Spring Sewing

We have two courageous and giving friends who are in the Peace Corps serving in Mali, Africa for 27 months and showing me what "it" is really all about. We miss having them stateside dearly but are also completely wowed by what they are learning and doing on a daily basis. I feel so grateful to have friends who are generous and know me well enough to send a fantastic package full of African fabric. I have been so excited to use it, but also carefully contemplating the best project. It is a very stiff fabric that almost disappears into a sheer when wet but dries again to a starched cotton. So I decided to work with one piece and make AnaSofia a special spring coat. I used some contrasting bias tape for the ties and AnaSofia picked out the fleece for the inside (purple with rainbows! hilarious!). She really loves it and I am thinking I might do a flouncy sort of dress with the next piece and some funky pants for Kasper... We'll see!
Thanks so much Artie and Katie for sharing a little of Africa with us, we can't wait to see you in Maine again (well, okay, maybe Boston for a few months, but then you are moving to Maine!).