Little Dresses for Africa
 

https://www.nancyzieman.com/blog/nancys-corner/little-dresses-for-africa-sewing-tutorial/

I have a friend who spends a few months a year volunteering in Uganda. He helps distribute clean water systems and teaches the people there how to use them. He also helps do repair work on buildings and volunteers at the orphanage.
He put out an appeal on Facebook to his friends to collect dresses for the girls there. He said they have never owned a dress of their own.
I found this pattern (the Lillian Dress) on Nancy Zieman's website (linked above).
These are so much fun to sew; especially since my 3 daughters are grown and I'm not a grandma yet.
Here are two of the three I have sewn so far.

great work for a wonderful cause. love the bright fabrics.
remember it's super hot down there, and dark colors absorb heat.
it's a fun way to use up your fabrics and do good at the same time

Good for you and your friend who volunteers. The little pillowcase dresses are cute, but having grown up in the midsouth heat, I think Miss Lillian's dress design with the cap sleeves is a perfect design. Little shoulders get sunburned easily. I am part of a group that sews for Baptist Missions in the Congo, but we are more involved in sewing baby gowns and rolling bandages. A few of the ladies made these dresses last year to deliver to a lady who delivered them to a mission in South America.

How wonderful that Nancy Zieman has made these patterns available free, even giving after she has passed on. There are also patterns and instructions for making Little Britches for the little boys.

I saw an announcement on the news that the Ebola virus has reared it's ugly head again in the Congo, already claiming innocent lives. If I were independantly wealthy, I would be paying for water wells all over those villages and in refugee camps.

Cute dresses! This is something zi’ve been wanting to sew . How ling did it take you to make one with this pattern?

So pretty. Great cause.

How cute these are! I'm sure they will be loved.

Very pretty dresses.

thank you for the link to the pattern. The photo of the children in the dresses is awesome.

Back in maybe 2006 or so I made Dresses for Little Africa and it was a fun project...made about 50. I remember hearing somewhere that they receive so many small and medium size dresses, but almost none in larger sizes which they are in desperate need of. Also shorts for boys are much in need.
I've also done the pillow case challenge, and am now doing Project Linus.
This makes me wonder how much fabric I have that can be made into dresses or pillow cases again.

they are so pretty