Care Cloth Instructions

This idea was brought to us about two years ago by our member Helen in Scotland, who found it in a book called “Creative Kindness” and over this time we've been able to make about 200 of them already, all of which have gone to and been much appreciated by the people benefiting from THP (the Thames Homeless Project in Walton-on-Thames).
Very simply, a Care Cloth is a “plain washcloth… folded to form a pouch that… can be filled with sample toiletries like soap, toothpaste, shampoo and razors”. These are extremely simple to make, and they take very little time indeed. A sewing machine would be useful when making the Care Cloths, but is not really a necessity, if you are a neat stitcher! In addition to being easy to make, they are also very cheap – one face cloth (which come in packets in most “Pound Shops”), and a length of ribbon. Oh, and a few toiletries, if you can – but even just empty sewn Care Cloths are welcome and we will fill them up…. And here's how to make them:

Materials:
- One standard Washcloth
- 20” (51 cm) length of ¼” (0.6 cm) washable satin ribbon (colour-coordinated with cloth)
- Matching all purpose thread
- Basic personal hygiene items (toothbrush & paste, soap, comb, shampoo…)
- Basic equipment (needle, pins, scissors, fabric pen, sewing machine if possible…)

Step 1:
- Carefully remove manufacturer’s tag from the washcloth
- Turn up lower edge of the washcloth 4” (10 cm) and finger-press
- Pin along both sides, and the top edge, to prevent pocket from shifting

Step 2:
- Fold ribbon in half, insert and pin fold in right side seam 3 ½” (9cm) from lower edge, sandwiching ribbon between washcloth layers
- Using fabric pen, mark three pocket stitching lines from lower edge to fold

Step 3:
- Set up sewing machine for straight stitches (10-12 stitches per inch)
- Stitch sides, catching ribbon in right side seam. For durability, back-stitch at both ends of all lines of stitching
- Stitch along the three marked lines, to form 4 pockets
- Remove the pins

Step 4:
- Fill the pockets with basic personal hygiene items
- Roll or fold caddy from left to right, wrap the ribbon around, and tie.

Please send your finished Care Cloths, filled or unfilled, to Petra.

Christmas Greetings from Domnica and a Happy New Year from Me

I have to apologise for the long silence which wasn't at all how things were supposed to work out with this blog, but with the preparations for Christmas and Sophie's visit (you can read about who Sophie is on my other blog) and then first me and then my computer being "ill", I just didn't get around to sending greetings any earlier. They are still heart-felt and so I'm wishing you all a very happy and blessed 2007!!!

I would also like to thank all our members who send me Christmas cards - there were very many this year and they really cheered me up (I hope you'll understand that I cannot send Christmas cards to everybody in the group...) - so, a BIG THANK YOU to you all.

There was also one card that I would like to share with you all because really it wasn't so much for me as for the whole group: from Domnica, our sponsor child in Romania. She made it all herself and the inside reads "Thank You and Merry Christmas, with love, Domnica".