The Part Where You Make My Heart Swell

I went over to my friend, Katy's, house last night to drop off my pillow case dresses for their impending Haiti trip and asked her if she'd gotten any dresses in the mail from blog readers. The whole drive over I was wondering how much of a response there had been after sharing this post about making dresses for girls at an orphanage over there.

The part of me that tries not to get my hopes up was going to be okay with five or ten dresses tops. I know everyone wants to help but life is busy and suddenly you're out of time, etc. Imagine my heart skipping a beat when Katy told me she'd been getting package after package and had about 65 handmade pillow case dresses in her house as of yesterday! SIXTY FIVE! Plus the four I brought over. ALMOST SEVENTY!!!

I have never been more proud of and thankful for you guys! You are creative, you are generous, you are thoughtful, you are challenging, and you are compassionate. I appreciate so much that you saw a need you could meet and responded. It's admirable.

I asked Katy if there was still time to sneak a few more dresses in before they left. She told me she could take any dresses that came in before the 17th of June. That's next Friday.

Here are a small sampling of some of the dresses that were sent in. If you were wanting to contribute and can get those dresses in the mail by Monday you can still add to the fantastically beautiful pile.

A note from Katy:

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!  I just wanted to say thanks to all the lovely ladies that sent in dresses for the girls in Haiti. As of right now, we have 65 dresses to take with us. That is amazing! That means 65 smiles J

All of the dresses are so creative and charming.  Some were from vintage pillowcases, others had pockets added and even one was made from two dish towels.

I was also amazed that ladies were sending thank you cards with their dresses. They were thanking us for allowing them to make the dresses. Wow! That is really amazing, these ladies spent their time, materials and money to ship the dresses and they were thanking us. Never ceases to amaze me the passion others have for sharing their creativity and love.

I can’t wait to share pictures after our trip of all the smiles that these dresses brought to the girls of Hinche, Haiti.

Hugs,

Katy

 

Your encouraging words, enthusiasm, and retweets were all helpful in making this happen! I'm so grateful for the chance to work with you guys and Katy's team to make a little difference in the lives of some special kids.

* An extra special thanks to Stephanie Dunn, Jamie of Baubles and Bits, Hello Merch, Melissa S. Rauseo, Deb Runcimen, Charity Richards, Simone Campbell, Tate of Tate Creates, Linda Boerlin, Alison Gray, J. Vaudo, Natalie Hayn, and Kim Desmond for the lovely dresses sent in.

 

xoxo,

Rachel

 

 

Comments

[Tamara]

this is so cool!

[Kristie Lee]

That's absolutely adorable. Great idea.
http://kristieleelove.wordpress.com/

[Emily]

What a great cause! I am so glad I found your blog as I am loving! You have a new follower :) Have a lovely weekend!

www.mrscapretta.com
Recipes Fashion Marriage

[Kimbercrafts]

How exciting! I've been so eager to hear about the turnout for the pillowcase dress collection. I can't wait to see photos! :)

[Maggie]

That is such great news. I'm don't have a sewing machine, but as soon as I saw this blog post the first time, I thought what a great way to donate something that is so important yet inexpensive. Can't wait to hear about your friends trip!

[Monika]

This is such a great cause and those dresses are so adorable. I cant wait to see pictures of your friends trip to Haiti. Many Blessings :)

[sécia]

I love that black and pink one with the pockets!

♥ sécia
www.petiteinsanities.blogspot.com

[Jaime]

I LOVED doing this, I am so grateful for people like Katy! It feels so good to be able to use my machine to make something for someone else like that. It put a big smile on my face :) Thanks for passing the word along Rachel, and allowing us to participate! It is something I will remember for the rest of my life.

xoxo
Jaime

[Suzzie V]

wow. I wish I had known about this sooner so I could contribute. What a great way to help. Can't wait to see pictures of the Haiti trip!

[puppyloveprincess]

what a fantastic project! and the dresses are really supercute, too!

[Honor]

I happen to have one made and will mail it out on Monday. Thank you!

[Mandy @ Miss Indie]

Wow this is so amazing! And those are the cutest little dresses!

[rubyellen]

super amazing! readers really are the best!!! i am so happy for all the happy girls that will benefit from the labor of love that you (and others) have put into it. if only there were more time, i would have whipped out some too.

[THE-LOUDMOUTH]

I'd love to contribute, but I'm not good with sewing and such... is she collecting donations as well?

[racheldenbow]

The-Loudmouth,

I'm sure they'd be happy to use any donations towards off setting the cost of hauling them over to Haiti with them! You can e-mail Katy for details (her address, etc.) at did2613@hotmail.com

Thanks so much!

[Kacie]

This is very cool. So inspiring!

Kacie
http://www.acollectionofpassions.blogspot.com/

[ana]

I was so happy to hear there was still some time to make/send a dress. I mailed the dress I made this morning!! What a great cause!

[MODERN SOUTHERNER]

Wow! I wish I knew how to sew and my sewing machine (which I have yet to learn how to use, obviously, was working). What a beautiful idea! I definitely would like to participate in a future drive. Best of luck to your friend in her travels! How wonderful it will be to see the happy faces on those sweet little girls!

[Gatehouse Academy reviews]

Nice dresses!!This was so adorable :)thnaks for sharing...