Sewing for a cause: Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

The wonderful thing about sewists is that they love to give.  I joined a Facebook group that is dedicated to sewing for some charities on the Pine Ridge Rez in South Dakota.  It is called Sew for Kids Volunteers.  Reading about the poverty and standard of living on the reservation is very humbling.  Right now they are trying to gather clothes for kids for back to school, so the group was trying to gather shorts and skirts for the kids.

I was short on time, so I decided to just scour the kids handmade closets for clothes that they didn’t want to wear or no longer fit, focusing on seldom worn clothing.

The boy prefers to wear elastic waist exercise shorts, which I don’t make.  I did, however, make him some very nice cargo shorts last summer.  He didn’t wear them more than a few times and they don’t fit him anymore.  I made up an extra shirt, but otherwise kept the outfits together and these are going off to the boys.

They wanted skirts for the girls, but I instead had dresses that I made for testing or just didn’t get worn more than once or twice.  There were also some shoes that went with the dresses that didn’t get worn more than a few times, so those are going with, as well.

I hope they fit some of the kids.  My kids are fairly thin, and the reservation has some obesity issues, so I hope they can find some kids that will be able to wear them.  I am going to make some items specifically for them, as well.  I just need to get a plan in mind.

Next time I teach the sewing class at church, I will make sure we select a project for the reservation.

If you have some extra sewing time, or some gently used clothing for kids you are willing to part with, please send them along.  Join the group or read their blog to see different options for helping out.  As with all charities…every little bit helps.