Hamilton Funeral Home, Des Moines, Iowa

We were able to deliver over 70 AngelGown and Cap sets and AngelBlankets to Holly Miller at Hamilton Funeral Home in Des Moines Iowa in October.



Jodi Bloom

Jodi Bloom graciously donated her mother's 62 year old wedding dress to the Angels.  

Seamstress Karen was able to make so many sweet Gown and Cap sets from this dress.

I apologize that the lighting makes the fabric look completely different in the 'before' and in the 'after'.

It always humbles me to think that the gift of a wedding dress can result in such a blessing to so
many.

Erin Pierce

Yesterday was our monthly meeting (albeit, a bit late) and everything completed in the last month was brought in.   During the day's sew-in, we made the basic AngelGown, we embellished, we finished Caps, we shared bread, we talked, we laughed, and we even made it through the entire planned agenda with our allotted meeting time extended only 15 minutes!

I have so much to share as everyone brought in all of the Angel items they completed since the last meeting!  Ruby, our newest seamstress, completed an amazing 34 AngelGown and AngelCap sets.  And every one of the sets is simply beautiful!  I will have to step up my game as she completed more than the rest of us.

Over the next several days, I will publish the results of our month's work...  each will be more precious than the last.

 
 











Just 3 AngelGowns that Karen completed from one of Erin P's dresses.







These Gowns were also completed from one of  Erin's dresses.

















Ruby made these 3 from another of Erin's dresses......
















And we are not done; there is so much more we will be making from the gifts we were blessed with from Erin P.  Her generous heart's donation of 10 dresses will cloth so many tiny Angels.

The next couple months may be a bit slow for our completion of AngelGowns, due to the holidays, but the Angels still need us so we will keep plugging away.

Behind the scenes...

Today, some incredible seamstresses gave up just a little more of their time and met to do a some AngelGown bonding, chatting, eating, laughing, cutting, sewing, and sorting.
 
I had been involved in an extended, and very emotional, chat with our pool contractor prior to gathering time (please know it was good emotion - I received some good info and ended up bawling my eyes out) so I was barely ready (maybe even a bit of "not ready") when the first seamstresses arrived.  The tools of our trade were not laid out, my hair was not combed, and I was sweaty from being outside in the sun for so long....

And, yes, it could get worse....

Not only did I not answer ONE text from a nearly lost team of seamstresses, I neglected to answer text #TWO from our late arrival.

I was so very remiss as a hostess that Karen even ended up taking the photos.   Bless her heart!!  And all of this AFTER she presented me with this gorgeous living gift when I greeted Karen at the door.




Thank you Karen!  I am truly touched by your loving heart.

I am pleased to say that everyone graciously ignored my shortcomings (ok, maybe there WAS a bit of good natured teasing!) and seemed willing to return!!

However, I was able to pull off a fun location for lunch.  The reactions to this event ranged from feeling a little silly, maybe even childish...  but deep down, mostly excited to have this very special booth in the restaurant. Yes, we are sitting in a restaurant.... in a booth.... in a 1957 Chevy!!  To the left of us is a vintage sewing machine and the old vintage drive-in movie speakers.   AND, we all received a cookie!!

Before lunch, our time was spent preparing wedding dresses for their transformation.  After our exciting lunch, we worked the completed AngelGowns, AngelCaps, and AngelWraps....  all needing to be sorted and prepared for shipping.



L2R:  Ruby, Jacki, Limbania, Ginger. 
We sorted the AngelGowns by size and attached coordinating AngelCaps.
 



Some of Ginger's handiwork! 
Bless her heart for doing pretty much ALL of our handsewing.

At the end of the day, I believe that we were all very pleased with our conversation, productivity, laughing...  and I know we were all THRILLED with the AngelBlankets and the 50 sets of AngelGowns/AngelCaps we perpared for delivery to hospitals in Des Moines, Iowa next month.

Each stack of six AngelBlankets and each coluum of 25 AngelGown/AngelCaps will be delivered to two Des Moines Iowa hospitals in October.

Hand crocheted by Nadine H.



Amazing gifts from the heart: 
Donated wedding dresses and heartfelt labor to transform the dresses into AngelGowns and AngelCaps.

I will speak for all of us when I say that AngelGowns has been a blessing to each and every one of us behind the scenes...  the giving of such a personal and life changing wedding dress, the joys we receive from giving of a generous heart, the new friends I have met, the camaraderie between the donators and the seamstresses, and the new experiences in which we are engaged is simply priceless.

More gowns and bonnets for the Angels....

Seamstress Karen Lange has been a busy girl!!

Erin P's huge heart!

Two more wedding dresses...   all from Erin P!!  What an amazing gift

 

 

The dress above will be sewn seamstress Karen Lange. 

 

 

The above dress will be sewn by seamstress Ruby Obrien.

2 more helping hands!

I am thrilled to announce that Ruby Obrien has joined the AngelGowns team!  Ruby has experience sewing doll clothing and brings a lot of skill with her.  She also lives in the Phoenix area and is a very welcome addition.

Our team is currently as follows:

Jacki Cohoon, Ambassasor and seamstress (email)
Karen Lange, seamstress
Ginger Gabster, hand sewing
Ruby Obrien, seamstress

Thank you so very much, ladies, for participating in this important project.  And thank you to your husbands for supporting your decision.

Giving and giving...

Two more dresses from Erin P!!  

 

 

These dresses will be transformed by seamstress Karen Lange.

From seamstress Karen L, Avondale, AZ.

Donated by Hope's Closet in Goodyear, AZ

Bless you and thank you to

Hope's Closet in Goodyear, AZ

for their donation of beautiful dresses to the Angels!!

Hope's Closet

Hope's Closet

An amazing day!

I needed some notions from Joann's for the next batch of Angel items and there was an offered 70% OFF NOTIONS coupon today....  simply too good to pass up. DH and I had decided to stop for lunch while we were out. 

At the last minute, Karen L, the new AngelGowns seamstress, contacted me about meeting at Joann's to discuss her role and her next step. 

I threw a wedding dress, embellishments, trim, lace, ribbon, organza, and a few other surprises in a bag on my way out the door.   DH and I ate a leisurely lunch until Karen, with her hubby, arrived. 

From the moment she sat down, we did not stop talking...  and not all about AngelGowns either.  I can not tell you the number of commonalities we discovered about each other and even our hubbies found a large number of common interests.

We did get to AngelGowns, talked about the vision and goal, and how to get there.  Of course, as in any good conversation, it did not go in a straight path.  There were many, many curves, detours, and complete derailments in our topics, but I think we covered everything we needed to.

Suddenly, we decided to leave the DHs at the lunch table with one car and Karen and I took off in the other car and headed to Joann's.  The boys were supposed to follow once the bill was paid :).

We talked, we shopped, we made plans, and we continued to be surprised at the things we have in common, right down to the type of quilting machines and tables we have!

Some things are just meant to be.

Welcome Karen!