A different project than what I normally do!

[Sew 'N Sane]

I normally only do window treatments and home decor projects, but every once in a while one of my kids asks me to make something for them.

This time, my Venezuelan exchange student couldn't find a dress for the Homecoming Dance that she liked for under $150, so she asked me to make her one....on the Thursday night before the Saturday dance.

Being the crazy mom that I am, I said sure. I finished the dress about 15 minutes after her boyfriend arrived to pick her up.

I had some fitting issues because she is a very "curvy" young lady with a large bust line and a small waist. So, I had to make the bust large enough while keeping the main body small enough to be form fitting AND make it all tight enough that it didn't fall off her when she danced. :p

[stitchcrazy]

Susan - I love it! I'm so impressed with your tailoring skills! It fits her perfectly!

[craftmama]

that is beautiful.

[Lisaa]

Wow, the dress is gorgeous! The girl is just adorable!!

[Jennifer]

Thats amazing, I love to see what people can do. I can quilt but can't make a outfit out of pattern to save my life. well done...
Jen

[susank]

Good job - my daughters have similar figures and I know how hard it is to fit them.

[Pedal Pusher]

Susan, love the dress but more impressed with you having an exchange student. Doesn't suprise me though. It takes a special caring, giving person to take in a stranger and give them the kind of love this dress shows.

You will have lots of stars in your crown.

Donna

[for my kids]

beautiful!!! I'm sure she will treasure it and the memory forever..

[kidzbizz]

Beautiful dress and girl. You did a great job fitting it for her.

Judie

[Sew 'N Sane]

Susan, love the dress but more impressed with you having an exchange student. Doesn't suprise me though. It takes a special caring, giving person to take in a stranger and give them the kind of love this dress shows.

You will have lots of stars in your crown.

Donna

Donna, thanks for the compliment. Elaine is actually my 2nd exchange student. Last year we hosted a girl from German and we had such a wonderful experience that we decided to do it again. Although it is a financial burden because of the extra mouth to feed, the benefits we receive more than make up for it.

Last month my husband and I were able to go to Germany to meet our "family" over there. It was so wonderful to see our German daughter again and meet her real family. We now truly feel like we have family over there.

:p

[StitchinGrandma]

That dress is awesome. You did a great job.

Exchange students can be so much fun, especially when they are still learning our language. We've had three boys from France, one girl from Turkey, one girl from Georgia(Republic of Russia where they were just bombing a few weeks back), and 3 girls/1 boy from Indonesia. The boys from France were too adorable, one especially was SO shy and would act silly when he wasn't sure of the right word, or how to say it. He'd get all red in the face and look down. But yes, they are so much fun to teach about our country and then to have them teach about theirs. Wonderful experience for your own kids too.

[sewingfor3]

Wow, what a beautiful dress. Also, great job, going the extra mile to help with kids wanting to learn about our country and culture! YOU and VICKI!!!!

[debmac]

I love the dress. I have my first exchange student. She is from Slavokia. We picked her up from the airport in Atlanta last night. This is something that I have wanted to do for a while, but it has not worked out until now. I can hardly wait to make things for her.

[Granny313]

I love the dress. I have my first exchange student. She is from Slavokia. We picked her up from the airport in Atlanta last night. This is something that I have wanted to do for a while, but it has not worked out until now. I can hardly wait to make things for her.

I admire anyone doing this kind of thing. I would probably get very attached and wouldn't want them to leave!!! Good luck - How old is she?

[debmac]

Debbie,

She is 16 years old. I can already see how you could get too attached. This is her third day here and she just fits right in with our family. All three of my daughters are so excited. I think that this will be one of the best experiences that myself or any of my daughters have ever experienced. Remember to keep all five of us in your prayers.

Debbie

[Granny313]

I definitely will - I hope that you and your girls learn as much as the exchange student learns. How long will she be here? Will she be here for Christmas? That will be very interesting for her if she is here. Have fun, this is something that you both will always remember!!

Debbie

[Becca]

Beautiful dress!!! Also your exchange student is a beautiful young lady.
You and your family will be such a blessing to this young lady and I'm sure she will be a blessing to your family.

[PlaynInPJs]

OMG.....You did a beautiful job on that dress!! What a very special gift you have given your exchange student.......something she will remember forever. Lorie

[grniys]

That dress is just amazing! I love it!

And I think taking in an exchange student is sooo cool. Sounds awesome!

[debmac]

Debbie

She will go home next June. She will be here for her birthday as well as Christmas. Every year I try to buy or make the all three of the girls a present alike. It is usually something that they will have when they all are married and on their own. This year I am making quilted table runners. In the middle square of each I embroidered a Christmas design. So now I will be making four instead of three. This way it will be something that she will always have to remember her year in the US, even though she will not use it in her own home for quite a while. I hope she will not think I am crazy!!

