Pillowcases for Oncology Kids and other Charities

Margie, from Nanny Crafts 4U, is running a sew-along on Facebook, in support of Pillowcases for Oncology Kids, a charity I've supported in the past. They donate pillowcases to children undergoing treatment for cancer, in hospitals around Australia.

Reading about the sew-along reminded me that I had previously cut out several pillowcases, ready to sew when I had a spare minute. The sew-along was just the motivation I needed to sew them up.

Sitting just underneath the cut out pillowcases, I discovered a pre-paid Australia post satchel. Inside were ten finished pillowcases that I'd totally forgotten about. There was still room in the satchel and to save on postage costs, I'd thought I would wait until I had sewn enough to fill the satchel.

Perhaps I need a better storage system so things don't disappear, possibly to be forgotten forever!!!

All up this time I made seven pillowcases, so that brings the total to seventeen and just about fills the post satchel. Think I'll post them anyway, even if there's a little room left over.

My favourites this time are the ones above with the little wind up mice. I bought that gorgeous fabric quite some tine ago, thinking it would make a lovely pinafore. From memory, the gingham was a win.

The pretty rose fabric was given to me by a friend who was de-stashing. It's the same fabric that I used in the Pride and Prejudice dress two years ago. That dress has been so well used!!! I do prefer it with the contrasting maroon, as in the dress, but I had none left, so the pinky / orangey fabric was chosen and it is a perfect match for the roses.

I thought the travel fabric would be perfect for a teenager. It's left over from a drawstring bag and a purse I made my Mum.

Pictured above are the seven pillowcases I sewed up yesterday. The pirate pillowcase below was one of the hidden ten. When I look back at my blog, it was sewn in April last year!!! That's not the oldest. There's two pretty girly ones that were made in February, 2014.

Pillowcases for Oncology Kids is an Australian charity. Details for sending pillowcases are on their Facebook page. Margie's sew-along runs till September, but you can send to Pillowcases for Oncology Kids at any time.

Conkerr Cancer is a similar organisation in North America. There are many chapters throughout the U.S. and Canada. Head to the Regional Directory to find chapters near you.

The One Million Pillowcase Challenge is run by American Patchwork and Quilting. They are challenging quilters, sewers and crafters to help them reach their goal of donating one million pillowcases to local charities. As well as charities to help children in hospital, there are also charities helping adults.

From what I can gather, the One Million Pillowcase Challenge is set up for the U.S., although Austrralian Pillowcases for Oncology Kids is listed as one of the charities to donate to. The suggested charities list is huge and I have only quickly skimmed, so quite possibly there are charities from other countries as well. Conkerr Cancer is on their list. 

I tried, unsuccessfully. to find charities where pillowcases can be donated in other parts of the world. If you know of charities elsewhere that accept handmade pillowcases, please leave a link in the comments and I'll add it to the post.

Have you ever sewn a pillowcase? They are a great project for someone who is new to sewing. Later in the week I'll write a post with links to free pillowcase tutorials from around the world.

... Pam

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