Tag Was My Co-Pilot...

Brynwood Needleworks - Tag

I left home at 6:30 yesterday morning, with my boy as my co-pilot. North Port to Orlando is about 2 1/4 hours, so it was nice to have company for the drive. 

I arrived a little early, but Linda and ladies from Clermont arrived within minutes. It was nice to see Linda S., Karen and Linda T. again, and to meet Cindy and Dee. 

Tag was happy to wait outside in a covered breezeway with a full dish of cool water. He could see everything inside from where he was hanging out, and of course, the ladies thought he was adorable.

Inside, we moved around a room that was filled with Dressed In Hope (the Ambassadors' group) ladies, hard at work. Linda S. asked them about how they organized their smaller work stations, and I spoke with their leaders regarding dress destinations and my work in North Port to steer and inspire our group. 

I shared a few quilter's secrets that will make it easier to create dresses. I also showed them our doll heads (and explained Jamie's process to print the faces on the two-sided doll heads). They were eager to learn and receptive to our ideas. It was impressive to be in a room filled with so much enthusiasm.

Delivery Day  (l-r: Karen, Linda S., Dee, Cindy, Linda T., and Donna L.)

When all was said and done, our dress count was 416, and that included 346 dolls. I've updated my previous post to reflect the final numbers.

It was very gratifying to hear from our Ambassadors that our group is their top producing group of dress and doll makers. I arrived home mid-afternoon, tired but immensely happy.

I wish that I were more of a word smith so that I could adequately express just how much I appreciate everyone who is taking part in this ongoing effort. Your generous hearts and talented hands continue to create some of the most lovely dresses and sweet dolls for little girls who with treasure your work.

I am so very, very proud to have brought you together to be part of such a worthwhile cause. I will continue my role for as long as I possibly can, and I thank you again. You really are the best!

Before I close out this effort, I guess I'd better tell you our next deadline...

 I'm calling it the 2016 Firecracker Dress (and Doll) Drive.

Deadline: July 8, 2016

(Please plan to hang on to your creations until closer to the deadline. I'll let you know when I'll start taking in shipments, so they don't come in too early.)

The Traveling Dresses...

Brynwood Needleworks - Dressed in Joy

I'm on my way to Orlando this morning. It's time to deliver the dresses that were shipped to Brynwood - to be joined with the dresses created in Clermont, and delivered by Linda today - to our Dressed In Hope Ambassadors.

In these boxes (in the photo) are:

• 83 dresses with coordinating dolls
• 18 dresses with unassembled doll heads and fabrics
• 52 dresses without dolls, coordinating doll fabrics in the pockets
• Totaling 153 dresses sent directly to me

The Clermont ladies have created 227 dresses. I'll find out tomorrow about how many dolls they've made to go with their dresses.

One of the dressmakers, Karen, will also join us with (another) 36 dresses and dolls. (She already made 48 dresses and dolls that I posted about HERE.)

So, here's the math:

• 153 
• 227
•   36

VALENTINE DRESS DRIVE TOTAL:      416 dresses!!!!!

You may remember that I requested 300 dresses for this drive. Once again, these awesome, generous volunteers have outdone themselves. Aren't they incredible?!!

  

Brynwood Needleworks - Dressed in Joy - Honduras

I received photographs from our Ambassador (Dressed In Hope) to share with our dress and doll makers. Some of our dresses went to Honduras. I shared these on the Dressed In Joy - Brynwood Needleworks group page with our dressmakers, but thought you'd like to see them, too.

Brynwood Needleworks - Dressed in Joy - Honduras

These little girls were so thrilled to receive dresses since our dresses were last taken to Orlando. When I shared these with our contributors, they recognized some of their own creations. (Handsome and I hope to travel on one of these delivery trips in the future.)

Brynwood Needleworks - Dressed in Joy - Uganda

Some of the last dresses also made their way to Uganda. It's sweet, smiling faces like these that inspire us...and me...to continue to create and collect dresses and dollies.

I'm humbled and excited to announce that, to date, Brynwood Needleworks has inspired our doll and dressmakers to create a total of (drumroll, please).................

