Christmas in July

Since the end of July, I have been leading another semester of Journey Groups at my church. A Journey Group is a special interest group of people who get together for a common goal. Some goals are entertainment, socializing, Bible studies, exercise and whatever else instructor feels will bring the group together. In last two semesters I have led a group of Sewing for Starfish Kenya. We made pillowcase dresses and shorts for the children at an orphanage at the House of Hope. You can read more about it here.

After two successful semesters, I felt led to look for new organization we could work with. A friend introduced me to Supports Hope in Uganda. I thought we would make more dresses and shorts but, I wanted to be open to other options. I got in touch with my contacts to find out from them what would be most useful. I offered a list of fairly economical projects that we could offer and waited to hear back.

They requested stuffed animals to be used as Christmas presents for the children. What an awesome idea! I was happy to make clothing, but I was I got really excited about making stuffed animals. 

                 

 

I have made Wacky Creatures using Mccall’s 5826 from my kids and they loved them. I thought this pattern would be a perfect candidate for my Journey Group. We have a wide range of ages and skills in this group. I thought this project was a good opportunity for the newbies to acquire sewing skills but also give those with advanced skills the opportunity to be creative with the design of the faces and embellishments.

There are 144 orphans who will receive these Wacky Creatures. We will construct them flat and leave an opening for them to be filled with available materials in Uganda. My contacts will work with the kids to stuff and close them, so they are a part of the process there.

We are five weeks in and our group is in full swing. We have cut all of the Wacky Creatures we need and are creatively and excitedly working on the embellishments and various face designs. 

We are having so much fun! We are laughing at our own silliness and the thought of the delight on the faces of the children when they receive them. Look at some of these designs!
                             

    

 

We have a lot of work yet to do before we meet our goal. It is such a good time, I know we will get it all done.

Do you have an organization that can benefit from sewn projects for another semester of Journey Groups? Do you have ideas for other items to sew for charity? Please share in the comments below.

Happy Sewing,
Bianca