Pillowcase dress drive a HUGE success!

In preparation for our most recent trip to Uganda, we put a post out on our website about a Pillowcase Dress Drive, you can read the original post here. Never in a million years did we expect the response to our drive that we got. It was amazing, from March until June when we left we collected over 500 dresses handmade by amazing people all across the United States and from as far away as Greece. Everyday was like Christmas, waiting for the mailman to come and bring the day’s delivery. Some people made one dress, some people made 20. Some people made them with their children, while others gathered their church group. They came in all sizes, all colors and all different kinds of material.

The best part was handing out the dresses to the girls in the Acholi Quarter! Every day kids would gather at the Project Have Hope center, and we would hand out the dresses. The smiles on the girl’s faces was priceless. Many of the girls only have one outfit, so for them to get a brand new dress was a huge blessing. Not only did we bless the girls from Project Have Hope but we blessed the girls in the entire Acholi Quarter, making a huge impact on the community. Walking through the Quarter I would see dresses hanging from the clotheslines or girls playing in their new dresses. I knew right then I wanted to continue collecting dresses, and bring them with us on each trip we make to Uganda.

We found that the best dress for the girls is the pillowcase dress pattern with the elastic neck. It makes it so much easier for the girls to put them on and they don’t lose the ribbons that tie the dress together. I have found some patterns on a couple of blogs: From Jen Leheny you can download the PDF of the pattern here or from The Mother Huddle here. If you want to make the original pillowcase dress pattern please be sure to stitch the ribbon in the center of the casing on both the front and back to keep the ribbon from pulling out.

We need all sizes – from baby to teenagers. If you can make one or 100 that will be AWESOME! They are a simple dress to make, and it makes such a big difference in Uganda.

You can contact me at mallory@projectyesu.org and I will give you the address where you can mail the dresses to. Thank you so much for supporting Project Yesu, and for blessing the girls in Uganda that I love so dearly.