http://sweetpetite.bigcartel.com
Regardless of quantity purchased, 50% of every sale will go to the International Justice Mission.
will be taking orders until December 15, and will re-open the store after the New Year.
by Cheryl
I started stitching over the summer when I was looking for a creative outlet. I never considered myself a crafty kind of person (I don’t paint, draw, knit, etc…), and up until that point, my experience with a thread and needle was limited to sewing buttons, and rather poorly. So I thought I’d expand my sewing horizons by making hacky sacks for my son. And when I got bored of making those (one can only create so many hacky sacks), I moved on to the girly stuff… Like hairclips!
My daughter received a felt hairclip as a gift, and it looked simple enough to create on my own. Best of all, no sewing machine necessary! Raw materials are basic: contour hair clips, wool felt, embroidery floss, needle, and scissors, and most of the stitching involved is even more basic. The toughest part is the detailing, but I love how so much cuteness can fit in just a little over an inch.
There is no rhyme or reason behind the nomenclature other than the fact that I love the French language and that I think it sounds prettier than English. Just for fun, I named them “Petite Fille” (fille, pronounced “FEEY”, means girl), and there are (probably grammatically incorrect but whatever) variations depending on the design… A dessert like bubble tea would be “Sweet Fille”, a city-inspired one called “Urban Fille”, etc. Yay for franglais! Anyway…
A lot of folks have encouraged me to sell these creations, and I hope to do just that in time for the holidays, with 50% of every sale donated to the International Justice Mission – a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of sexual exploitation, slavery, and other forms of violent oppression. The IJM story is of the “good-triumphs-evil” variety that you’d find in a novel. Only this is for real. They organize victim rescue and aftercare, prosecute the perpetrators, and promote functioning public justice systems.
My heart breaks for these victims who are abused beyond measure and who are crying out for rescue. How can it be that centuries after the “abolition of slavery”, there are 27 million slaves in the world today? Most of them children?
These simple little hair clips, fun as they are to make, have become a vehicle for me to pray for the ones whose stories aren’t being told… to spread the word on an issue that gets no airtime in today’s “news”… to incite the able to help the unable. Did you know that it costs $500 to help rescue a slave? The abolition of the modern day slave trade seems worlds away, and I suppose for now I’ll start with a small step of faith.
What do you think?
photograph by Eric Kim
you’ll be able to purchase these clips soon online, we’ll update on the shop soon as its running…
love drinking tea? you can actually help stop slavery by purchasing Fair Trade products online or in the grocery stores. make sure to look for the Fair Trade logo on the package. i was doing some reading on modern day slavery and how products that we buy actually are made by use of slavery. there are lot of product that use slavery, but within those products… tea, coffee, sugar, process poulptry, strawberries to name a few. so for the fall tea drinking purchase Fair Trade tea.
“By making a choice to buy Fair Trade tea, you vote with your cash against slavery and exploitation and for fair labor conditions for workers in the tea industry. And what could be more delicious than that?”
look for the logo…
so here are some links to great Fair Trade tea stores online.
found a beautiful site giving voice to children of Mozambiques. Mozambique is one of the poorest country in the world and went through 15 years of civil war.
check out www.imaginingmozambique.com there are some interesting art pieces.
Made with gold-plated hooks and chain, with red and green granite – real semi-precious stones.
If you are interested in purchasing these earrings please contact us at handmadebypatricia@gmail.com or go to our shop
