We all love to sew but sometimes you want to switch up your sewing projects beyond your own clothes, quilts, or placemats. What do you do? Look for opportunities to share you sewing skills with others in need.
Donating your time and talents is a selfless act. While your donation makes a direct impact in another’s life, the benefits to you are just as important. Giving is in our nature and those that do experience a sense of personal satisfaction and feelings of self-worth. These feelings can result in lower blood pressure, lower depression rates, and longer life expectancy. Additionally, research has found that donating activates the pleasure center in your brain and results in improved happiness, joy, and contentment.
ASG Chapters are known for their charitable sewing nature and almost always have numerous charitable sew-ins, events, and more that are geared towards community needs. However, if you either can’t participate, or would like to spend time doing more, there are myriad national charity organizations that welcome sewn items. It’s just a matter of connecting, learning about their needs, and matching up your sewing skills to help fulfill the need.
Below is a list of some (by no means all) national and international organizations that welcome sewn items.
- American Hero Quilts: patriotic quilts for wounded military veterans.
- Binky Patrol: blankets and quilts for children who need comfort.
- Capes for Kids: super-hero capes for children in shelters.
- Charlotte’s Purpose: Wrapped in Love project for burial gowns and layettes for stillborn infants made from wedding gowns.
- Days for Girls: bags and hygiene supplies for menstruating girls around the world.
- Doll Adoption Program: dolls for children in shelters.
- Dress a Girl Around the World: dresses for girls in need.
- Giving Doll: handmade dolls for hospitalized children.
- Little Dresses for Africa: dresses for girls in Africa.
- Newborns in Need: blankets, quilts, bibs, etc. for newborn babies.
- Operation First Response: backpacks and cot quilts for hospitalized wounded soldiers.
- Prayers & Squares: quilts for those in need of comfort.
- Project Linus: blankets and quilts for kids in need.
- Project Smile: stuffed animals for children in need.
- Quilts for Kids: quilts for children in need.
- Quilts of Honor: patriotic quilts for active military and veterans.
- Quilts of Valor: patriotic quilts awarded to military veterans.
- Ryan’s Case for Smiles: pillowcases for hospitalized children with serious illnesses.
- Sew Much Comfort: adaptive clothing for injured military veterans’ needs.
- Sew Powerful Purses: purses to hold hygiene supplies for girls in Zambia.
- Sleeping Bag Project: sleeping bags for the homeless.
- Stitchin’ for Kids: sewn gifts for children with extended hospital stays.
- Threads of Love: clothing and blankets for premature and sick infants.
- Traveling Pillowcases: pillowcases for kids in shelters.
Think Local
No matter how small your community, it’s very likely that you can put your sewing expertise to use in a charitable way. Call your local animal shelter to see if they can use pet beds, blankets, scarves, or leashes. Contact a local hospital to offer specialty bags for post-surgery patients, blankets or quilts for dialysis and chemo patients, or even drawstring bags for patients to keep their possessions nearby while bedridden.
If you have a children’s hospital, think not only of blankets and quilts, but toys, stuffed animals, and accessories to keep kids entertained during long stays.
Hospice groups are often in need of colorful gowns to add cheer to patients’ days—easy projects for even beginners.
Homeless shelters and those for domestic abuse victims offer sewing opportunities galore, as often the residents have very little to nothing of their own. A sewn shirt, pants or dress, or even a tote could be a life changer, especially if there might be a job interview down the road to recovery. Or simple survival items like hats, mittens, and scarves can be lifesavers.
The Basics
Sewing projects for charity can be something you do alone or with your group of ASG friends so there’s a social aspect to it as well. Of course, more hands make the task not only more fun, but also faster.
- Choose quality fabrics and avoid the temptation to use up “ugly” fabrics in your stash. People in need, for whatever reason, need to feel appreciated and dignified.
- If you’re making large quantities of items, note that some manufacturers may donate items for use in the charitable sewing efforts. It never hurts to ask.
- Be sure to double check the rules for each organization regarding their accepted donations. For example, many do not accept items from homes with smokers, or those tainted with pet hair, due to potential allergies. Other groups specify fabric types for donated items, or the construction process (i.e. no tied quilts, etc.). Some groups are in need of things of a specific size, for either garments, blankets or quilts.
- Some organizations may have deadlines for donations that correspond with things like international shipping schedules, so be sure to double check how they need to receive goods.
- Choose items to make as a group that can be broken into smaller tasks for assembly line construction. For example, on pillowcases, one person can cut trim strips, another can serge seams, etc.
However you choose to share your sewing skills, whether it’s on your own, with an organized event, remember that your creativity and talents are just as beneficial to you as they are to others.
~Linda Griepentrog is the owner of G Wiz Creative Services and she does writing, editing and designing for companies in the sewing, crafting and quilting industries. In addition, she escorts fabric shopping tours to Hong Kong. She lives at the Oregon Coast with her husband Keith, and three dogs, Yohnuh, Abby, and Lizzie. Contact her at .
