The Dorcas Club

We ran into a little "jacket" problem a couple weeks ago. It's a good problem, to be honest. We'd been having a windstorm that brought in really cool temperatures, when several of the neighborhood boys took shelter on our porch. The winds picked up to what must have been hurricane speed (see below) so the kids ended up there for a while, bouncing a ball and goofing off. We were LOVING the cooler air, but these boys were freezing. One in particular was in shorts and a t-shirt, covered in chills. Caroline dug out her winter coat and he gladly put it on. When the time came to go home, he tried to give it back but Caroline asked if he had his own coat. He said no, so she insisted he take that one with him.
In one of my "Bad Mommy" moments, I missed the opportunity to tell her that what she did was kind and good. Instead, I pointed out that it would have been better to get her own coat back (since it had a pink stripe and was lined in pink fleece) and buy him his own coat next time we were in town. Really Bad Mommy. Her face dropped and she said, "I'm sorry. I just wanted to do the right thing." Ugh. After making that right with her, she told me she just wanted to try to make her next coat anyway.

Well, we'd been recently watching the Narnia movies, where the royal children are adorned in the most majestic cloaks and capes. Camille was inspired to make a cloak-type jacket, so we bought some fleece next time we went to the capital (it's called "polar" here) and set about with some free patterns I found online. The result is below.

While the girls were sewing these (with a little help from me), they mentioned that it would be fun to make things for our neighbors, like gloves, scarves, or hats, from fleece. The little light bulb went on over my head as I remembered the Dorcas Club. Any of you old school church folks remember the Dorcas Club? When I was small, the ladies of the church came together weekly (or monthly?) to make craft projects which they sold at fairs and bazaars, and gave the money to missions. I've said many times as an adult woman (whoa--am I an adult woman now?) that I'm sad Dorcas Club is non-functional these days. What a great opportunity it must have been for the ladies to learn from each other, young and old in all stages of life, working for a common goal.

So we've decided that when the teen girls' Bible study starts, we'll be incorporating some fleece projects for the neighborhood children. Not only will it be easier to talk when your fingers are working, but the young ladies will get to contribute to making the little folks warmer this winter. And I get to be a part of the Dorcas Club!

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