Women and their friends...

Armchair philosophers and psychologists are quick to generalize the differences between  men and women, aren't they?

"Women are more social than men."

"Men are thinkers, women are emoters."

"Men don't talk about their private lives, women spill their guts to anyone who will listen"

Though there is probably a grain of truth in all of these statements, we are more alike than we think. It may be that our real differences are in the way we communicate and relate to each other as humans. Part of that difference stems from our genetics, but most of it from our environment, our upbringing and our life experiences.

For instance, I have noticed from my own experience, that most women have more friends than their male counterparts. Is it our female nature or is it that friendship is more important to us...i.e. we "need" people or we need what they give us? Or is it simply that men just define "friendship" differently?

One of my favorite lines from Tombstone is a classic about friendship...

Doc begins coughing violently.]

Jack Johnson: Doc, you ought to be in bed. What the hell you doin' this for, anyway?

Doc Holliday: Wyatt Earp is my friend.

Jack Johnson: Hell, I've got lots of friends.

Doc Holliday: I don't.

I have many friends that I have collected over the years. Some have come in and out of my life like feathers floating in the wind, landing on me just when I needed it. Others have hung in there for all the bad stuff, bringing healing and grace to my tired and hurting soul.  Others have popped in after a long absence bringing joy in their wake and it's as if we were never separated.

Most of my friends fall into groups that like the same things I like - go figure! I have known one group of gals since Dave and I got married.  We have a bond that sharing years of life experiences (marriage, births, deaths, kids, etc.) creates. I have made new friends through my love of knitting in the past couple of years.  I have a few close friends whom I met in my working years and with whom I stay in touch, some from as far back as my Berkeley days. And I have a small group of precious friends who would give their souls to help me if I were down and out - they know everything about me - stuff I DON"T write about!! 

My kid's are my friends (when I'm not trying to "mother" them), now that they are adults. Amazingly, they still like to be around us. My daughter painted a picture for me on Mother's day..."If I didn't have you as a Mom, I'd chose you as a friend."  It melted my heart - we'll see if she still feels that way when she has to change my diapers!  

Some friends are only friends for a season. I am okay with that. There was a time when I would bemoan a lost friendship, but in my wiser old age, I think about what they brought into my life at that time - even the short flickers of friendship over the years have left indelible markers in my memory. I have learned the hard way that even the closest friendships require periodic cultivation or they whither like grapes left on the vine too long.

What I really love is that we never lose the capacity to make new friends. Life is an evolving series of circumstances and experiences and if we reach out, friendships can spring from the most ordinary aspects of our lives.  I met my old friend Rommie trying on lab coats in my "things not to do with lab animals" days...I met Peg in an apartment laundry room...my love of sewing and writing brought Suzan into my life...I hired Kerri...I saw Gayleen in a salon window, walked in, made an appointment and now we are friends...I struck up a conversation with a neighbor which turned into an invitation to a party...I love the people who follow my blog and leave their kind words...and so on and so on, etcetera, etcetera.

And today, I will be golfing with my hubby's friends and their wives - who knows what new friendship might be lurking in the sand traps (cause that's where I'll be!!)

and so many more....

"Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies" Aristotle.

Laurel. Cherish your friends. 

Sewing for a purpose...

Saturday was my third Dress a Girl Around the World SEWFEST at Bayside, and I am hooked - hooked on this ministry, hooked on the people who come to sew, hooked on creating these little dresses for girls everywhere! We learn a little more about this amazing organization each time we come and how it actually benefits young children in some of the worst countries in the world...places where women and little girls are routinely abused.

I hadn't really thought about the notion that when predators see a little girl in torn and dirty clothing, they assume that no one cares about her and thus she is a prime target for potential abuse. I, along with thousands of women around the country who care, want to change that.  And if a new little dress puts a smile on a girl and lifts her self image, then I am ALL IN!

I love the hearts of the ladies who come to the sewfests.  They love to sew, of course, but you can't help but feel like you are part of something special amidst the humming of machines, the laughter, the oohs and ahhs as women show their newest creations. I love is that you don't have to be an expert seamstress to join in...you just have to care.  I love seeing young teenagers show up to help - they iron, assemble, organize and seem to have a ball doing it.

