So close!

I seriously can't believe that this time next week I will be in Indonesia! As much as I'm really excited, I'm also incredibly nervous and anxious. I keep thinking of all these things I want and need to be doing between then and now and wondering how I'm going to get it all done.

I was actually starting to get a bit stressed this week and feeling very unprepared for the trip. Not just physically and emotionally, but spiritually. Over the last couple of weeks, I haven't really had much time to sit and pray about the trip and really dedicate it to God.

But thankfully I was able to take some time out this week and really sit and pour my heart out to God. And His wonderful peace instantly invaded me and took away all the stress and worry I had been feeling. I stopped looking at the problems around me and turned my focus and attention back onto God. This is His trip to worry about and plan - not mine, so that has taken a great weight off my shoulders.


So, we fly out at 10:55am Friday morning (the 26th,) and I'll be back on the 5th of April. I can't wait to share with you all about my trip when I get back. Hopefully I'll have some amazing stories and experiences to share.

I will probably put another post up here before I leave, and I might get my mum to update this for me whilst I'm over in Indonesia, but I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone. Thank you to all of the kind and generous people who have donated fabric, elastic, finished items, bought items, blankets and toys. You are such amazing people and I'm so blessed by you! And a thank you for all the prayers and support I have recieved for this trip and journey - it wouldn't be possible without prayer! At the moment I have nearly 100 items to take over to Papua - how awesome is that!?! I wouldn't be anywhere near that target without wonderful donations. I'm so excited to see what God is going to do during this trip - I know He has big plans!

And finally, check out the pictures of some of the donated items I have been recieving. These have come from wonderful ladies in my church - thank you so much ladies!!

Full steam ahead!

Myself, and a gorgeous girl from a village in Borneo.

Well, things have been rather busy here of late. Mainly because I am madly sewing items as I'm going to Papua in March! Yes, March!! And yes, it's actually happening!

Some of the blankets I have been making. The polar fleece was part of a huge donation by Lisa, and the cotton fabric is donated by my boss. I figure the polar fleece will be nice and soft for kids to lie on, but also useful as a covering too. Suprisingly it gets quite cold in the high mountain regions of Papua.

My friend Lael and I have reserved our flights, and we will be jetting off on the 27th of March, and coming back on the 6th of April. Whilst I am extremely excited, and a wee bit nervous, I am also pretty anxious to make sure I have enough things sewn and made to make the trip worth my while.

I've actually been counting down the days, and trying to mathematically work out how many dresses I can make in a day, or how many pairs of shorts I can make in however many weeks. And even though my maths is not my strong point, I've been coming to the conclussion that I just don't have enough time to do everything I need to do, and make everything I need to make.With everything else going on in my life at the moment, I was really starting to worry that I wouldn't make the deadline for our trip and have enough things made.

I was actually starting to panic and get quite stressed! And I was beginning to think I would have to postpone the trip.

Kids, playing in the river.

But, our amazing and great and wonderful God had it all in His hand. He answered my pathetic cries for help in a wonderful way, by having me cross paths with a wonderful woman from my church, Janice.
She loves to make clothes, and always wanted to make clothes for kids overseas, and is now very excitedly making clothes for Sew Blessed! How wonderful is that?! I just feel so blessed by her kindness and generosity, and by Gods goodness. He is always so faithful to provide, and I love being on this journey with Him. Talk about exciting and never a dull moment!

Another simple blanket. Don't you just love that colourful polar fleece?!

So a huge thank you to Janice for helping with Sew Blessed!

And another huge thank you to my wonderful boss, Gail, and her daughter Rebecca, who donated 4 big bolts of fabric!! I'm sure you can imagine how thrilled I was to recieve these beautiful bolts. They are just perfect!

I've already been making some skirts and dresses from the pink spot fabric, and blankets too from the cream and green fabric.

So once again, a big thank you to Gail and Rebecca of Patchwork with Gail B. Please, if you are a patchworker, or a sewer, check out their website, or visit the store in Bayswater, VIC. Please support them as they helped to support us! :)


And finally, two awfully pretty fabrics which were donated by my lovely friend Steph, in South Australia. Thanks so much Steph! I'm already making a cute as dress from the blue spot.

