Mums & Bubs
& Teen Bags
Starting April 2024 through to November 2024 we will be sewing and collecting items to fill bags for Mums & Bubs and Teens to be donated to Share the Dignity during their “It’s in the Bag” drive.
Last year our charity sewing group at our HQ The Sewing Lair made and filled 30 bags, and this year we are starting MUCH earlier and aiming for 100 – yep – 100 Mums & Bubs Bags and 25 teen bags!
We will be collecting to fill them with the essentials as required by Share the Dignity, and will also be making some wonderful extras which are much loved and appreciated as a new parent or teen going through difficult times.
Please note these extras are optional, we are choosing to put them in because collectively we have the resources and skills to do so. If you are making and donating bags directly to StD the essentials are absolutely enough and there is no pressure to include extras. Essentials are very much appreciated.
Share the Dignity are a charity very close to our hearts, and we’ve been advised these two bag types are the least donated nationally.
Please note, Share the Dignity are a charity who do incredible work. We are not officially endorsed to collect on their behalf, this is simply a project we are running independently so we can harness our collective creative and people power to help. We also run several other projects throughout the year which you can find on our projects page.
If you or your group are collecting and donating entire bags we encourage you to do so locally via the StD drive in November.
Please contact StD directly with any enquiries about the work they do or to obtain current and accurate information about the collection drives they do during the year.
What exactly are we creating?
In no particular order, these are items we found went well in the bags last year and are suitable for both types of bags.
Fabric choice is important – nothing with any violent or provocative imagery, and nothing relating to gambling or alcohol please.
Many items can also be knitted/ crocheted so if you’ve got a great pattern go for it!
THE BAGS THEMSELVES
You can make or purchase these – we do a combination of both.
As a guide, if you are making them, a medium duffle size is a great style for teens. As is a tote with a zipper, a beach bag or a standard hand bag.
For Mums & Bubs, a nappy bag, oversized tote, large (not huge) duffle all work. You can put the Mums supplies separately to Bub & attach the bags with a ribbon or similar. In this case any regular size bag works. Last year we sewed nappy bags and then attached a drawstring bag with Mum’s toiletries if we couldn’t fit them all in.
FOR MUM/ TEEN
Key ring lip balm holders
Small messenger bags/ phone bags/purses/ wallets
Zippered coin purses
Zippered toiletry bags/pouches
Pocket tissue holders
Scrunchies/ headbands/ hair clips
Pencil Case suitable for 12 coloured pencils/ gel pens (Zip or draw string is fine)
Foldable lightweight shopping bag
Pocket hearts
Nursing pads
Socks
Drawstring Bags – A3ish (these are donated in bulk to Sheroes to use to contain items that are donated directly to StD so they don’t get lost in transit)
FOR BUB
Blanket (2 layers flannelette around 1m x 1m)
Lightweight wrap (single layer, hemmed, muslin, jersey or flannelette around 1.2m x 1.2m)
Quilt/ Knitted blanket (no big holes please for little fingers to get stuck in)
Burp cloth
Bib(s)
Face washer(s)
Soft Toy (no safety eyes, buttons, ribbons – nothing that can be pulled off or fingers get stuck in)
Patterns & Tutorials
There are no set patterns, for inspiration there is a mega thread in our Face Book group.
What other items are we collecting?
TBA – still working on this list, but as a starting point you can visit the Share the Dignity website for the full list of essentials as we will need all of these for our bags!
A NOTE FROM THE SFCA TEAM
Please label your donations with type, size and which project they are for (eg – Lap Blanket, Knitted, May 2024)
This will greatly help our volunteers to sort and distribute them as quickly as possible.
In Person Delivery: The Sewing Lair, 4/29 Logan River Road Beenleigh Q
Postal Delivery: SFCA, 38 Bladensburg Dr Waterford QLD 4133
Project enquiries: volunteer@sewingforcharity.com
To request items: Visit our website. Scroll down and fill in the online request form.