SIX HUNDRED SIXTEEN DRESSES!!!   

On behalf of the children who will receive these beautiful dresses and dolls,

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. (I'd better get on the road!)

A Purpose Such As This...

Brynwood Needleworks - Dressed In Joy Dresses & Dolls

 What a fun day I had yesterday!

Brynwood Needleworks - Dressed In Joy Dresses & Dolls

I created four dresses for our Dress A Girl ongoing effort...these three, and

Brynwood Needleworks - Dressed In Joy Dresses & Dolls

 this last one, which I put the final touches on right after we ate dinner.

Every time I finished a dress and doll, I carried it out of the studio to show Handsome for his critique. He chuckled when I held each set up for him, and said they were all so darned cute.

I took pictures of the dresses before I remembered to put the Dress A Girl labels on them, but it was simple to add one to each pocket before I packaged and labeled them for donating. Putting the labels on them is the final touch, and I won't let any of our dresses head off to our Ambassador without making sure each dress has one.

Brynwood Needleworks - Dressed In Joy Doll

I had so much fun making everything. Sewing the hair on the dolls was especially amusing to me. I wasn't sure what each one would look like until the hair was sewn into the seam and turned right-side-out.

Our group often shares techniques, and now many of us are sewing heads to bodies prior to stuffing them. It takes one step out of the instructions on the pattern from the Dressed In Hope group. The last thing left to do is sew a decorative stitch seam across the bottom of the doll and then it's done.

Brynwood Needleworks - Dressed In Joy Doll

 Each one wears fabrics matching the dress to which it belongs.

Brynwood Needleworks - Dressed In Joy Doll

Some have short hair...

Brynwood Needleworks - Dressed In Joy Doll

Some have long hair. Each one has a unique personality like the little girls who will eventually play with them.

I hope that the little girls who receive them will love them as much as I loved making them. In fact, I'm looking forward to the next sewing day when I make more to send to parts unknown.

Brynwood Needleworks - Dressed In Joy Doll

We've set our next deadline, which will come in the new year. I've called it the "Valentine's Dress Drive" and all dresses and dolls will be due here (at Brynwood) by February 13, 2016. I set our goal for 300 dresses with dolls, and the dressmakers have already said we can surpass that number. What an incredible group we have!

If you're interested in sewing dresses or dolls, or donating supplies (like fabric, stuffing or ribbons) to our cause, please ask to join our Facebook group, Dressed In Joy - Brynwood Needleworks. There are so many ways you can contribute to our effort even if you don't sew.

I'm so honored to be a part of this project. I think it may be something I've been working toward my whole life. Maybe this is one of the reasons I learned to sew when I was only 11 or 12. A purpose such as this.

Making Faces...

Doll Created by Dressed In Hope

When we were in Orlando, members of our group took photos of the dolls that the "Dressed In Hope" group makes for older girls. We still want to make baby dolls for smaller children, but liked the idea of doing something different for older girls, too. This was one of their finished dolls.

Dressed In Hope Doll Faces

We also took photos of the doll faces they were making for their dolls. We liked these, but decided that we wanted to make our faces just a little different.

Brynwood Needleworks - Doll Face

Well, you'll never hear me bragging about my painting skills - unless I'm painting walls - so I was a little nervous about painting faces for little dolls. I surely didn't want to frighten any children with my dolls, so I painted a few before I was happy enough to ask our group for their feedback. 

"Do you think she looks scary?", I asked. The response was a generous, "Cute!" or "She's sweet", so I kept working on my first doll in the "Big Girl" design.

Brynwood Needleworks - Dressed In Joy Big Girl Doll

Here's my first Big Girl Dolly. Her "outfit" matches a dress I made in the same fabric. After she was completely assembled, I added yarn hair. 

I sewed the "part" in her hair on my sewing machine to hold all the yarn strands together, and then hand stitched the hair to the doll head on the part line. Once it was securely attached, I decided where her little pigtails would go and sewed the hair at that point, too. 

