My ladies.

Some of the women of Cercadillo at our weekly Bible Study.

Let me introduce you to one of my passions here in the Dominican Republic...the Cafe y Cocer project in the village of Cercadillo.  Each week 25 women gather for a Bible study and to learn handcrafts and sewing techniques which they use to make all kinds of great artisan products that are sold.  The proceeds are then put back in the program and provide these women with income.  I have been working with this program in some capacity almost the entire time I have lived here, helping to design some of the products we have sewn and teaching the women sewing techniques.  It has been an amazing process to see them grow as artisans and women of God. 

Our director, Ina is out of the country for two months and Kirsten and I are taking on the project in her absence.  This past week we started working on our latest project, crocheting rugs from repurposed t-shirts.  We spent the entire morning preparing t-shirts to be crocheted by cutting them in strips and rolling them into balls.  We are going to be teaching the crochet stitches to them next week. 

Kirsten and our director, Ina admiring the patchwork rug the women made for Ina last year.

I have such a huge place in my heart for this project because I see what a great help it is to these wonderful very poor women.  Until Ina started this endeavor (which is part of a larger project) these women did not have any consistent opportunity to make an income for their families.  Through Cafe y Cocer we have seen the lives of these women transform in so many beautiful ways. They have not only learned many handcrafts like crocheting, bead making, macrame, and sewing,  but they have gained a new level of confidence as they have seen that they can learn a new skill and use it to literally feed their families.

At the sewing machine.

Working on one of the over the shoulder sling bags.

I don't have pictures of this past week, because I was busy working and teaching right alongside the women, but the next time I go out I am going to make a point of taking some pics to share, because it's just too good not to share.  I am, however, sharing pics from other weeks, so I can share some of my beautiful friends with you.

Custom Orders

It feels so good to mark things off of a list if you are a list maker like me.  The weather was more agreeable for sewing this weekend than last.  Hot, but bearable. So, I got a chance to catch up a bit and make these items for some friends who had put in special orders.

Tengo Miedo.

...which means, "I'm scared."  What frightens me, you ask?  This gorgeous fabric and what I am about to do with it.  It's Australian merino gaberdine and it's so silk you would think it's silk and not wool.  It's the single most expensive cut of fabric I have purchased and it is soon going to be a black A-line skirt that will no doubt be my favorite black skirt ever - or at least that's what my goal is.  The story behind this is that I (like most women I know) have been on the hunt for that perfect black skirt.  The one that you can wear most all of the year that looks great with sandals or boots or tights, flatters my figure, can be worn casual or dressy and will be my new best friend.  I actually had a skirt like that about 10 years ago when I was first entering the professional world. It was a Liz Claiborne black wool pleated skirt.

My fear is that I might just mess it all up.  As soon as I cut into it I am committed.  Yikes.  I have the pattern planned in my head (it starts with a favorite A-line skirt to which I have added a waistband idea and a longer length).  If it all works out as planned I might even make it into a tutorial about making a skirt as I have made several figure flattering A-line skirts from a pattern I made from one I own. 

I can't cut into it just yet as I have a few custom orders I need to make an deliver.

Sewing with friends is the best.

I had so much fun sewing with my friend, Diana.  She is from Columbia and is an amazingly creative woman.  She makes beautiful jewelry from Columbian beads, made costumes for our Christmas pageant at our church, and can dance interpretively in a way that stirs up a wave of emotion. Love her.

Well, I made a super easy, super fun wrap skirt a few months back.  I actually made a pattern from a friend's skirt and modified it to fit my size.  I found some fun fabric from Ikea and whipped it up in an afternoon. It's reversible, so you are really getting a lot of bang for your buck...two skirts in one.

Diana wanted to learn how to make one, so I hauled my sewing machine (and 3 year old) over to her house one morning for a sewing playdate.  It's so much fun to sew together, because conversations come so easily and travel in so many different directions when you are facedown cutting out a pattern or sitting at your machine sewing a seam.  I always walk away having learned something about my sewing friend that I never knew.

