chain sew them. Basically I sew across one casing then feed the next dress through continuing to sew and then the next and the next etc etc and don't trim threads in between dresses until the end. I do sew a back stitch at each end of each casing though.

5 Then I find a good movie to watch or TV show and sit and trim threads and thread elastic and pin the ends.

6 Then back to the machine to tack the elastic in place . I actually have started to not do this now and wait until I have the straps pinned on then sew  back and forth where the end of the elastic is where the strap is attached.( hope this makes sense.)

7 Then I cut all my straps to match dresses .And just use one pin to attach them to the dresses for me to carry them to the sewing machine.

8 Then I sew on the straps. I separate my dresses into piles according to what color thread I will need for the straps. At the beginning when I am cutting out the dresses I try to think about the thread color needed ,so I am not switching colors every dress. For example yesterday.
I chose fabrics that will have red straps, and white or light colored straps, That way I only had to change thread colors once. and it worked good

9 Then this is the stage when I sometimes  embellish the dresses with lace or Ric Rac or pockets.

Well this is what works for me when making multiple dresses. I know it's not any mind boggling news to most sewers and you probably already do this . But people asked me so I thought I would share. Of course I still love the process of making an individual dress from start to finish. But some day I want to make a bunch and use my time wisely.

I am excited to be working with a group of youth at our church on March 30th. Young men and Women aged between 12-18. It is only 1 hour and 1/2 long activity. So I am trying to prep some ahead of time. So we don't have to wait on those cutting before we start sewing. So this was my system I'll let you know if it works out on the night.
I have
30 pillowcases un cut
15 dresses sewn ready for the elastic to be threaded and pinned
10 dresses  ready for the straps to be sewn on.
So basically while some are still cutting the pillowcases, a few can be threading elastic in the top casings, and some can be sewing straps. Then when the pillowcases are cut, they can then be passed on to someone to press the casings down at the top . Then passed to someone to sew the casings, then threading elastic etc etc.
I am trying to have a rotation system working so that all the youth have something to do as soon as we get started and there is plenty to keep them busy. You know teenagers their minds seem to wander sometimes. I realize we probably won't get them all finished that night. But I am trying to make it fun for them , by doing the rotation system. So they can encourage each other each step of the way.

So keep those donations coming, while you are spring cleaning ,think about donating your un wanted linens to Dress a Girl they will be put to good use. Clear out your fabric stash to, you know we all have that fabric we had to buy for a project sometime that never happened :-).
Thats how I got started by using my fabric that I  was going to donate somewhere. Now I am making Dresses for Cute little Girls all over the world. And I have never been happier.

Crossroads Thrift store

Thank you Marilyn Lenker for your donations, and continued support for DAG. This is what they donated.

More dress shirts Lace edge curtains, and some cute little girls shirts all ready to add skirts too.

I can"t wait to make this cute shirt into a dress. To hopefully Make One little Girl HAPPY

Jaleanas Fabric Donation.

I put an ad on Craiglist  asking for donations For DAG and Jaleana was actually the only person that contacted me. I will post again.
She contacted me and asked how she could help and what she could donate. We were going to meet in Carlise PA some time but that didn't work out. Although I would love to meet her one day.
She emailed me and said she had sent a package and I should get it today. Well it came and I was blown away with her generosity. she sent a large flat rate box just filled to the brim with wonderful fabric . I shed a tear and my heart swelled at all the girls that can receive Dresses because of Jaleana .
there is probably enough fabric to make at least 30 dresses!

Thank you Jaleana from the bottom of my heart.Many girls will have huge smiles and be dancing in the Dresses we can make with the beautiful fabrics you sent. May God Bless you.

Just some of My Thrift store finds!

So I Love scouting around the thrift stores  to see what they  have I can use for dresses. But before I leave  the House I print out the colored flyer from the Official Dress a Girl Around the world Website and My own Info too with a List of Donations needed.

A Couple of weeks ago I visited  Crossroads thrift store in Montandon PA , and showed them the flyer and explained what we wanted to do on a local level to do our part. And she said " Here's a Box fill it with what ever you see in the store you could use"!
How Great and generous is that. Thank you Marilyn Lenker Director your amazing so this is what I found this time.
I say this Time because she said I should come in Once a Month and fill a box ( wow). Now who said there isn't great people out there. Just goes to Show It Never Hurts to Ask

Girls shirts,Sheets, valances,and fabric to add to t-shirt dresses

 So I head to the H.U.F discount ( thrift ) store in Milton and ask the same questions. The Manager said will we don't really get sheets etc and when we do we throw them out as they are in to bad of a shape to use.I asked her about Little girls shirts but she said she didn't really Get Many of those either  OK?
She took the flyer and said she would read it over. So I scouted the store and found some little shirts which I bought. and I can't wait to add cute little skirts to them all my stash of  9 shirts came to 15 dollars so not too bad.

So then I headed to another Thrift store in Milton American rescue workers. I showed the flyer there etc. But she need to ask her Director. So she has my info, so we will see. I was able to pick up 4 pillowcases and a King size sheet for $6 dollars though and the Sheet has a cute ruffled edge that will make cute dresses.

Here's the mistake today I forgot that there is a difference between a pillow Sham and a Pillow case. Shams tend to open in the back and are sometimes Padded in the front So don't really work for the dresses. Oh well I bought some brand New Shams for $3 Guess I should change the color scheme in My Bedroom LOL

Well I think I have enough supplies to Make Many dresses. And  for any of you Local friends, I will be Having regular get togethers at my house for any of you that would like to Help.  The first big  One will Be Feb 26thEmail me if you live in the Northumberland PA area and would like to come.