Debbie

[Sew 'N Sane]

Debbie,

That's a great idea for something I can do for my Venezuelan daughter. I gave my German daughter several things I had done, but not something that could become a keepsake like a tablerunner.

[Granny313]

Debbbie-

That is such a sweet and thoughtful idea for your own daughters and for your new daughter. Anytime you make something special for someone, it is very special because of the time that you lovingly spent doing it. I hope all recipients realize or one day will realize just how precious our gifts are. I would rather have something handmade anytime than something bought out of a store. There is so much love put into a handmade item. It can truly become a keepsake. Have fun Debbie and you are a very special mom!!

Debbie

[debmac]

Thanks. I know that I will get a lot more out of this experience than she will. I believe that it will make all of us closer and appreciate all of the little things in life. Maybe we will not take so much for granted. I can not imagine how her mother must have felt putting a sixteen year old daughter on a plane, sending her to place she had never been and trusting a complete stranger to take care of her. I hope this an experience that none of us will ever forget.

[Sew 'N Sane]

Deb,

I can absolutely guarantee that this will be an experience you won't forget. We had such a wonderful time with our German daughter last year, that my kids were more than happy to open their house and hearts to another student this year!

Our Venezuelan daughter (in the picture above) has MSN video phone on her laptop, so I get to chat frequently with her mother. It's so nice to already have a relationship with her family. They are wonderful people.

Then, in September, my husband and I got a chance to go to Germany and meet our German daughters family. WOW, what a fantastic trip that was. Her family was so grateful that we took such good care of their daughter while she was over here, that they spoiled us rotten. I think I gained 5 lbs. in the 2 days we spent with them. :p

Good luck to you!

[ElaineR]

My family hosted an exchange student from Sweden 20 years ago. I am sorry to say "It was NOT a good experience". I was so excited about it, but the excitement didn't last long. This young man was very rude and inconsiderate. He would fill his plate first and take almost everything, leaving hardly anything for the rest of the family. He would get up early and walk down our long drive to meet a girl and leave in her car, us not knowing where he was. He had been living with two other families in the area before us, and silly me thought "Poor kid, they must not have been very nice to him". It didn't take me long to change my tune. I took him and his girl friend to pick out his tux for Prom and he actually asked me to sit in the car and wait for them!!! I am sorry it was not a good experience, I had every intention for it to be. I know most of the exchange students ARE a wonderful experience.

E

[debmac]

Susan,

She uses skype to make video calls with her family. But her mother does not speak any English and I do not know Slovakian. Maybe before long I can learn enough to be able to talk with her. I love listening to her talk to her family on the computer. Even though I cannot understand a word that she says to them, you can hear so much excitement in her voice. I hope that you have a wonderful year with your daughter also. Good luck!

Debbie

[StitchinGrandma]

My family hosted an exchange student from Sweden 20 years ago. I am sorry to say "It was NOT a good experience". I was so excited about it, but the excitement didn't last long. This young man was very rude and inconsiderate. He would fill his plate first and take almost everything, leaving hardly anything for the rest of the family. He would get up early and walk down our long drive to meet a girl and leave in her car, us not knowing where he was. He had been living with two other families in the area before us, and silly me thought "Poor kid, they must not have been very nice to him". It didn't take me long to change my tune. I took him and his girl friend to pick out his tux for Prom and he actually asked me to sit in the car and wait for them!!! I am sorry it was not a good experience, I had every intention for it to be. I know most of the exchange students ARE a wonderful experience.

E

There's always that exception to the rule. I feel for you on the one you experienced. I know that frustration you had in dealing with someone like this that was living in your own home. We had a few of those that we also had that were horrible. One of the three boys we had from France was much the same as you described and we were the 3rd home for him in less than 2 weeks. I soon found out why. He refused to do anything, learn anything, and constantly spit on anything, everything, and yes, EVERYONE! He thought it was hillarious to spit at me and my kids, and even my cats. The program we were involved in was that the kids were here and were not supposed to use thier own language, and were supposed to be given chores to do in your own home just as you do with your own children. Because he refused everything and was so rude, we gave him THE easiest thing in the house to do, feed the cats. That was even too hard for him. He actually had to lay on the floor to put the food and water in the dishes because it was so hard for him to do anything but lay around and think we were going to wait on him. I was shocked that he wasn't even able to bend over and do something so simple as that but, the spitting thing got him removed from my home very quickly. I was not going to subject my family to that when it was obvious he thought it was so funny and was never going to stop doing it.

It was hard for me to do that because I knew when I told them to get him out of our house that we had been his last chance and he was sent back to France. Thankfully he was the 3rd exchange student and not the 1st one or we never would have had as many as we did.

All the others were so much fun and most of the time they are. There's always one that slips past all the rules and things they check out.

