People to make dresses for Little Dresses for Africa

The Girl Scout troop made quite a few hearts, and since they were doing such dedicated work for a great cause, Kletjian cut her studio rate in half and donated the difference in their name to Buckets of Hope, an adjunct of Little Dresses for Africa. Buckets of Hope provides buckets containing sugar, salt, oil, and mosquito nets.Kletjian is also putting together kits to help the cause. In each kit she's putting cut fabric, ribbon, and anything else needed to make a dress except thread. Each kit will have its own unique fabric and ribbon. "You can donate the dress you make or keep it," she said. She's selling the kits for $20 and donating 15 percent of the proceeds to help pay for shipping the dresses to Africa. The shipping costs are the biggest stumbling block to getting these dresses to Africa. The rest of the kit's costs will replace Kletjian's fabric and ribbon. She does not plan to make any profit on the kits.
Kletjian has also set aside other opportunities for people to make dresses for Little Dresses for Africa. Her upcoming classes will sew new dresses, and she's visiting Old Colony Montessori School, where she hopes that she can make 12 dresses and hearts with the students there. "I would have liked to go to other schools, but this came up so quickly," Kletjian said. "Maybe next year. I'll probably keep my focus on this project for around Valentine's Day, because it's about giving love and giving back."But since the need is ongoing and O'Neill isn't leaving for Africa until April, Kletjian is running free workshops on March 3rd and 4th at her studio on making dresses. "It's not just for kids," she said. "Mothers and daughters, or whatever combination, can come in."Folk who want to sew but can't come in on those days can still help. "Anyone who wants to sew can make a dress. If they get it to me by March 25th, I'll make sure it gets into the April shipment. You don't need to do a kit. Your own fabric — it has to be cotton for the climate there — would work fine. But all dresses need to be new."
For folk who want to help but not sew, Kletjian suggested donations to help with shipping costs, or buying underwear from size 3 to 10. The need will continue past O'Neill's next trip to Africa, so Kletjian will bring kits to the student fashion show that benefits Hingham Public Library on May 12th for people to buy and make dresses. She'll also highlight some of the dresses in the show.