Dresses and Shorts

Haiti Construction and Dresses Update

/ Kim Harms / Leave a comment

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This week mom sent about 50 sundresses, several pairs of shorts and a few formal gowns to Haiti. She said it’s the first time a shipment has had zero dresses made by her. Thank you to all who have donated dresses.

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We also sent $2500 to go toward the construction of Pastor Cadet’s multi-function vocational school building. I believe they need about $2500 more to complete the building. If you are interested in donating toward the school, you can write a check to 500 Dresses with vocational school in the memo.

As we get updates on the construction process, we’ll fill you in here on the blog.

 

500 Dresses Change of Address

/ Kim Harms / Leave a comment

address change

Because I (Kim) move more than the average person, mom and I have decided 500 Dresses would run more smoothly if donations were shipped to her instead of me. Corey and I just completed our 10th move in 17 years of marriage. I’m not sure if that is impressive or insane, but whatever it is, it’s my life 🙂

From now on, our shipping address will be 500 Dresses, c/o Jan Nelson, 680 1st St. NE, Britt, Iowa 50423.

Our Dresses Made it to India

/ Kim Harms / 1 Comment

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We received a message from the missionary who took some of our dresses to India. They made it and are ready to be distributed. Here’s the email we received.

The clothes have reached India. Thank you very much. They are lovely!

I am working on getting them to the orphanages. It may take us a month or two to have someone go there or have the field leader visit Delhi, where the clothes are right now.

Again, appreciate your heart and the hard work.

Thanks again to all of you who help make it possible to send dresses and supplies around the world!

Easy Short Sleeve Dress and T-shirt Dress Tutorials

/ Kim Harms / 2 Comments
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Adorable girls from an Indian orphanage wearing our dresses.

We would love to have some sleeved dresses (size 10 and up is best) for our inventory, and I found some simple tutorials to get you started if you are interested in serving 500 Dresses in this way.

All of the dresses that we ship to India must have sleeves, and we don’t often have a lot of notice before a shipment is to go out. We send our dresses to India via missionary luggage, so we don’t plan shipment dates. The more of you who donate sleeved dresses, the easier it will be for us to fill a suitcase when we are given an opportunity to ship to India.

Thanks for considering helping us out by trying out one of these dress styles!

Twirly Tshirt dress tutorial

Twirly T-Shirt Dress Tutorial (From craftycupboard.net)

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T-Shirt Dress Tutorial (from jackandkate.com)

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How to Make a T-shirt Dress (from thehappyhousewife.com)

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Short Sleeve Peasant Dress Tutorial (from sewlikemymom.com)

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Easy Shift Dress DIY Tutorial (from sewpetitegal.blogspot.com)

Beans and Rice for 9 Families

/ Kim Harms / Leave a comment

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Thanks so much to everyone who donated during our doll dress fundraiser. Between the donations and the matching funds we ended up with $230.

Enough to feed 8 Haitian families for a week!

Thanks for your participation. We do still have doll dresses available if you are interested, but will not be actively promoting them at this time.

Proverbs 19:17a He who is kind to the poor lends to the Lord.

 

Dresses for India

/ Kim Harms / Leave a comment

We’re shipping some dresses to India 🙂 Much like when we shipped to Uganda, these dresses will be sent in a suitcase on a flight with a missionary, saving a lot of money in shipping.

We’d love to have your help, but there are two stipulations with these dresses.

1. They must have sleeves.

2. They must be at least knee length.

Below I have linked to a few sleeved dress tutorials I’ve found online that look relatively simple. You can choose one of these or make a dress from a pattern you have as long as it fits the parameters. We will be shipping a variety of sizes.

DEADLINE: August 30.

Questions? Leave a comment or send me a message at 500dresses@gmail.com.

peasant pic

from onceuponasewingmachine.com

Peasant Dress Tutorial

Free-peasant-dress-pattern

from scatteredthoughtsofacraftymom.com

Peasant Dress Tutorial #2

shift dress

from morningbymorningproductions.blogspot.com

Shift Dress Tutorial

womens dress 3

from elleapparelblog.com

T-Shirt Shift Dress Tutorial

4 Big Boxes Enroute to Haiti

/ Kim Harms / Leave a comment

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159 Sundresses

86 pairs of shorts

13 formal dresses

22 new tuxedo shirts

a whole bunch of sandals donated from a store at the end of the season last year

Once again, we are thankful to everyone who donated dresses, shorts, formal wear and money for shipping to make sending these boxes possible.

I don’t yet know when or where we will ship next, but we accept donations all year long.

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Four 500 Dresses Updates

/ Kim Harms / Leave a comment

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1. We are no longer accepting wedding gowns. As these are rented out and not sold, they currently have plenty of inventory in Haiti.

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2. We are still accepting formal gowns; bridesmaid dresses, flower girl dresses and prom dresses of all sizes. These dresses are sold instead of rented out so the inventory fluctuates.

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3. We will be making a shipment this coming week, but that doesn’t mean you’ve missed a deadline to get donations to us. We accept donations all year, and often have the opportunity to send small shipments of sundresses and shorts to various countries in between our big shipments to Haiti. Anything we receive after next week’s shipment will be stored for the future.

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4. We have handmade American Girl Doll Dresses available at Local Blend Coffee Shop in Huxley, IA for a free will donation. All of the proceeds will go toward feeding Haitian families. If you are interested in a dress, but aren’t local to Huxley, email me at 500dresses@gmail.com.