A bit of Hope and the winners......

    Before we get to the winners, I want to say a great big Thank you to everyone that participated in our LDFA Sew-Along! We made a total of 28 Little Dresses and 1 pair of Boy Shorts! Woohoo! I know the 28 little girls and the little boy that receives these clothes will be so happy! 

     I have to be honest about something. At first I was kinda disappointed that we didn't have better participation . Especially from people that I think of as friends. I probably should not say that, but it is how I feel. HOWEVER,  that wise old farmer hubby of mine set me straight real quick! . He said "One dress is more than some of those children had two days ago! And you all made 28 dresses and a pair of shorts! That's 29 children that ya'll have helped!" You know what? He is so right!  That is 29 Children that we have helped have a little bit more dignity, a little bit more hope and maybe even given them a little boost in their self esteem!  So THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! I truly appreciate each and every item that ya'll made! 

      Little Dresses for Africa accepts clothing and monetary donations ( to get the dresses to their needed destinations)  year around! So if you haven't finished making all that you wanted to make, you still can. Or you can send what you have completed and then make some more. 

  So, now , guess what? We had 6 prizes and 6 participants (besides me)! So WOOHOOOOOOOO ! EVERYONE that participated gets a prize! Two will get Aurifil thread sets and four will get a $50.00 gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop!

 First up for the (4) Gift Certificates from the Fat Quarter Shop in no particular order (other than the way they came out of that handsome, farmer,  hubby dudes hat) is:

# 4. Five Little dresses for Africa aka Nia L.

# 6. 2 Little dresses aka Maryellen Mc.

# 1. Little Dresses aka Robyn M.

# 2. Sending Love aka Debbie B. 

For the 10 small spool collector box of Gleeful from Aurifil is:

# 3. Little Dress/Shorts aka Donna L.

And the for the Large 40wt Spool box of Arizona from Aurifil is:

#5. Lixie Dresses aka Alex Y.

 Congratulations ladies! I really appreciate your participation in the First Annual LDFA Sew Along at Sew and Sow Farm! I look forward to doing this again next year! I hope that ya'll had fun and that you all will enjoy your prizes! Debbie, Robyn, Maryellen and Nia please email me the email address that you would like to receive your Gift Certificate at and Donna and Alex I need a mailing address from both of you to send your threads. My email link is over on the right sidebar where the little mailbox is located!

 Thank you so much Aurifil and the Fat Quarter Shop for your generosity! 

Happy Stitching everybody!

xo jan

  

Little Dresses for Africa Linky Party!

 Welcome to the first Annual Little Dresses for Africa Sew Along Linky Party at Sew and Sow Farm! Each summer I like to choose a project to make for charity. In 2013, I found out about an organization that makes and collects simple little dresses to help clothe children around the world, Little Dresses for Africa! I really enjoyed making those first dresses. So this year, I decided to do it again and asked for some help from ya'll! I also asked some of my sponsors to give us a little incentive to Sew - Along! Aurifl and the Fat Quarter Shop didn't hesitate and have offered some very nice prizes! I have the BEST sponsors! They are ALWAYS so generous! I have been making some little dresses too! I am so excited ! I set a goal of 10 Little Dresses and gues what?, I reached that goal! Woohoo!
    I had to hurry outside yesterday and quickly get them on the clothesline between thunderstorms to get a photo:

I made 4 Size Small, 1 Size Medium, 2 Size Large and 3 Size Extra Large!They range from 13" long all the way to 43" long! These were so much fun and so very easy! I hope whoever receives them enjoys them! And I still have some fabric to use up! I already have them sorted, packaged and labelled, ready to ship:

So, have you been making any? It's time to link up those Dresses and Shorts!

1. You must link to a specific and current blog post or face book post. Not just to your homepage.
2. Please visit at least one person before your link and one person after your link. We want to share our sewing and be sure and leave nice comments! We all love receiving comments and encouragement on our efforts! Plus it's a nice way to make new friends!
3. Please take time to visit Aurifl and the Fat Quarter Shop and let them know how much we appreciate their great prizes!You can see the prizes here! You can tell them all about your dresses and /or shorts or just tell them hi! Tell them I said hi too! They are both fantastic and generous companies with superior products!
4. Share, share , share! Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, twitter, blogs.....I would love to make this a yearly event and the more people we have making dresses and shorts, the more children we can help!
5. Be sure to follow up and get your items in the mail! You can find packaging and mailing instructions here.
 http://www.littledressesforafrica.org/blog/
6. The link up will only remain open until 11:59 pm EST July 5, 2015!!!!!!!! You must add your link before then to be eligible to win one of the prizes! You must link to at least one completed dress or boy shorts. You can still make more after the linky !
7. Winners will be announced on Tuesday July 7th right here on this blog! BE SURE TO CHECK BACK HERE ON TUESDAY! SEVERAL OF YOU ARE SHOWING AS "NO REPLY" SO I HAVE NO WAY TO REACH YOU IF YOU WIN ONE OF THE PRIZES!!
 Thank you all so much for participating!!
 So let's get this party started! Follow the Linky below to add your photo and links! (click on the "click here to enter")

Decorative Stitching and Little Dresses for Africa!

 One of my friends, Alex, of Lixie Makes It!, posted a photo on her blog of a couple of the Little Dresses for Africa that she is making for our Sew - Along!. She is so smart! She used Decorative Stitching in her machine to stitch around the hemline!

Swiped this photo from Alex at http://lixiemakesit.blogspot.com/2015/06/two-little-dresses-for-africa-ldfa.html

That is sooooo adorable! I love this idea. I just wished I had seen this before I finished my little Dresses!
  But wait! I have one more dress to finish! And I have a machine that makes Decorative Stitching!

   Since my last dress was already hemmed, I thought I would try it on the Bias Tape Ties!  So, I loaded up my machine with some Aurifil #2021 in 50wt and a new needle and experimented on some extra pieces of Double Fold Bias Tape.

I curved a piece to make sure I could do Decorative Stitching while going around the armholes:

It worked great! I think it adds a little extra sweetness!

 What about you? Are you sewing along with us? It is not too late! You can find all the information about the sew along here! You must have at least one dress and or shorts finished and photographed to link up this Sunday, July 5th! You will be mailing them directly to the address on the Little Dresses for Africa website, so you can finish them after the linky if you need to. You will need to link to a current blog and or facebook post to be eligible to win one of 6 prizes!
 These are sew fun and quick to make! Maybe I can find time to make a few more before Sunday!
Happy Stitching ya'll!
Have a safe and Happy 4th!
xo jan