Years ago I used to make rag dolls and at one stage had like an assembly line when I made them as I'd do the sewing up of a number of dolls at one time. That would give me a supply of sewn up dolls which just needed stuffing and dressing. One day, one of my girls saw one of these 'shells' of a rag doll and commented that it was a doll's skin! Probably a pretty accurate description of the unfinished doll.
Anyway, the other day I volunteered to do some donation pick-ups for the Knitting Charity I belong to as the 2 locations were a short distance away from where I live. I'm just a very small cog in a rather large wheel but it's great to be involved. The needy in 'Knitting for Brisbane's Needy', refers to a diverse group of people. Some lost everything in the floods, some are in nursing homes, we knit items for premature babies, homeless people which can include whole families, people living on low incomes, children in care, grandparents who are raising grandchildren, chronically ill people, people with disabilities, we've sent items to NZ, bushfire victims in other parts of Australia, cyclone victims in FNQ, Hope community which helps those who have been in jail as well as those with mental illnesses, dog and cat refuges (blankets and dog coats) as well as dog coats for the dogs of homeless people. As well as knit, some ladies sew clothes for children in Aboriginal communities and we also make and fill toiletry bags. The latter we can't keep up the demand...it is very great need. People when they hear about the work we do can be very generous. So talking about generosity I'll come back to talking about my 'pick ups'...
At the first one, Sharon gave me 15 knitted teddies that were 'skins'...they need sewing up, stuffing and faces embroidered on them. Sharon had found these unfinished bears in an op (thrift) shop. Her neighbour also donated 46 crocheted squares. So a bit of work to do there...such a wonderful donation!
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| Teddy 'skins' lol! |
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| Crocheted squares from Sharon's neighbour |
The next pick up was 3 bags of donations. One bag was full of pretty pastel coloured beanies in small sizes. The other 2 BIG bags contained a large number of knee/lap rugs. I discovered that I knew the husband of the second donor, a lovely lady called Pam. He is a retired principal and a real gentleman. Pam was delighted to 'off load' all these beautiful items as she said now she had room to start making another lot! So at the next Knit and Natter I'll hand all these items over with possibly some finished teddies instead of 'teddy skins'! lol
A dear friend of my late parents rang me the other day and during our chat, Mary again asked me if I knew any organisations or individuals who might be able to use her rather large stash of fabrics. For many years, Mary was a dressmaker and she made many frocks for me through my early years including my first ball gown (I took over sewing my own clothes from Grade 9 but wasn't ready to tackle a ballgown at 17). Mary is 87 now and it's really starting to bug her that she has so much fabric, so I promised I would see what I could do. The lady who runs 'Sisters of Stitch' has lots of contacts so I sent her an email describing the situation and explaining that the fabrics are mostly dress weight rather than patchwork type cottons etc. Bingo!! Judie answered my email straight away and knew exactly who would take the fabrics and what could be done with them. So now I just have to organise to pick up the donations and deliver them to Judie's place...unused, unwanted items finding a new home! Good feeling...
That is so fabulous! It's good you know the who and where these items can get good homes. I'd hate to see any of it end up in the trash heap thats for sure.
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