Pillowcase Dresses Shipped To Naked Orphan Girls In Haiti

Pillowcase Dresses Shipped To Naked Orphan Girls In Haiti

How To Make A Pillowcase Dress

By PRINCESS PEOPLES

            “Threads of Love” project makes thousands of dresses made out of pillowcases for naked Haitian girls living in orphanages.

The number of Haitian orphans has increased tremendously after the January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake.  There are many issues that orphanages in Haiti are facing, including meeting the basic needs of orphan girls and infants. 

Thousands of little girls living in orphanages in Haiti could not go outside to eat or play nor could they attend school or church without wearing a dress.  The idea was to create dresses made out of pillowcases to ship to orphan girls in Haiti. The idea of making a dress out of a pillowcase came from Beverly Henson, a participant at Helen S. Mills Senior Multipurpose Facility. 

Henson mentioned her idea to Lila Womack, life enrichment coordinator at Helen S. Mills Senior Multipurpose Facility.  Womack took Henson’s idea and partnered with the Haiti Care Mission, an independent Christian mission that was started by Jon and Anne Obermeyer.

The Obermeyer’s were inspired to start “Threads of Love” after witnessing little girls standing in doorways or behind walls without clothing during their trips to Haiti.

Womack started leading and coordinating “Threads of Love”, a project organized through the Haiti Care Mission that provides pillowcase dresses, pinless diapers and comfort quilts to orphans and poor children in Haiti.

“The request from orphanages in Haiti was more than 30,000 dresses.  At the time that’s what they needed,” Womack said.

The pillowcase dress challenge

During Mills 3-mile Walk and Health Fair Joan P. Garner, commissioner of Fulton County, challenged Womack and seniors, participants at Helen S. Mills Senior Multipurpose Facility, to make 5,000 dresses.  Womack and Mills seniors took Garner’s challenge and got to work.

The word began to spread about “Threads of Love” around the Atlanta metro area and throughout Georgia.  “So, we put the word out.  We didn’t use social media at all,” Womack said.  “It just took off.  It really took off.  We had people sewing in six other states, just by word of mouth.”

Hundreds of pillowcase dresses were sent to Mills Seniors from Washington, D.C., and six states including Tennessee, California, Florida, Alabama, Kentucky and Arkansas.  Several businesses, organizations, churches and hospitals made donations and volunteered to help “Threads of Love” reach its goal.

Seamstresses Diane Rutan made 170 dresses; Annette Owens made 300 dresses and Amanda Holland made 500 dresses with the help of the “construction crew” that did most of the cutting, ironing and sewing of buttons on the dresses.

“It really was a team effort, we couldn’t have done it without each other,” Holland said.  “As soon as you finished one dress, it was so pretty, you had to start on another, you had to start on the next one.”

A shocking celebration

            Starting in May 2011 and ending on October 1, 2011 “Threads of Love” surpassed its goal by making 5,167 pillowcase dresses.  The seniors said they were all shocked when the total number was announced.

“It was just so rewarding, and when you look at the pictures of the kids, you think one of these kids will be wearing one of my dresses,” Owens said.

Although orphanages in Haiti are still in need and the “Threads of Love” project in Atlanta has ended, many people are still asking about “Threads of Love” and making pillowcase donations to the Haiti Care Mission.

“For me it changed my life,” Womack said.  “So, 5,167 little girls can now move around. So, we didn’t just give them dresses, we changed lives and that’s what was so touching to us.  You can make a difference with just one simple gesture of kindness.  We did it and we are still so very proud of it.”