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International Day of the Girl Child (United Nations)

11 Oct

October 11, 2016:  International Day of the Girl Child

Let girls be girls!  United Nations Women’s website identifies child marriage as a global problem thrwarting women’s development mentally (education is suspended), physically (bear children too early) and spiritually (vulnerable to violence).

http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/girl-child

Every day is a day for girl power @ Days for Girls International.

http://www.daysforgirls.org/day-of-the-girl

Days for Girls International developed reusable feminine hygiene kits (in bright colors and bold patterns) produced and delivered via crowdsourcing.  Check out DfGI 2015’s annual report…the photos are amazing:

days-for-girls-annual-report-2015

Elfcroft has shipped components supporting 195 kits since 2014.  Plus, we have a head start on a 2017 shipment.  Check out a sample of the work:

My favorite color/pattern combos
30 more liners
30 liners
Reversible, tri-fold flannel pads. Enough for 8 pads to go into 24 kits.
Selection of reversible, tri-fold flannel pads
The deck of reversible tri-fold pads

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Homestretch stitching for 2016 Shower Caddie project

12 Jul

Less than 5 of 72 shower caddies to complete for the ladies at Wheeler Mission for Women and Children.  The shower caddies will be functional gift bags filled with personal care products this Christmas.

We had a jump start this year with a donation of outdoor fabric in the form of new (rejected) cushion covers.  The cushion cover seams were ripped and the fabric cut and sewn into 15 of the 72 caddies.  The caddies are cylindrical bags with four external flared pockets.  The bottom has three button-hole slits for the occasions water needs to drain.  The handles are top stitched.  Each caddie is made from one third yard of 54″outdoor fabric purchased from fabricguru.com.Showercaddie_encore_IMG_20160409_094804363 copyIMG_20160421_144050693_HDR copy

 

 

IMG_20160707_082125230 copyIMG_20160707_082224829 copyIMG_20160628_182235187 copyIMG_20160707_082051404 copy 2IMG_20160706_092620698 copy

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Shower Caddie Encore

12 Apr

Back by popular demand…shower caddies as functional gift bags for the women at Wheeler Mission for Women and Children.  Our adhoc group of benefactors delivered 72 overstuffed caddies for Christmas last year.

We have a “green light” and a jump start for 2016.  A friend of a friend saved LLBean outdoor seat cushion covers from the REJECT bin.  The Plan:  Recycle as shower caddies.  Enough fabric for 13 of the 72.

Outdoor seat cushion covers undergoing "ripping" or deconstruction.

Outdoor seat cushion covers undergoing “ripping” or deconstruction.

I asked our group leader (who also has Master Black Belt Six Sigma certification), if there was VOC (voice of customer) feedback to incorporate this year.  Her suggestion…”leave off the button holes”.  Yes, I put button holes in the caddies last year to drain water that might accumulate in the bottom.

Six equally spaced button holes on a radius is a little time consuming.

Six equally spaced button holes on a radius is a little time consuming.

I did that without DRBTR!  (Design Review Based upon Test Results).  Do shower caddies without slots hold water?  YES.  Is that a problem?  Maybe.  Search for a suitable mesh fabric bottom was unsuccessful.

Mock up for test

Mock up for test:  Fill with one cup of water.

  1. No slots:            Drains      3.42-3.70 minutes          Over twenty times as slow
  2. One slot:            Drains        .60-.70 minutes            Four times as slow
  3. Two slots:          Drains        .28-.38 minutes            Twice as slow
  4. Three slots:   Drains      .15-.18 minutes         Baseline

The winner is a three slot design for the few occasions when water may accumulate it is a reasonable feature to have.  I will use parallel slots to save the time preparing the radial layout.

Here we go AGAIN!

 

 

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No fooling…that’s a LOT of love

1 Apr
Shipping 80 liners and 320 flannel pads to Days for Girls International

Shipping 80 liners and 320 flannel pads to Days for Girls International

Enough to complete 40 kits!  Liners have wings with snaps, reinforced pockets and PUL (polyurethane laminate) middle.  Flannel pads are reversible, tri-fold with top-stitching.  The design intent is for three years use.

My favorite color/pattern combos

My favorite color/pattern combos from this shipment

Back side of liners

Back side of liners

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Volunteers provide their materials (often).  For me, the joy of sewing comes from playing with the colors and patterns…..the bolder and brighter the better.

It's awesome how many gazillion graphic designs there are for butterflies.

It’s awesome how many gazillion graphic designs there are for butterflies.

http://www.daysforgirls.org

 

 

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I spy butterflies!

7 Mar

Guidelines for proper selection of fabric for Days for Girls International Kits:

Some prints are offensive or illegal in some communities.

Prints with people, animals, faces and figures cannot be sent to Muslim communities.

NO camouflage fabrics as these are illegal in many countries.

Fabrics with food, bugs, reptiles, guns, knives, culture-specific themes as well as girly-glam should be avoided.

Bugs, reptiles and animals are predators in some areas; fabrics including these are uncomfortable for the girls to wear and use.

Butterflies are OK. 
Rev May 23, 2015

Nine beautiful butterfly designs on flannel!  Enough fabric to supply liners for 40 kits in next shipment.  🙂

 

daysforgirls.org

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Gallery

Sew while the garden is dormant

27 Jan
His and Hers
First three bags with mats
Yoga mat bag Project
Fabric samples in 20 different colors and patterns
Two boxes, twenty each

40 yoga mat bags!  with phone pocket, drawstring and shoulder strap.