Talk about exciting times here at Sew Blessed!! I can't believe my dream and vision from God is actually happening, and I'm going to fulfill what we set out and planned to do. Exciting stuff!!

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him." Psalm 28:7

Ladies in Papua

All things happen for a reason...

You know, I don't believe in conincidences. I really don't. I seriously believe that everything that happens in my life is a result of God and His hand at work. For example, the day I got stuck behind an awfully slow car on the road meant I was 1 minute late in missing an accident at an intersection up ahead. Something that I was impatient and annoyed about probably saved my life.

And it doesn't just happen to me either. I am sure alot of you have similar stories. My friend stopped at a red light a number of years ago late at night. When the lights turned green, his car wouldn't move forward. The car was running, but no matter how hard he pressed the gas, it would not move. (And no - he didn't have the hand brake on!) A few seconds later, a massive truck ran through the intersection in the opposite direction on the red light. As soon as the truck passed through, my friends car moved forward. True story! How great is our God?!

And it's not just in the big things of life either that I don't think coincidences exist, but in the small, seemingly unimportant bits too. Like with my sewing for Sew Blessed. See the pink dress up above? The pink material was a pillowcase I found at an Op shop a few months back. I wanted to use some of Mellys gorgeous fabric to 'pretty it up,' so found the lovely oval shaped fabric that matched in perfectly. That fabric from Melly was already cut into rectangles. I had to have a chuckle when I realised that the rectangles were the exact same width as the pillowcase, even minus the seam allowances!

I know some people would say that's just sheer luck and a coincidence, but no. I believe God has a hand in it all. Sometimes we just need to be open to let Him work. And open our eyes to see Him work.

So I just had to share some of the bits I have been making of late! Yay for finally having some time to sew!! The blue shorts were the first ever pair of shorts I have made. And I am so chuffed with them! I didn't have a pattern, but just sort of drew and guessed - and yay, they worked! Once again, I used some of Mellys fabric to smarten them up. I think I'll be making alot of shorts as the boys are constantly wearing them for playing and swimming etc.

I made the pretty green dress yesterday, once again using a pillowcase and some of Mellys donated fabric. I love this dress! I just added a simple casing around the middle with some Amy Butlers Daisy Chain, and threaded elastic through. Just to give it some shape and body. We think this dress should fit an 8-10 year old.

Oh, and some other big news. A dear friend of mine is going to Indonesia in March next year, and I am hopefully going to tag along with her! She is going to Bali and Papua for 2 weeks, which is exactly where I wanted to go. So I am now madly sewing items to be ready in time! I can't wait!!!

So I shall leave you with a photo of a beautiful beach in Papua....
... and the damaging after effects of such a beach, with sunburn!!

I still have scars on my shoulders!

An update..

(Papuan kids playing Soccer)

Well, things are getting quite exciting here! I have had alot of people interested in helping in some way with Sew Blessed, which is such an encouragment to me! It is wonderful when other people catch my idea and vision, and get involved and help. What a joy!

I've had ladies from all over the world keen to be involved, which is just fantastic! So a huge thank you to you all! So many children are going to be blessed by your generosity.

I have also been feeling led to consider Papua as a place for my first trip. I went there in 2007, and I have a number of contacts there. I've been told there is an orphange with 25 kids in need of some love and care. So I'm praying about this, and seeing where God would lead us to go.

Isn't this little girl just delightful? We went to their village for a day (would you believe, their village is called K19? Most of these people have been placed in areas by the government, and the villages are given numbered names to keep an easy record of places and people.)
Anyway, this little girl was so shy, but she kept following me around for the whole day, and eventually I was able to snap this photo of her. What a darling she is.



Thank you to my friend Julie for this donation of wonderful fabric! I can already picture little dresses, and headscarves, and toys, and all sorts of good things! Thanks Julie!

"The less people speak of their greatness, the more we think of it"

Sir Fances Bacon