Little Dresses for Africa
Rachel O'Neill's life hasn't been the same since her trip to Africa two years ago, nor have the lives of thousands of little girls living in poverty-stricken Malawi. The sign of children wearing dirty, heavily-worn clothes tugged as O'Neill's heart so much that she know she had to find a way to offer them a sense of hope.
The Brownstown Township, MI resident had journeyed to Malawi in central Africa with a friend and a missions group. "We were on a short-term missions trip for a little over two weeks. We were working in a village with the children and started noticing their tattered dresses. We just wanted to give them something that would give them a feeling of worthiness," she ways.
"Sitting in the dirt in Malawi," she and two other women decided once, they returned home they would start a nonprofit dressmaking organization to "put a little dress on each one of the girls." Three months later, Little Dresses For Africa was born. To make the sewing simple and easy, each dress would be made from either a new or gently used pillowcase.
What started as a benevolent gesture of hope has attracted massive support from people all across the country. Work of the nonprofit organization began "spreading like wildfire," she says, and pillowcase dresses, fabric, elastic and bias tape started pouring in by the box from nearly 20 states.
"I received a box from Hawaii just last week" enthuses O'Neil, who sends dress by returning missionaries for distribution to orphanages throughout central Africa. "Ten thousand dresses have come through my home."
Directions for Pillowcase Dress
Skill level: Beginner
Estimated Time: 30 minutes
Tools: Scissors, sewing machine, straight pins
Supplies: Pillowcase (any size), 12 inches of 1/4 inch wide elastic, 20 inches of double bias tape
Instructions:
1. Cut seam off top of pillowcase.
2. With top edges together, fold pillowcase in half vertically and cut out a child-size armhole.
3. Pin entire top edge inward about a 1/2 inch (wrong-side facing) and stitch in place.
4. Cut a 6 inch piece of elastic. Thread through top hem at front. Stitch one end in place. Gather fabric and stitch other end in place. Repeat for top back hem.
5. Cut bias tape in half. Pin a piece around each armhole, leaving a tail at both ends to tie at shoulder. Stitch in place. Be creative with variation and embellishments - pockets, lace, etc.
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