Susan ~ I'm glad you are having such a great time and even though she may not use that gift you are planning for her right away, she will cherish it forever I'm sure. I kinda think you'll find she will use it though. Most of these kids tend to really love the things we as host parents give them and use them too. I'm sure she will probably want to keep the dress for a very long time that you made her too.

You know what would be really neat Susan? Anything you make for her while she's here like the dress you should take some of the fabric from each one and sew them all together to make her a small lap quilt that she could use all the time when she gets home. You could even embroider dates and things you did with her on the squares of each fabric. For example, a piece of the purple dress fabric, you could put Homecoming dance and the date, a piece of Christmas fabric with the date of something you may do with her like going to pick out a tree and the date you did that etc.

[ElaineR]

So true Vicki, so true. I am glad so many have had such GOOD experiences. It IS a wonderful program.
E

[Sew 'N Sane]

You know what would be really neat Susan? Anything you make for her while she's here like the dress you should take some of the fabric from each one and sew them all together to make her a small lap quilt that she could use all the time when she gets home. You could even embroider dates and things you did with her on the squares of each fabric. For example, a piece of the purple dress fabric, you could put Homecoming dance and the date, a piece of Christmas fabric with the date of something you may do with her like going to pick out a tree and the date you did that etc.

Vicki - that is a wonderful idea! She is such a sweet girl and loves to have me make things for her. It's nice having someone around who WANTS me to make things for them. My older daughter has me do things for her occasionally, but my younger daughter thinks all my ideas are 'gross'.

In addition to her dress, I have embroidered a special towel for her, embroidered her name on the back of her "dance" shirt for school and altered several clothing items for her. I guess her mom does lots of things for her also, so she loves having me help her with things. It's nice to feel wanted. :star:

[StitchinGrandma]

I'm glad you're having fun Susan. I know how much fun it can be. I'm still in touch with the girl we had from Georgia and in the past two years sadly, I've lost touch with our first boy from France. :( He was just too cute and fun to have around.

The girl from Georgia was SO excited about all our holidays they don't celebrate or do it differently. Because I had three growing boys and a husband who loved to eat I always cook a 25lb turkey for the holidays. She was in shock at ANY bird that big and then her face when she learned we were going to put something inside that bird to cook was just priceless. I always make my great-grandmothers stuffing and that alone was shocking to her that you would make something with all that bread and then *faint* mix it with your hands. :rofl: She was too cute. I let her do it all and the pictures I took of her and one of the Indonesian girls making the stuffing and mixing it were priceless. The girl from Georgia LOVED and I mean, LOVED bingo. She'd never heard of that in their country and once I took her to play, she wanted to go every single night. About six months later after she'd gone home I got an email from her because she was so excited while walking down the street with her friends at home that she started screaming and jumping around. Her friends thought she'd gone nuts. She saw a sign in a storefront that was new and announcing a new thing coming soon ~ Yup! BINGO!

It sounds like your girl is just as excited about stuff and I'm sure you'll keep in touch with her too.

[haydensmom]

The dress is so pretty! I wish I had those same issues, though! LOL! Well, I'm curvy, but in the "wrong" places. LOL!

[Cynelle]

Beautiful dress! I'd imagine it's something she will cherish for a very long time.

[chrissyw]

This is very pretty---I would die if I only had days to make a dress--I would at least need years!!!

[DancesWithKids4]

Amazing dress you are very talented! My family had a wonderful experience with a German exchange student that built lifelong relationships, enjoy!
Shannon

[mythreesons92]

You ROCK !!! The dress is fab, kudos to you for taking in an exchange student, and the positive influence you are in her life.

[lotto64]

I know she treasures it, it's beautiful & she's beautiful in it.

[danamom4]

What a beautiful dress, and a very lucky exchange student.

[debmac]

Susan,

I was wondering how everything is going with your exchange student. Mine has been her for a little over three months. It has been the best experience for me as well as my three daughters. I never thought that it was possible to love a complete stranger the way we do her. She is just like one of my own children. I am not looking forward to June when she goes back. I hope that everything is going as good for you.

Debbie

[Sew 'N Sane]

Susan,

I was wondering how everything is going with your exchange student. Mine has been her for a little over three months. It has been the best experience for me as well as my three daughters. I never thought that it was possible to love a complete stranger the way we do her. She is just like one of my own children. I am not looking forward to June when she goes back. I hope that everything is going as good for you.

Debbie

Debbie,
Unfortunately my sweet girl went home last week. She had already graduated from high school in Venezuela, so she decided to go home and get started on college. Her parents came in for a week and stayed with us. It was wonderful getting to know them. By the time they left, I was not only sad to lose my "daughter", but her parents also. They were such delightful people. Now we just need to save our pennies so that we can go visit them.

[debmac]

My "daughter's" parents and brother are coming during spring break. I can hardly wait to meet them. They have got to be special people to have such a wonderful daughter. She is a junior this year. I would love for her to stay here for her senior year. Are you going to be a host family again?