And, sharing a skirt pattern is just one of the best things to share together, don't you think?

Would you look at this!

One of my "cosas favoritas" here is avocados.  The season is long and they just get better and better and bigger and bigger as it goes along.  I eat them with everything...cut up on omelettes, alongside my salad, mashed into guacamole, but my favorite way to eat them is cut up alongside a plate of morro (rice and beans prepared together). Ooohh...my mouth is watering as I write.

This is a picture of the beauty I bought on the side of the road coming home.  We had it with our lunch.  I included a pepper in the picture because I wanted to show the size of this baby.

Perfection.

Weekend Sewing

Despite the oppressive heat that zaps my motivation for all things creative, I did manage to squeeze in a little sewing this weekend.  And, although it actually was the weekend while I was sewing it was also from the book Weekend Sewing  that I made these little goodies. 

I actually had a little bag like this when I was a young girl.  My mom recently gave it to me with some other baby things and told me I carried all of my things around in it.  The drawstring bags I made this weekend are for my suitcase.One will most likely be for my "ropa interior" or undergarments and the larger for dirty clothes.  It beats the plastic shopping bag I usually throw in at the last minute. 

I also made a set for my good, good friend Ina who left for the US for two months.  I figured she would enjoy them on her travels.

As a side note, if you love to sew you absolutely must pick up Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE everything I have made from it!

Gettin' my knitting on.

I'm always inspired by stories I read of women who knit sweaters.  I think about how I would love to do that, but as a crochet-er I have always been intimidated by knitting because two needles seemed too much to manage.

My sweet, sweet grandmother taught me to crochet (and sew!) while spending afternoons at her house growing up.  I actually can't remember "learning", I can only remember "doing".  I have made countless crochet creations from scarves to baby blankets to the bikini I tried to make when I was eleven. I am a little embarrassed to admit this and happy to say it either never got finished or I got bored and moved on to something else. 

Nevertheless, as easily as crocheting came to me I never learned how to knit.  But, I have recently decided its time to learn.  It might be because I am just kind of ready to learn a new thing or that I am about to move from the Caribbean to Vermont and it sort of "fits".  But, whatever the reason I am making it happen.  I have one practice ball of cotton yarn, my trusty Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework (gifted from my other grandmother who was a quilting genius) and some hand-me-down needles from my mom, who never taught me how because she is a leftie and I am not. I've been at it for a couple of weeks now practicing my stitches and I think it's going to be a new favorite activity.

I have some pretty blue yarn headed my way to make into a scarf from this pattern. And,  I have some yummy organic cotton yarn and a new set of bamboo circular needles waiting for me to make into this throw when I move back to New England in October.  Does this sound a bit too ambitious?  We'll see how I feel once I get into a real project after my practice run.

I'm finished...phew!!!

I have spent the better part of the last two months filling my very first custom order!  AND, I'm finished!!! I am actually waiting at this very second for Little E to wake up from his nap so I can deliver them. It feels kind of like the last day of school.  The order was for some very dear friends who are from Columbia and have lived in Santo Domingo for several years working with the teenagers at our church.  They are leaving for a 2-month respite in their home country before moving across the island to Santiago to start a new church.  They ordered 100 of my little notebooks to sell when they go home. The proceeds they make will go toward the new church. You might be able to see they had the logo of the new church printed on the inside pocket of the agenda.  It looks like a postage stamp and really is a very personal touch.

It was actually a fun project, although I am very glad to be finished.  I absolutely l-o-v-e what I do and the fact that this huge order was never once a burden or had me stressed out to my eyeballs is a confirmation of that.  My mind is swirling with little projects I have put to the side...flannel jammies for Little E for when we move (which include a pair in a sock monkey print), a re-worked idea for one of my items, headbands from some scraps I have, finish reading Pride and Prejudice, (oh yeah) and pack to move back to the states.  You get the idea. 

But, first I think I am going to drink a glass of iced tea and r-e-l-a-x!

Many thanks...

Muchissimo gracias to my friend Britney Burge who designed my blog and got me all set up!  I wouldn't be online at this moment without her help!