We're continuing our scrap swap, and today's post is very special - this project is a great one for scraps, and will help girls across the world attend school. As we gear up to sew cute clothes for our kiddos as they head back to school - please consider sewing up a purse or two to make sure that girls in Africa will be able to attend school!!!

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When the package arrived in the mail, I had to wonder at myself...the last thing I NEED in my life are more scraps...why did I sign up for this??? I've got tubs of my own overflowing, but I couldn't help but sign up for our group swap. I happened to see a post in my Facebook feed about the Sew Powerful Purse Project the same day as my package arrived and I was considering choosing that as my project. Then, while I was chatting with Suzanne the next day, she sent me the link and told me to check it out.

Confirmation. I found my project.

I checked out Sewpowerful.org and immeidately fell in love with their mission to empower women throughout the world by teaching sewing. It really struck a chord with me; I've seen sewing change so many of my friends' lives; I can't imagine the freedom it creates in different circumstances where women have even fewer opportunities. The Sew Powerful Purse Project is a finished product drive sponsored by Liberty Jane Patterns and SewPowerful.org where seamstresses around the world use a FREE PATTERN from Liberty Jane to sew purses for a school aged girls in Nambia. The purses are filled with reusable feminine hygiene products that are made by local seamstresses, without which the average girl in East Africa would miss 6 weeks of school per year.

So, I met the challenge, I used 3 of my scraps from Suzanne in one project, and all for good. I'll be making more, and I hope you will too! The pattern is lovely by they way. Despite being free, it has all the bells and whistles of a high quality PDF pattern. It has 2 front views to choose from and two exterior pockets (one on flap and one on front) in addition to the main purse compartment.

Want to get involved? Click the image above to visit Sew Powerful and download the Liberty Jane pattern. Make sure to read all the details about when and where to send your purses for donation. Together we can do SEW MUCH GOOD!