November has arrived and that means a new project is in the works and will be discussed soon in one of the upcoming blogs. October was a very busy and a very productive month. I didn’t get as much sewing done as I would’ve have liked, family demands took up a lot of my time. I’m not complaining as I really enjoy my time with them, but it does put limits on my coveted sewing time. I had to resort to some knitting for the month, thankfully we’re moving into colder weather so knitted and crocheted items are needed. If you have either of these skills, join me in making a warm sweater, a pair of mittens or a hat for the children. Cold nights in front of a warm fire or watching a good movie, lends itself well to knitting or the hand work on sewing projects.
October Report
SFK was chosen by Hopeful Threads as their “project of the month” for October which resulted in a large number of items for our baby layettes and mother’s needs , helping us get a little ahead of the game instead of always playing catch up. I enjoyed working with Kristy, owner of “Hopeful Threads” blog. She comes with the experience of a seasoned blogger and willingly taught me some of the tricks of the trade along the way. Our heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone who participated in this event and gave so willingly of their time, talent and treasure. We loved sharing skills, patterns and the great pics of all the beautiful things you made. Also a big thanks to Jennifer at “That’s Sew You , Hannah at “While They Sleep Designs“, Workman Publishing, and CraftFoxes for their giveaway items . One of the participants who won a giveaway in a previous project used her donation to make items for our kids.
You can see some of the donations, which will soon be heading off to the Rez to be used by our moms and babies, here and on our Facebook page. These items along with the donations from our “regulars” at SFK will provide some nicely filled bags for the programs at Rosebud and Wanblee. We also had donations of coats, hats, mittens and warm clothing from Jan E, Nancy B-W, Margaret H (she made the cutest fleece outfits, see them on FB), Janet S, Cheryl T, Alice A and Amy G to name a few which will be used by the Shining Start team to be given out at special clinics, educational sessions, Head Start and home visits. A Flickr site for our blog will soon be in place so you all will be able to post your gifts to the site or send them to us to post.
Jan E and her sewing group made 12 pairs of PJ’s and included a toothbrush with each pair, two “luxury” items for many Rez children. We had several other donors who sewed PJ’s as well and Diane in NM and others made slippers to match. We’re hoping we can host a PJ party for the Head Start kids next year. Several of our quilt makers, Beulah L. and Janet S’s mother made warm quilts to help keep the babies and toddlers warm this winter. I have a donation of very good quality fabric coming from Sondra at Contemporary Cloth along with fabric my sister bought, when she visited this past week, so I know some quilts will soon be in the making at my house. Thanks to both of them for their donations.
Not all needs have been met but we are making a dent so please continue to send your warm items as “old man winter” is slowly making his presence known. Theresa High Horse, head of the “Closet” project, said they asked parents at the Halloween party what would be the best gift they could give their children for Christmas and the unanimous answer was “a warm winter coat”. We’re not doing a Christmas project here at SFK, we focus instead on filling needs throughout the year. However, if you have a child’s coat, it would be a wonderful gift to donate to any of the programs we support. Coats that are gently used, clean and in good repair are the only requirements and if you can add a pair of mittens and a hat, well that would be the icing on the cake!
We had many of you help us out with the “donation of the week” project so we’re happy to report warm drinks and popcorn will be served at the Shining Start events this fall and winter. Some of the items donated were of gourmet quality, thank you Alice A. for those special goodies. Check here for this week’s donation items.
Many of our followers not only spent time and money on their own sewing projects but also gave extra time seeking donations from their friends and family. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising so we thank you for helping spread the word about needs on the Rez. We can’t expect you to help with every project we do, but getting the word out is just as valuable to us. Amy Gilpin and her group in Canada are doing a warm coat drive in November. Canadians are used to the cold that SD experiences, I know first hand because I grew up in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Brrrrrr…….. it’s cold there for a loooong time!
Once again A BIG THANKS to all of you from Sew For Kids.
