Something that is very important to me as an extrovert (and as a member of the human race) is to have close friendships as well as varied friendships. When Morgan and I met, we discussed the idea of forming a casual group of like-minded individuals to meet regularly with sewing as the excuse. Whether we actually sewed in the gatherings was irrelevant, but sewing could be the thread that binds the group together (pun totally intended), much like a book club where you don’t have to read the book.
At the end of September we got a few people together to eat homemade treats (Salsa! Banana Bread! Wine!) and talk about making. We talked about sewing, knitting, and veered off onto the topics of homeschooling, kids, the Valley and oh gosh who knows what else! Unfortunately we were too busy having fun to take any pictures, but I am sure you can imagine the cozy little scene. 🙂 We had a brief show and tell of recent projects and we worked together to cut some fabric for some charity sewing.
I’d heard of Craft Hope‘s Project 25 for We Are Kenya through Facebook somewhere and wanted to help out. I wasn’t up to making a whole quilt in time, and knew there were many quilters who would jump to send one along, but I was pretty affected by the request for cloth sanitary pads. The idea that young women would have to leave school for a week every month for lack of pads was heartbreaking. Morgan found this tutorial at Little House Living and we spent our group evening cutting out flannelette and terry cloth. Morgan and I have been puttering away at them over the last couple of weeks and just last night we finished them up!
Okay, we could have found some more adult fabric than cartoon fishies, but we used what we had and I’m hoping that young women, newly menstruating, will appreciate something a little silly.
The deadline is November 15th to send some pads, or stuffies, or scarves and hats and mittens to We Are Kenya so if you’d like to get involved, we definitely encourage you. Because sewing is basically a super power and as you know: “With Great Power comes Great Responsibility”
October 23, 2014 at 12:12 pm
Great work! You might also check out Days. for Girls. http://www.daysforgirls.org/#!copy-of-make-kits/cp7k. They distribute cloth pads everywhere and provide education for girls. They have great pad patterns, videos, etc.
If you are into using cloth pads yourself and don’t want to make them, I love New Moon Pads located in British Columbia, Canada. Renee, the owner, makes wonderful pads! You can also buy her pads at a discounted rate to be given to charities. Another wonderful company in Vancouver, BC makes cloth menstrual pads and has a place to donate on their site too, is Luna Pads.
October 23, 2014 at 12:15 pm
Here are the other links.
http://newmoonpads.com/home.html
http://lunapads.com/donate.html
October 22, 2014 at 12:10 am
Girls this is just so kind of you. You’re awesome.
October 21, 2014 at 9:59 pm
Ah this is great! I actually use these myself! And I find sewing them very satisfying, it’s such a quick project. A little tip: dark fabrics work better in case of stains that don’t come out. Thanks for posting about this!
October 21, 2014 at 8:24 pm
That’s probably the best charity sewing idea I could imagine! Really, really great!!