Yesterday, we had several "newbies" at the monthly sewfest. 

It was my pleasure to come alongside Teddy to guide her through the simple pattern.

 

She heard about the Dress a Girl sewfest through a knitting friend and headed right for the store to get a new sewing machine...just for this ministry...you have to love that!
 

 

Teddy's first dress...I hate to sound all schmaltzy, but it gave me more joy just to watch her.

She may be blessing a little girl with her work, but I was so blessed by her joyful spirit .
 

 

My table mate Sue also helped a women who had come for the first time...

she was just learning to sew.

 

 

 

Our Bayside coordinator Sue spends a lot of time cutting,

sorting and generally getting the fabrics ready for the kit assembly.

There are piles and piles of little "soon to be dresses" in all stages of readiness. 

I volunteered to bring home a whole bin of fabrics to serge up the back seams,

before they are put in kits.

 

 

 

My homework...

 

 

I have added to my running total of dresses this month.

When I sew a dress I try to imagine what my own granddaughters might like to wear. 

The creativity that you are allowed in this simple dress pattern is limitless!

 

 

I had to add some red trim to this one...it was starting to look like a

University of Michigan cheerleader outfit with all that bright blue and yellow!! 

 

 

I love making the tiny dresses....

 

 

Details, details...

 

  

Who DOESN'T like Mary Englebright???

 

 

 

 

 

I tell you sincerely, it makes my heart sing!

 

 

Laurel. Dressing Girls Around the World, one little dress at a time:)

A Dress for every little girl...

Young volunteer modeling a recent "creation"!

I love how God subtly leads you someplace unexpected, even on the "evil" Internet. While perusing a local church site, I stumbled upon a ministry opportunity that caught my eye: "Dress a Girl Around the World". The opportunity was to gather with other women who like to sew and make dresses for young girls in impoverished countries.  The idea behind the ministry is that every little girl should own at least one dress. Now there's something I can get behind!

This awesome ministry is a division of Hope 4 Women International, a non-profit organization whose goal is to bring dignity to women around the world, and for every girl to know she is loved and respected from childhood. Volunteers around the country get together on a regular basis and create dresses made from something a ubiquitous as a pillowcase.  Using a little elastic, some double fold bias tape, perhaps some lace and embellishments, you can make the cutest little dresses.  It's quick, it's creative, and it's very rewarding, not to mention having fun and fellowship with other volunteers... Imagine a Saturday morning in a big room filled with laughter and chatting, the hum of sewing machines, the laughter of teens at the assembling and ironing stations -  it was almost like being at an old fashion quilting bee. 

The donated materials for each dress are put into zip lock bags.  Volunteers cut the pillow cases, fabrics, elastic and bias tapes. You add the embellishments if you feel extra creative...

The bias tape is sewn around the armholes and form a little strap

that ties the dress at the shoulders with little bows.

I loved this fabric!

Pockets are added to each dress, not only because they are cute,

but because a new pair of panties are slipped into each pocket. How cool is that!

Hard for me to pass up making a "pink" dress!

The dress hems and casings for the elastic are already folded in the kits,

so all you have to do it sew the hem...I used a decorative stitch on my machine for this hem.



How cute is this???

Or this???!!!

one of the many volunteers showing off her creation!

It was fun to see other people's creativity...

The "Sew Fest" lasted for four hours and I was able to finish two dresses. 

 I started a third, but I had to bring it home to finish. 

I grabbed a couple of kits to work on at home until the next month's Sew fest.

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the children of Africa.  I see the pictures of the little girls and I weep. This ministry is a way for me to actually DO something, rather than just watch their plight on the television. And God knew it was right up my alley!

Check out the Dress a Girl around the World website, and if you're in the Sacramento area, why not join me and the dozens of other women (men are welcome too!!) who want to sew to make a difference in a little girl's life. 

 

The next "sew Fest is scheduled for

Saturday , December 1, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
(THANKS SUE FOR THE CORRECTION!!)

Bayside Church

Room 418

 

or contact Susan Bushnell

Area Coordinator

at sueb@redshift.com

 



or Sharon Miranda,

Northern California Representative

at mmiranda627@gmail.com

 

 

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