February 26, 2020

Busy Hands are Happy Hands!

Busy Hands 4 All Update Last Friday, we joined in O'Sew Personal Fabric Shop's Charity Sew and helped make 54 diaper change pads for Sweet Babies! Barb (of Sweet Babies) visited the sewing event and answered questions and greeted all of the volunteers. Thank you to all of the wonderful charity sewing volunteers at O'Sew Personal! We look forward to sewing with you again.

We have received some fabric donations and purchased some fleece - we need all hands on deck this Thursday, February 27 for notion sorting/counting, fabric organizing, bear stuffing, tying bows on the bears, and stuffing comfort pillows! No need to bring your sewing machines this week. 

We received a request for 100 sets of 5" sharing hearts for NICUS. They are due by March 23rd. Some are being sent home in kits to sew. Some are sewn. All will be staged for pinking the edges by next week. If you have pinking shears or a pinking rotary cutter - please bring them Thursday, March 12.

There will not be a sew day on Thursday, March 5. But don't worry - we will have home kits available for Rice Bags, Comfort Pillows, Bears, and Needle Holders. So please sew with us at home!

Angel Gowns buddy sew day will be on March 26 at 9:30 a.m. Please bring your sewing machine and basic sewing supplies. Fabric, trim and patterns will be supplied.


Days for Girls Update Last Thursday we were packed 45 Days for Girls kits that will go to India this weekend! Woo hoo! It was a fun and rewarding experience to see the kits come together especially with the new transport bags.  Mary Clark picked them up this week! We wish her and her team a safe journey and thank them for all they are doing to get the kits and women's' health education to the girls and women!

We also shipped 87 shields and 137 pairs of panties to Days for Girls' headquarters for distribution to refugees. Go, Team O'Fallon!

New Project Colette was asked by Charity Sharity to take over checking out and repairing donated machines to be given to OASIS International refugees and other Charity Sharity volunteers. She agreed to help. To accompany each refugee's machine going will be a pictorial (language barrier-free) user guide. We would like to gift the Oasis recipients some necessities and niceties! A fabric drawstring bag for the foot controller and a matching fabric velcro wrap for the power cord would be a welcome addition. How can you use a sewing machine without some basic notions? We'd like to make zipper pouches and include basic notions such as neutral thread, scissors, seam ripper, tape measure, pins, sewing needles (hand & machine), pins, pincushions, needle holder, bobbins etc to get them going.  We picked up many notions from Charity Sharity but could use more of the basic necessities. If you have extras in your sewing box, send them our way!  If you have sewing machine - we will take it ;)

Project Ideas 
  1. At the O' Sew Personal sewing event, Barb mentioned a possible future project...black and white visual stimulation book for newborns. She asked us to develop some prototypes to visually stimulate the babies they serve. Colette made a small fabric book with four high contrast black and white fabrics and batting.  Tina is making one from felt in book or card form. We are looking for ideas and or additional prototypes!
  2. Diaper bags for Sweet Babies' moms? Let's look for an easy pattern for a diaper bag that we could easily make for the new moms. 
  3. Patriotic Bears with blue and white star fleece and red bows for first responders! We are looking for police or fire department contacts.





February 14, 2020

We got mail!

Days for Girls Team Update - February 14, 2020

We got mail! What`s not to love about receiving two parcels containing 15 drawstring bags and 45 transport bags and on Valentine`s Day?!?💓📪

Carey, our new Days for Girls sewist from Springfield, IL, mailed us completed components for an upcoming distribution to India. We warmly welcome Carey to our team! 


In November, we had the pleasure and honour of participating in the Days for Girls regional conference. We heard about recent news/updates and completed our Ambassador in Women's Health II Certification course from Celeste! It was fabulous to meet the other leaders, teams and chapters in Hamilton, MO. And we learned sew much!!!

In December, we supported a mission trip distributing enterprise kits to Manyatta, Kisumu, Kenya! We are proud of Laurie and honoured to be able to have a small part in her journey. Laurie used an enterprise in Kenya to distribute 50 kits. What is an enterprise? Women in developing countries are being taught how to make the items in kits. Accessing the materials and sewing machines/sergers (and electricity!) is often a challenge. DFG is training women not only on how to produce the kits but also on how to run a business. Visit https://www.daysforgirls.org/single-post/2020/02/18/Photo-Essay-Manyatta-Kenya-Distribution  to learn about Laurie's mission trip!
One of our favourite things about Days for Girls is their careful consideration to provide resources that meet cultural and legal needs to simply help girls stay in school. Did you know Kenya began the global plastic bag ban to reduce plastic pollution? To reach Kenyan girls, a transport bag made of PUL was designed to replace Ziploc bags. Each week, more and more countries are banning plastic bags. Days for Girls is introducing transport bags to replace plastic bags in all kits as of March 1, 2020 - to comply with the regulations and continue to reach women and girls.

On March 2, 45 of our supreme kits will be en route to India with the Farmington/Livonia, Michigan Days for Girls chapter. They are distributing 325 kits! We wish them safe travels and a successful distribution! Kit and distribution photos will be posted upon their return!

We are transitioning into a component team until our next kit distribution. We are perfecting the block shield method and sending our shields to headquarters for global distribution.

We are looking into making hybrid kits and making a difference in our local community. More news on this possibility coming soon!

February 8, 2020

New Life Evangelistic donation delivery

Thank you to all who donated warm winter items to the New Life Evangelistic Center in Overland, MO. We delivered seven bags and one box, all full of coats, hats, gloves, socks and more. All of the items will be sorted and taken to the city for distribution.

Even though St. Louis city shut down the Locust location, New Life Evangelistic is still working to help the homeless there. Since the closure in 2017, they have been able to purchase eight safe houses for women & children and veterans.

If you would like to continue to support them, monetary donations are always the best, but they are in need of:
~Winter outerwear clothing for men, woman, and children
~Blankets
~Hygiene products (shampoo, conditioner, soap, body wash, toothbrushes/toothpaste, mouth wash, razors, shaving cream, body & face lotion)
~First Aid supplies (band-aids, gauze, medical tape, triple antibiotic)
~Laundry detergent
~Non-perishable food
~Washcloths and towels
~Warm clothes for men
~Shoes for men, woman and children
~Diapers and baby wipes

If you have items to donate and can't make the delivery yourself, contact me for help. Their address for donations is 2428 Woodson Rd, Overland, MO 63114.