What I'm Working on Wednesday

It seems I've taken a bit of a blogging break -- quite unintentionally. I have been keeping quite busy, but not finishing anything worth blogging about! Today, I have several projects in progress:

Embroidery

I'm currently working on some custom embroidery for a Christmas stocking order for my shop. I do all my embroidery by hand, so it is time consuming, but I love the way it turns out.

Fairy Tale Craft

I am in charge of this week's Fairy Tale Friday in my son's first grade class. I'm doing The Emperor's New Clothes and I'm cutting all the pieces they'll need to create some new outfits for the Emperor. I'm planning a more detailed post about this in the near future.

Days for Girls

In preparation for my upcoming Days for Girls Sewing Day, I am cutting as many pieces as I can. If you're interested in finding out more about my Sewing Day, check out this post. If you want to know more about Days for Girls, check out their website.

Reading

And of course, I'm always reading whenever I find (or make) a spare moment. I just finished up The Darkening Field by William Ryan. This week's selection is Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. Another book review post will be coming next week!

What are you working on this week?

Days for Girls International - Group Sewing Day!

If you or someone you know live near South Jordan, UT, you are invited to join my Group Sewing Day for Days for Girls International on Saturday, September 27!

The details are below. Visit the event page on Facebook for updates and to RSVP.

Everyone is welcome, regardless of sewing ability. However, those with sewing skill are especially needed, along with sewing machines.


I'm also seeking donations of fabric and gift cards to provide materials for this event. Please help spread the word by tweeting or pinning the image below!

Days for Girls is a wonderful organization dedicated to providing reusable feminine hygiene kits to girls and women in developing countries throughout the world. Visit their website for more information and to see what a huge difference this organization is making.

"Through sustainable feminine hygiene solutions, Days for Girls is restoring opportunity to girls who have grown up believing there is something embarrassing or taboo about menstruation. DfG reverses these cycles of belief through products and education that remind girls and women they are beautiful, powerful, and worthy of care." -Days For Girls

What I'm Working On Wednesday

Today, I'm working on a couple of things:

Etsy Shop Production

I've kind of let my Etsy shop sit dormant for a while because I haven't had a lot of sales. I even considered closing up shop, but just this week I decided I'd like to give it another try. So I've start mass-producing Christmas stockings to get them listed later this week. If you're in the market for new stockings this year, keep an eye out for my new inventory. And I'm always happy to do custom orders and may even offer custom embroidery.

Cub Scout Arrow of Light Awards

I only have two weeks to finish up the Arrow of Light awards I've started on. Come see the hand painted plaques I made in this post. This week, I'm working on putting together each boy's award arrow to hang below his plaque. I'm using arrow kits I found at Nature-Watch. I like these arrow kits better than the ones at the Scout shop because these ones have stone arrowheads. I'll post an update once they are finished so you can see the final product.

Organizing a Days for Girls Sewing Event

I am the team leader for the South Jordan, Utah team for Days for Girls International. In September, I'm hosting a sewing day for anyone who wants to help! If you're in the Salt Lake City area, come sew with us! See the event details & RSVP on Facebook here. If you're not in the area, but still interested in helping out Days for Girls International, check out their website and find a chapter or team near you!

What are you working on today?

What I'm Working on Wednesday

I haven't been completing any projects lately, so that has left me without much to post! Today I wanted to share something that is a work in progress -- and hopefully will be a work in progress for a long time.

Last month, I was searching for a sewing service project for my church sewing group to work on. I found many great projects, including Operation Smile, Project Linus, and Dress A Girl Around the World. Those all look like wonderful projects and there are many more out there. The one I finally settled on is Days for Girls. 

This organization makes and distributes reusable feminine hygiene kits to girls and women in developing countries. I think the reason this particular project appealed to me is because the sewing is fairly simple, but the impact can be enormous. I have lived a pretty sheltered life and it wasn't until I found this organization that I ever even thought about how these women without access to clean water or feminine hygiene products deal with their menstrual cycles. Those of us in the U.S. take things like disposable maxi pads for granted, and the more I read about Days for Girls, the more I wanted to help.

"What if not having sanitary supplies meant DAYS without school, DAYS without income, DAYS without leaving the house? Girls use leaves, mattress stuffing, newspaper, corn husks, rocks, anything they can find...but still miss up to 2 months of school every year. Worse, girls are often exploited in exchange for hygiene. It turns out this issue is a surprising but instrumental key to social change for women all over the world. The poverty cycle can be broken when girls stay in school."

So I started my own DfG team! Every week, I spend a couple of hours working on these (either alone or with a few friends). There are a lot of pieces that go in each kit and my goal is to complete 10-15 kits before sending them in.

Cutting all the pieces out for the kits.

You can see what's in a kit here. Each one is contained in a colorful drawstring bag so that the women can carry their kit with them.

Colorful drawstring bags.

Each kit includes moisture-proof shields and absorbent pads. These are all made out of cotton and flannel so that they can be easily washed and quickly dried.

Moisture proof shields (one in-progress and one finished).

The kits will also include soap, a ziplock bag, a pair of panties, and a washcloth, as well as instructions on how to use the kit.

"The DfG kit design is the result of feedback from women all over the world. Listening is an approach that results in solutions that work. That's important, because every washable Feminine Hygiene Kit gives back up to 6 months of living in just 3 years of use. That's 180 days of education, health, safety and dignity."

Wordless Wednesday

Cutting fabric for "Days for Girls International"