Sewing for the soul

Taking what you are good at and using it as a tool to help others. In any small way you can.. that's one thing that I think all people should do. It adds fulfillment to your life. Satisfies the soul. In my experience it has.

With all that people have going on in this day in age, people forget that. Or they just don't have time.
I understand the time aspect. I am a busy mama. 5 wonderful kids that help to occupy my time as well as a husband, 2 dogs, a house, sewing etc etc etc.. you know what I mean. Juggling time is a lost art ;)

Well.. anyways.. in my "free time" I like to quilt. I am a beginner quilter, but have intermediate sewing skills so I think they both work to my advantage with  the kind of quilting I do.
My sisters I and I, along with a great friend of ours, decided to use our talents and abilities to help others and founded a not for profit mission called Enraptured Embrace. Our intent is to help provide a sense of comfort to those suffering the loss of a loved one. To do that we offer quilts and pillows made from their loved ones clothing, free of charge.
We think of these quilts as a stepping stone in the grieving process and hope that they offer the bereaved a sense of love and comfort.

Our first request came from a woman grieving the loss of her daughter. She was well into her second trimester in her pregnancy when she found out her daughter had passed. She gave us what clothes she had gathered during her pregnancy and we made her a beautiful memento. Something we hope she cherishes for a lifetime. Something we hope will help ease the pain that comes with the loss. Something small but filled with love.

 We left on buttons, snaps and little duckie flaps. We also added in the bodice of two adorable dresses. The back is made from the stretchier fabrics and the front is made of all woven fabrics. Our good friend and Enraptured Embrace Volunteer, Mandy, hand binded the entire quilt. Beautiful end result!

To see more, learn about what and why we do what we do or even send a request PLEASE visit our blog :)
http://enrapturedembrace.blogspot.com/

Thanks for Reading!!

Inspired to sew for ME!

I am a hippie chick. I think it's in my jeans (pun. ha ha ha) because my style is similar to that of my sisters and my mother.
I am a HUGE fan of the hippie clothing store Soul-Flower. Huge huge. They are pricey but it is well made so when I can afford to .. I buy... but when I can't afford to... I sew!!

This scoop neck, backless hoodie made me squeal inside. A MUST HAVE in my book.. in as many colors as possible! My checkbook this month though.. not allowing it. So plan B.. copy copy copy..lol.

This was my inspiration (by Soul-Flower)


and this is my version. PLEASE keep in mind that this is my first copy. Perfect for me.. but far from what I would call a done deal. I have plans for more of these.

I changed the top to fit my taste a little more.. I am not fond of elastic in my clothing so I decided to omit that back elastic and in it's place I added a drawstring with extra long ties. The ties are long enough to tie in many different ways allowing for creativity in the wear of the top. I like that the BeSt.

                                                     To save from using my nice fabrics on a proto type I recycled a jersey knit sheet from the thrift store (pre washed of course..lol)

So!! What do you think??