On October 15th and 16th, the Memorial Union Workspace hosted free work days for students to sew outfits for a project called Little Dresses for Africa.

According to their website, the Little Dresses for Africa, a non-profit Christian organization, uses pillow cases to make dresses and then distributes them to girls in Africa though orphanages, churches, and schools.  Their missions is “to plant in the hearts of little girls that they are worthy.”

Stations were set up to either sew or decorate the dresses, so people of all skill levels were able to creatively participate.

By taking less than an hour out of their day, volunteers helped over fifty little girls in Africa feel special and pretty.  In addition to the philanthropic act of making the dresses, contributing to this organization allowed students to reuse an item that would ordinarily be thrown out. If you have an old pillowcase and would like to make your own little dress the directions are as follows:

Pillow Case Dress Directions:

Any size pillowcase will work!

Cut the sewn end of the pillow case top off leaving the hem.

Fold the pillowcase in half, and cut out the arm holes so they will be the same on each side. The measurements depend on the size of the pillow case but it’s about 4 inches down and 2 inches in. Fold down the top of the strip about 3/8″ and stitch a casing. Slide a 6″ piece of elastic at the top so it will be gathered.

Finish the arm holes with double sided tape, leaving enough at the ends to tie at the shoulders.

Don’t be concerned about exact measurements. All sizes are welcome and variations are fine.

If anyone is interested in sending your own Little Dresses, they can be sent to

Little Dresses for Africa 24614 Curtis Drive Brownstown, MI 48134

When recieved, where they are then distributed among missionaries who routinely deliver the dresses to different countries in Africa.

Visit the website, http://www.littledressesforafrica.org for more information.