Sewing for charity

Anyone know of any good sites for sewing for charity? I am especially interested in sewing for children.

these are a few site that does charity sewing, check them out and see if you like any of them!

http://knitsforsanity.typepad.com/preemieproject/
http://www.newbornsinneed.org/
http://www.projectlinus.org/
http://www.warmingfamilies.org/index.html/

I suggest looking locally! Especially this time of year, there are many organizations, ministries, and shelters in need of things. You could ask your pastor, or perhaps a librarian (they know what's going on in town. ), or at local county aid office, or maybe a thrift store.

http://www.soulemama.com/mama_to_mama/ is a great site that was started by Amanda Soule who has the blog Soule Mama.  Right now they are featuring a project to send caps and blankets to help create safe birth kits for women in Haiti.  There is a pdf pattern for the caps and directions for blankets if you need guidance as well.

Check with your local hospitals, especially children's hospitals and or Neonatal intensive care units (NICU's).  My daughter spent way too much time in the hospital her first year.  We received many gifts that people had made and donated.  I cannot tell you how much it meant to me to visit her in the NICU the day that she was allowed to wear clothes for the first time to find her dressed, wearing a teeny hat that someone had knit and swaddled in a blanket that someone had sewn.  I was (and still am) incredibly touched that someone took their time to make something for my child even though they had never met her.  Those small donations really brightened an incredibly dark and scary time in our lives.  I have kept every single one of the gifts we were given that long year in a memory box for her when she gets older.  I know quite a few parent's of premature babies and every one treasures the things they were given throughout their child's NICU journey.   

littlefiddle, your post gave me goosebumps. It's so touching to hear that, I am going to contact our children's hospital and see what they do in that area. Thanks!

Have you checked out Abbie's blog The Handmade Quilt-er?  She's doing a really cool quilting for a cause project and (I think) is still looking for some quilters to help her.

http://sewingwithabbie.blogspot.com/2008/12/quilting-for-cause-part-ii.html

Beth

Check with your local hospital.  When I had my son, he had to spend some time in the NICU.  Each room there had a quilt in it, thrown over the rocking chair.  When we finally got to take our little one home, we got to take the quilt with us.  It made the room feel a little less like a hospital room and we were so happy to have it.  I still cry when I think of the comfort that quilt brought my family during some touch and go moments.

Ive been making hats and booties for our local NICU for the preemies at the hospital...there are always new ones coming in and you get to see them...
 

I talked on my blog about sewing pillow cases for http://conkerrcancer.org/.  I just made 4 pillow cases and plan to turn them in at a local quilt shop this weekend. 

www.uglyquilts.org has directions for sewing sleeping bags for homeless people, often out of scraps. they encourage you to just go and hand them out in your area, which makes it easy to implement. I think it also has a place where you can send them in. Of course you could give them to local shelters also. Take your pick!
I have always wanted to sew for premies or newborns who need extra TLC. Thanks for the links and tips!

My local hospitals want nothing to do with anything I make. Preemie items, lap robes, slippers...... They said that the items are not sterile.

I do sewing for Every Child Counts http://www.everychild.biz in Aurora, CO.  Most of the places that we work with are other charities, one example is we sew stuff for a teen homeless center, since sometimes they come in with their kids.

I am doing kids pillow cases for ConKerr Cancer right now on my blog. Check it out. The person who makes the most cases, posts photo's of them on their blog and where they will be dropping them off, and lets me know on my blog, can win a yard of fabric & a needle case on May 1st.

It this helps the cause by producing lots of pillow cases, I plan on doing this every 4 months. I started it after seeing all the stash clean ups on blogs and tons of fabric that I know will most likely never get used by the owner. I hope lots of people take the time to turn unwanted fabric into pillow cases for kids. 

My MIL makes quilts from scraps (and filled with old blankets) then has gives them to families who appear to be in need.  She and my FIL are school bus drivers and they ask the kids (who look like they may need it)  if they could use another warm blanket in their house.  They have also gifted many of these blankets to their church.  Transit workers sometimes go to the church to ask where food banks are located, the church then has the blankets to pass on to those in need. 
I love this thread - reminds me of a quote of Mother Theresa's "We cannot do great things.  We can only do small things with great love."