Founded in 2008, DfGI is a global network connecting teams and chapters of volunteer sewists to provide feminine hygiene kits to women and girls around the world. I support the Avon IN team with reversible pads and liners. The photos below show part of the contents for 30 kits.
Another three bags full for Days for Girls International
60 liners with snap, pockets and wings
240 tri-fold, reversible, serged, flannel pads
A New Year to sew for Days for Girls International feminine hygiene kits and shower caddies for the residents of Indianapolis’s Wheeler Mission for Women and Children.
DfGI was launched in 2008 and have delivered kits to 140 countries. Two of the sewn items for the DfGI kit (shown above) are shields (2/kit) and flannel tri-fold pads (8/kit). Add panties, wash cloth, soap, bag for soiled plus instructions. The Avon Chapter is preparing 70 kits for the Dominican Republic. Enterprise zones are organized in-country around the world to produce kits for their own use. Check out the official information:
A local group of friends and colleagues deliver functional gift bags @ Christmas to WM for 72 women. Shower caddies are made of outdoor fabric with four exterior pockets. The bags are filled with socks, gloves, nail polish, note pads, calendar, marker and many more small gifts. Here we go again in 2020!
Shower caddies
Thanks to the expertise of Clifford Blodget, I successfully chose Brother 1034D Serger Sewing Machine to support Days for Girls International with the “serged” alternative to “Turn and Topstitch” reversible, tri-fold flannel pads.
The Serged flannel pad is a significant design change with the same size/proportions as “Turn and Topstitch” as well as six flannel layers for absorption.
Clifford is excellent simplifying and illustrating the serger sewing machine with 4 needles (2 upper and 2 lower). I also appreciated the statement “Sergers DO NOT have REVERSE” and the discussion about the knife edge that trims the fabric as it moves toward the needles. It is not intuitive that trimming is required for success. The trimming function makes the edge very neat and flat.
This machine has 95% of the threading instructions exactly where you need them… on the machine! Tweezers are required for the 4th spool feeding the 4th and lower needle.
The compact size fits well on sturdy folding table.
DfGI serged tri-fold flannel pads
Here I “sew” again…supporting Days for Girls International.
PS My Brother ADS-1500W portable scanner has served me well— saving 1000s of pages of former paper files. 🙂 I’m a fan!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Days_for_Girls
40 shields plus 160 flannel pads delivered to local chapter of Days for Girls International to be kitted in a fabric drawstring bag with panties, washcloth, soap, ziplock freezer bags and instructions.
Flannel cut in one yard lengths make 10 pads each. Bolt of PUL (Polyurethane Laminate) used in shields for leak protection. Cotton fabric is used for the outer layer of shield as well as pockets.
Eve helps me prepare Elfcroft’s eleventh shipment of
feminine hygiene pads and shields for Days for Girls International kits.
January begins year five of our support.
We ship to chapters based in DesMoines Iowa for assembly and distribution globally.
Eight different colors and patterns for reversible trifold pads that fill each kit.
80 shields with pockets, wings and PUL lining will support 40 kits.
Work begins on DfGI 2018 shipments supporting DfGI Iowa Chapters
It takes 320 tri-fold, reversible, topstitched flannel pads to support 40 Days for Girls International feminine hygiene kits. One yard of 40″ wide flannel makes 10 pads. The cadence I use is to buy 32 yards in 4.25 yard lengths (9″ or 6% shrinkage) of 8 different colors/patterns to maximize variety in each kit. I wash and dry two pieces of flannel at a time (dryer filter gets heavily loaded). Then, I cut each net 4 yard length into (4) one yard pieces stacking and alternating colors/patterns in groups of eight. Shown above. The two stacks on the left make 160 pads. The short stack is my work in progress.
I cut (20) 8″X9″ pieces from each yard, put right sides together, miter the corners (for octagonal shape) before sewing, turning and topstitching. The double layer, tri-fold design means there are six layers which fit in the mating shield with double pockets, wings and PUL (polyurethane laminate).
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 clothesReversible, 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!
elfcroft 