crib sheets for the starfish babies

We've been busy like crazy over here, sewing away. In fact, it has been enough now that every time Lilly sees us sewing, she asks if we are making it for the starfish babies. Why yes we are, Lilly! On of their big needs right now are crib sheets. Between their non-standard sized cribs and the low quality of Chinese fabric/elastic, they really need us to make these for them. They have 50 cribs and right now we have 49 sheets cut out. (35 in the final stages of sewing) I would love to be able to bring over enough for them to actually be able to do laundry here and there, which is why I am putting out this plea for help. Any of you lovely folk out there that want to be part of this worthwhile and downright easy project, let me know! And for those of you that have already asked for instructions, here they are:

There are 3 sizes of cribs, so the amount of fabric will vary from 1 1/2 to 2 yards of fabric per sheet. PLEASE prewash your fabric as we don't want these shrinking once they go through the wash.

Supplies:

1/4" elastic (93", 100", 110")

fabric: flannel or cotton (to simplify their massive nursery, we're asking for solid blue, red, yellow and lime green. if you want a pattern, stick to the ones at Joann's with white dots on them)

*for the fabric, you will need a piece 54, 61 or 65 inches long. This is the size you want it to be after washing, so I always add a few inches when I am getting it cut. I know that 3.25 yds will make me a small and medium sheet. 5.10 yds will make you one of each size.

•And here comes the hard part. (just kidding...it is super easy.) You cut your fabric to the right length (54, 61, 65) and width (37, 37, 41) to make a big rectangle. Then you cut a 6" square template and fold your rectangle in quarters. (half, then half again) Make sure all of the corners and sides match up before pinning your template on the outside corner and cutting out the corner.

•Now you go to a corner and take both 6" cut edges and serge them together, right sides together. (if you don't have a serger, reinforce with a zigzag stitch.) You're almost done now. :)

•Move on over to the ironing board and you will iron your casing. You start by ironing down 1/4 in hem all around the sheet. Then you fold it over again (1/2 inch this time), ironing it down as you go.

• sew down your casing (I move my needle to the far left for this so I can sew pretty close to the inside edge) and sew all the way around, leaving a 2-3 inch gap for the elastic.

•clip a safety pin on the elastic and put it through the casing, sewing both ends together when you are done.

• sew the casing shut

•fold it. (this is the hardest part, by far. Really, just throw it in an envelope. We're going to make my rather particular husband fold them all.)

thank you, thank you, thank you for helping the starfish house out. I just love what is being done over there. Have you read Silent Tears? Good read. And if you really aren't feeling the sewing thing, we would love to bring over any other goodies you want to share with all of those sweet little babies. We are saving 3 suitcases for them and trying to make it 4.

what we've been up to over here....

Yes, I am back. At least for tonight, right? So we've been up to the same ole, same ole at the Kang house. You know: homeschooling, sleeping, cleaning up lots of poop (no, I am not a fan of being forced to potty train.)...the norm.

But Rachel and I have been planning a little something that is kind of taking over. We've decided to go on a little (just kidding...it is VERY big.) adventure this spring and are busy planning away. This started out as a trip to somewhere in this big planet of ours to do some humanitarian service, but it has evolved into a trip to China to help in this wonderful orphanage for 8 days, a quick jaunt over to the Great Wall/the Forbidden City and then a week in Korea. (Because, apparently, we aren't allowed to get that close to Korea without visiting my husband's motherland, as he likes to call it.) We're pretty excited, in an extreme understatement sort of way. We have the plane tickets bought, the hanok reserved in Korea, and some cute luggage purchased. Beyond that, we kind of have a lot more to do.

So...a little about the Starfish House. What an incredible place! St. Amanda, as I like to call her, receives babies from orphanages that need extra medical care. A lot of the time, these babies are malnourished and need her to get them back to normal. After this, she arranged surgeries and what not to get these babies ready for adoption. Many of them have cleft lip or cleft palate, others have heart problems...one who was recently adopted had a birth mark on her face. She started with 5 babies, but currently has 45. I, for one, can't wait to go over there and love those littles to death. I've been trying to convince Chris to let me keep one (Please, mommy, can I keep one?) but he isn't convinced yet.