Honoring Emma

In a couple weeks a dear friend of mine will be struggling quite a bit. On Sept. 21st last year her sweet baby girl was still born. She was only one pound and would have been her first daughter (she has two amazing little boys). She has had her share of struggles. Her first son was diagnosed with cancer shortly after birth, but beat it and it doing wonderfully. Her second son was born with a cleft palate and they have had their share of surgeries and struggles with that. Then, on top of it all, she lost her little Emma. In her memory, Marissa wanted to start a foundation that would allow mothers going through similar experiences to avoid some of the troubles she did. You see, they don't make burial gowns for micro preemies. The few companies that DO make them sell them for around $30 and charge $50 for overnighting them, which almost everyone must do. Poor Marissa had to send her mom to Build A Bear to look for a wedding dress that might work, but even those were too big! So, we got a group of ladies together the other night and got down to sewing. Marissa doesn't sew, and neither do many of the ladies who came, but we still got a lot done! She calls her foundation Emma's Ensembles. If you'd like to donate money, there is a link on her website. We are making dresses and donating them to local hospitals and funeral homes. As soon as I find a pattern I like, we are going to make boy clothing as well. If you'd be interested in donating fabric or lace or white trim, etc., send me an e-mail and I'll give you an address to send them to. I'm so happy to be part of something so wonderful. It takes a truly great person to take their grief and turn it into a blessing for others. Here's some pictures of our fun sewing night:

The dress in the middle is one that was donated to her by the hospital to use as a burial gown.

This is a pattern I made up . It is open in the back and we are going to add some ribbon or velcro closures. They are generally too fragile to dress, so this makes it easier.

Here are some of the remarkable ladies who joined us to sew!

This is Emma's mom, Marissa. She's an incredible example of quiet strength for me. She told me that she hasn't sewn since 7th grade, but look what an amazing job she did!

As soon as I figure out the best way to do it, I will post a pattern for the dress. They are scarcely 10" tall so the pattern should print out on one page. That way, anyone who would like to donate dresses to their local area can have a pattern.

Please stop by her blog and read about her wonderful story! I love that sewing gives me an opportunity to serve others and forget about myself for a while.

~Happy Sewing~