Inspired by the bold colors of the yoga mats, this project took on a life of its own.  The colors and bold patterns of the fabrics are delightful.  Now many months since the start, 40 yoga mats with bags are ready for delivery to Sheltering Wings.  I even have a few left in my stash for yoga enthusiasts who I have not met yet. 🙂

img_20160127_070550640.jpg

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Many More Colors

19 Jan

Many more colors…

30 liners
30 more liners
20 liners
Each liner has PUL (polyurethane laminate) middle covered with colorful cotton fabrics (both sides). One side has two pockets. Snaps are added to wings as part of the kit assembly process.

These 80 liners plus 320 reversible tri-fold flannel pads (featured in last week’s post) provide the labor intensive items for 40 kits distributed by Days for Girls International.

http://www.daysforgirls.org

The maroon/chartreuse plaid and graphic bird fabrics were not so cute as separate remnants….I love these fabrics together as liners.

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Many colors

12 Jan

Many kits of many colors….I remember a song…about Many Colors….a “Coat of Many Colors” recorded in 1971 by Dolly Parton.

And oh I couldn’t understand it, for I felt I was rich
And I told them of the love my momma sewed in every stitch
And I told ’em all the story momma told me while she sewed
And how my coat of many colors was worth more than all their clothes

Reversible, tri-fold flannel pads. Enough for 8 pads to go into 24 kits.

Reversible, tri-fold flannel pads. Enough for 8 pads to go into 24 kits.

The song concludes with Dolly Parton singing the moral of her story:

But they didn’t understand it, and I tried to make them see
One is only poor, only if they choose to be
Now I know we had no money, but I was rich as I could be
In my coat of many colors my momma made for me

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_Many_Colors_(song)

Volunteers for Days for Girls International are like mothers to girls all around the world needing dignity every day of the month by making menstrual hygiene kits with bold, bright colors.

These kits are made with love by thousands of volunteers around the world or by local women filling the need for their own community. Quality matters because women and girls depend on this product, and kits have to endure frequent washing in harsh conditions.

Q: Does it really matter how they look?
A: Yes, because she not only will count on it, she will often have it with her. No, it doesn’t have to be beautiful to be functional, but she notices and appreciates when the kit is beautiful and that helps break shame and stigma.
​

From: Days for Girls International  http://www.daysforgirls.org/#!whats-in-a-kit/c623

As I pack my finished liners (made with PUL, pockets, wings and snaps) with 8 reversible, tri-fold, topstitched flannel pads…my goal is to have 12 different color and/or patterned fabrics bundled for each kit…three different fabrics used making each liner, eight different fabrics for the pads plus the twelfth fabric for the bag the kit is packed in.

Dolly Parton said and sang it best…that is RICH!

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Better than a Scavenger Hunt

24 Nov
Office assistant Eve: "Don't you have something better to do?" We are sewing items for Days for Girls International

Office assistant Eve: “Don’t you have something better to do?”

We support Days for Girls International with donations of items for kits.

Days for Girls International

Lessons learned from preparing 4 shipments of feminine hygiene reversible, tri-fold flannel pads and liners with wings, pockets, PUL and snaps.

In order to make hundreds of pads and dozens of liners from dozens of yards of flannel and cotton print at home on a single sewing machine:  STAGING is essential for sanity in my attic sewing room.

Notion 1:  DfGI suggested purchasing flannel in 2.5 yard increments.

Problems:  Shrinkage after washing. Fabric twist.  Variations in width of 4″ (bolt to bolt).

Consequence:  Enough remnant strips and blocks to make two twin size coverlets.

Lesson 1:  Buy flannel in 4.12-4.25 yard increments.

Beautiful flannel (left) plus batik cotton (right)

Beautiful flannel (left) plus batik cotton (right)

Lesson 2:  After wash & dry, cut one yard at a time, then cut (4) 9″ strips, then cut strips into usually 8″ blocks.

Lesson 3:  Stack flannel 8″X9″ blocks right sides together.  Bag 8 pairs of blocks in gallon size ziplock bags for easy counts, grab to sew and go…  (Plus the ziplock bags are available for the finished kit.)

WIP Flannel blocks staged to cut corners

WIP Flannel blocks staged to cut corners

Notion 2:  Pack shipping boxes when sewing complete.

Lesson 4:  Use shipping boxes for Work In Progress!  Saves a LOT of space, especially since the boxes fit in closet.

Shipping box first used for Work In Process (WIP)

Shipping box first used for Work In Process (WIP)

Just like all elves this time of year, Elfcroft is completing the items needed for kits delivered all around the world (over 70 countries).

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Follow up Friday Photos: IChing No. 63 and 64

20 Nov

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I Ching No. 63 After Completion

The Elf in Elfcroft has the sewing machine humming making functional gift bags.  These gift bags are also known as shower caddies to be given to the women residents of Wheeler Mission this Christmas.  I used outdoor fabric (water and mildew resistant) from www.fabricguru.com.  Four outer pockets surround the center opening.  25 yards (54″width) made 75 shower caddies.

Ready for delivery

Ready for delivery

I Ching No. 64 Before Completion

The last two years we filled back packs with socks, gloves, scarves, etc.  Several years before that we filled tote bags.  Our choice this year are these homemade bags.  Bath products to fill the shower caddies will be provided by friends and coworkers.

I read a comment that there was an error with the I Ching translation.  “Before Completion” should be 63 and “After Completion” should be 64.  This is not an error.  Completion in this case refers to work.  The interesting concept  is that work-in-process (WIP) has multiple completions.  I could have chosen to show rolls of fabric for “Before” and the finished shower caddies as “After”.  BOLO for a future post with the empty caddies as the “Before” and filled with gifts “After.

And here you have it!  I Ching No. 63 Another After Completion

Our leader Kathy
Gloves, socks, etc with great friends
Jennifer directs
Mission accomplished: 72 shower caddy gift bags for the women at Wheeler Mission

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