Polka dots, checks, plaids, florals, stripes and lots of heart go into making tiny dresses - Lansing State Journal |
- Polka dots, checks, plaids, florals, stripes and lots of heart go into making tiny dresses - Lansing State Journal
- 22 Best Velvet Holiday Dresses 2019 - Teen Vogue
- Nov 23 | Designer Dresses Sample Sale | Huntington - Patch.com
| Posted: 21 Nov 2019 03:00 PM PST CLOSE  In the past five years, she's made more than 2,000 dresses, and then she gives them away. Matthew Dae Smith, Lansing State Journal HOLT -- Nine Meijer paper grocery bags line a wall in Linda Mahan's basement sewing room. They are filled with colorful little sundresses – 225 in all. Their colors span the rainbow and come in a dizzying array of stripes, floral designs, checks and other patterns. Mahan is sending them to impoverished girls in Haiti through a mission of the Mount Hope United Methodist Church. The same church already took a batch of 125 to send to Zimbabwe. "I wanted something to do. It just seemed like a good combination," she said. "I want to sew, and it made me feel good that some little girl will have something pretty to wear." She's been on a sewing frenzy for the past five years. Her dresses — an estimated 2,000 — have made their way to Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Tanzania and other African countries, and even to rural Kentucky and Detroit. Sewing has become a lifeline as she deals with serious health issues affecting both her and her husband, Robert, 75, who has Parkinson's disease. Mahan, 73, underwent surgery, radiation and chemotherapy for breast cancer three years ago, then had two knee replacements. About five years ago, she watched a show by the late TV host Nancy Zieman on PBS' "Sewing with Nancy." Zieman talked about "Little Dresses for Africa," a nonprofit promoting simple dresses made from pillowcases or small pieces of fabric. Mahan wanted to recapture her love of sewing that she had when she made clothes for her kids in the '60s and '70s. She found a pattern online and began sewing the simple dresses. At first, she used up her stash of fabric remnants, then scouted sales to buy fabric. Then friends and friends of friends began giving her their remnants from quilting projects or fabric bought for those would-be projects that never materialized. She can piece together scraps and enjoys putting together different fabrics that coordinate, using different fabrics for the straps or bodice. In fact, that's her favorite part. "That's part of the fun — finding three different fabrics you can put into a dress and not have it look strange," she said. She works on the garments two to three hours a day, weekdays, creating 10 or 15 dresses at a time. She cuts them all at once, then serges the seams, irons them, cuts armholes and adds straps. She works solo, then searches for missions that want to take her dresses, mostly using word of mouth. She found one group from a 2015 Lansing State Journal story on Dresses for Hope in Bellevue. Her friend, Connie Swix of Lansing, calls her a "one-woman charity." "She's remarkable. She's against a lot of obstacles and she's persevered," Swix said The two met in a crafts group called "Happy Hookers" that meets Tuesdays at the Oak Park YMCA. While others knit, cross stitch, needlepoint, Mahan pulls elastic through the necklines of the dresses. Swix's son, a Lutheran pastor at a church in North Carolina, has taken dresses for missions. Mahan said she feels good helping kids in need. It's also been a distraction that keeps here from dwelling on her problems. "Mentally, it's been very good," Mahan said. "…I'm still sewing away." Do you have remnants and are you willing to take them to Mahan? You can reach her at MahanR@comcast.net. She's looking for any length of 44-inch wide cotton or cotton blend fabric. Judy Putnam is a columnist with the Lansing State Journal. Contact her at (517) 267-1304 or at jputnam@lsj.com.Follow her on Twitter @judyputnam. Putnam offers an independent voice about people and issues important to our community. Please support this work by subscribing. Read or Share this story: https://www.lansingstatejournal.com/story/opinion/columnists/judy-putnam/2019/11/21/holt-seamstress-sews-up-little-dresses-girls-impoverished-areas/4230877002/  |
| 22 Best Velvet Holiday Dresses 2019 - Teen Vogue Posted: 21 Nov 2019 07:09 AM PST Did you really celebrate the holidays if you didn't wear something velvet? No, this isn't a trick question. Just like wearing plaid, sequins, and bedazzled jewelry, wearing a velvet garment is a must every holiday season. Sorry, we don't make the rules. That's just how it is. However, finding the right velvet piece can be tricky especially since you only typically wear them once a year. That's why we highly recommend velvet holiday dresses. Not only they're an all-in-one outfit but come next year you can easily be an outfit repeater a la Lizzie McGuire. Don't worry, though. The best thing about velvet dresses is that they look completely different with each accessory you choose to style them with. Use that as fuel to get creative with your holiday looks. From pairing them with knee-high boots and pearl jewelry to styling them over some printed leggings, heels, and under a blazer. They're countless ways to style them and countless velvet dresses in the market so we've rounded up the 22 best velvet holiday dresses out there so you're one step closer to your perfect holiday fit.  |
| Nov 23 | Designer Dresses Sample Sale | Huntington - Patch.com Posted: 21 Nov 2019 01:09 PM PST [unable to retrieve full-text content]Nov 23 | Designer Dresses Sample Sale | Huntington Patch.com  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from "dresses" - Google News. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
0 Yorumlar