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MAQUOKETA, Iowa Two Maquoketa High School students spend the last weeks of the school year turning pillowcases into dresses for children in need.
Taylin Baker, 16, of Zwingle, and Kyla Desoyo, 18, of Maquoketa, sewed a pillowcase dress for Little Dresses for Africa as part of a service project in their Dynamics of Clothing class.
I just enjoy making it, and I think it’s a great project for people in need, says Taylin.
Little Dresses for Africa is an international organization that donates clothes to children in need in African countries. The organization also works to bring clean water, schools and community structures such as food centers to areas where they are needed.
I’ve always wanted to do a service project in class, and somehow we always ran out of time, says Maquoketa High School family/consumer science teacher Nancy Johnson. This year, I set aside the last four to five weeks to work on a project.
Johnson pitched several potential projects, but Little Dresses for Africa appealed to the girls the most. They followed a pattern on the organization’s website to make the dress using pillowcases, elastic bands and bias, narrow strips of fabric used for binding.
In the month spent on the project, Taylin completed 20 dresses. She worked during Johnson’s classes, came in during the study period to sew and brought home dresses to finish.
“I was very impressed,” said Johnson. She just holds it and follows it and is very focused on sewing and finishing the dress.
Kyla attends school remotely but comes a few days a week to work on dresses. Because she was in class less often than Taylin and because she said she was a perfectionist when it came to making things, especially clothes, she only finished two dresses.
However, he still enjoys the experience and the opportunity to give back.
“Here in America, we have so many opportunities, and we can easily get a job or water or clothes, and there, it’s not as easy as we have here, so I think that’s what excites me,” he said.
After the school year ended, Johnson shipped the dresses to Little Dresses for Africas US in Michigan. From there, they will be sent to the African community.
Kyla, who is graduating this spring, will study business at Clinton Community College and plans to move to Istituto Marangoni in Florida to study fashion.
Taylin is about to finish her final year of high school and hopes to pursue a career in nursing. Her class schedule will determine whether she continues with Little Dresses for Africa next year, but she hopes to stay involved.
I’ll probably do some (dressing) because it’s fun and relaxing to do, she said. It’s just an easy-to-do project for something that has a big impact.
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