When I was all finished, I giggled. Although I know I have a long, long, LONG way to go before I'll call myself a "doll maker", I'm happy that a small child, who may never have seen a doll before, might love and play with those I make.

Brynwood Needleworks - Doll Faces

I painted four more faces that could dry overnight, so I'll be able to assemble a few more today. I decided that all their faces would be a little different, and each mouth begins as a small heart. When I pointed out my heart-shaped mouths to the other dressmakers in our group, some said they liked (and might use) the idea. (Yay!)

I'll share more dolls with you as I make them, along with the matching dresses I'm working on. You'll just have to wait a couple of days. Tag is up tomorrow, you know!

"Dressed In Joy" Dress Update...

Dressed In Joy - Brynwood Needleworks l-r: Donna L., Linda L., Linda and Jill B.

I just completed two days of unadulterated fun! When I arrived at Lake Nona's Village Walk Town Center, Linda and Linda II (from our Clermont - Heritage Hills "Dresses For Love" work group), and Jill B. (who came from Palm Harbor) with her friend and our newest member, Brenda were waiting for me. They unloaded my Explorer and brought all our dresses inside.

We were honored and proud to contribute TWO HUNDRED dresses!

Dressed In Joy and Dressed In Hope Members Meeting For The First Time

We met the ladies from "Dressed In Hope" (which is our local connection to "Dress A Girl Around The World") and learned more about how their program works, and areas where we can "tweak" our dresses and dolls. They also explained how the dresses are distributed and how we fit into their goals.

Karen from Dressed In Hope Explains Alternate Dolls

Karen from "Dressed In Hope" explained that we can also contribute knitted or crocheted dolls in lieu of the fabric versions. We just want to choose "cuddly" animals for our dolls. You know...bunnies, kittens, dogs, teddies...not fish or squid or...well, you get the idea. In future, we'll include a doll for every dress we contribute.

Joyce from Dressed In Hope, Painting Doll Heads

I caught a photo of Joyce, their official face painter. I also managed to get a pattern for the larger dolls, which I'll scan today and add to our "Dressed In Joy" FaceBook page under the "files" tab.

Dressed In Joy Meets Dressed In Hope. Monica, Donna and Karen With Our Dresses.

Monica and Karen - Ambassadors with "Dressed In Hope" - were so excited to receive our dresses. We got them two hundred dresses closer to their one thousand dress goal for 2015! 

They looked at every single dress we donated and were oooh-ing and ahhh-ing at all the lovely designs. If you are in any way a part of our group - either through dressmaking, dollmaking, contributions or cheerleading - you can be proud your part in our accomplishment.

Dressed In Joy Members, Linda L., Linda, Donna, Jill and Brenda With Our Dresses

There were many photographs taken, and I've shared most of them in our FaceBook group already. I wish that every one of you involved in our effort could have attended. It really was so very much fun.

I want to thank all the participants in our group for being a part of our shared goal. Without you, this effort would have been a simple dream...my wish unfulfilled. Each of you made it a reality. 

These dresses are deeply appreciated by me, but will be one treasured gift for every one of the two hundred little girls we will likely never meet. You're all generous angels who unselfishly provided joy and hope for so many children. My heart is full and I'm humbled beyond measure. God Bless You All.

DRESSED IN JOY - VALENTINE DRESS DRIVE

Now...I learned a long time ago that, if you sit around on your laurels, all you get is crushed laurels. So, I'm going to set our next dress drive deadline now. 

This time, we're going to shoot for THREE HUNDRED dresses to be delivered in February. I'm calling this our Valentine Dress Drive, and our deadline is February 13, 2016. Please mark your calendars and set your personal goals. 

You can begin making dresses any time between now and then. You can save them to send after the first of the year, or you can send them to me anytime and they will count toward this drive.

PLUS!

I'm going to make ONE unique Brynwood Clutch Wallet especially for this drive. The dressmaker who makes the most dresses by the deadline will WIN the wallet! I'll be creating this wallet in the next couple of weeks, and will post photos as soon as it's done.

Are you ready? Here we go again.