September Sewathon and Fundraising

I love sewing.  I like making quilts, bags, and purses.  And the mission of  Sew Powerful - to combat extreme poverty by creating local jobs, providing vocational training for adults, and producing purposeful products like feminine hygiene kits, school uniforms, and soap - resonates with me.  After 9 years and over 300 purses, I’m realizing that making purses and my meager monthly financial support isn’t enough.  The bags that I and all the other pursemakers create and ship are worthless if there isn’t money for what must go inside the purses!  This year’s goal is 33,000 purses as Sew Powerful expands its work in Zambia outside of the capital city Lusaka and into Livingston.  

So I dug out this picture from 2016 and decided to put on my fundraising panties. I’ve avoided fundraising before because people I know are so generous - we all have causes we support! But as I began to think about how important the materials inside the purse are, I realize the necessity of additional funds. 

In preparation for the Sewathon (rules state we are not to get started before September 1), I’ve sorted through some fabrics and grouped them by accompanying  thread color.  My rotary cutter has a new blade, my machine has been cleaned and oiled, and there’s a nice new needle.   My goal is 24 purses during the month.  Perhaps a few more.

An essential part of the purse program, besides the obvious menstrual hygiene supplies, is a note of encouragement urging the young ladies to focus on their education and school all month long.  I’ve written so many notes and discovered that they slowed down my purse making.  At the same time some groups of scrapbookers started making cards.  For a while I was sending my purses without any notes and asking the organizers to add notes to my purses.  But no more!  My wonderful neighbor Lynne doesn’t sew, but she loves to embellish cards and write notes.  She has even enlisted her granddaughters to work on these notes with her.  

Using materials provided by the Sew Powerful organizers, I made these double-sided handouts.  The printer person at my local Office Depot quoted me a price of  $75.  When I recoiled and mentioned this wa for a fundraiser, he worked hard to get my cost down to $24!  

Amazed and gobsmacked - my two adjectives since I started this fundraising.  Want to keep track with me?  Here’s the link: https://sewathon.org/dashboard?donation=8d5ed320-855d-11f0-9672-e78c9b23ffd4&utm_medium=email&utm_source=raisely&utm_content=Donation%20Notification&utm_term=ed72faa4-b981-44dd-a27b-879b7d656df0

A huge thanks to John - always so supportive - and my sister.  And to the mysterious  Virginia! 

First Work, Then Play

 I know what you’re thinking: all of what I do in the studio is play.  Okay, true!  So even though I loved making these 12 purses for August, it was play,  not work.  September I am committing to 24 purses instead of 12.  And these 24 will all be for the September Sew Powerful Purse-a-Thon.  Since I technically can’t start on these 24 until September, that means some real play time in the studio

I thought I would start a new big bag but then came to my senses.  One of my favorite bag designers Sara Lawson of Sew Sweetness has a pretty sweet web site that includes some free patterns. The Persimmon Dumpling Pouch is one of these freebies and comes in three sizes.  So I began to experiment.  It’s a clever pattern that goes together nicely.  I’m eager for my walking partner to test drive these pouches made from Cecilia’s drapes!  And I also made myself a new Run-Around bag, perfect for phones and keys.

                      My grunge project is coming along.  Here’s a process photo.

The rest of my play will include a studio clean up and organization and getting ready for the purse-a-thon.  Sewists like me are brilliant at making purses.  And Sew Powerful is expanding its efforts to include Livingston as well as Lusaka, Zambia’s capital city.   The first year I made purses there were 2000.  Now?  This year's goal is over 30,000 purses.  But here’s the issue: it costs $10 to  equipment each purse with underwear, soap, and reusable pads. So, this Purse-a-thon is a fundraiser!  

I have a hard time with fundraisers.  My friends and family are very generous and support so many great causes that I don’t like to ask for support for what I do.  But it’s necessary because the need is so great. This is my first year participating, and already, thanks to my husband and my sister, I have achieved my goal of $500.  I’m a lucky girl surrounded by lovely people.