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A look inside - WVU Children's Hospital Hem/Onc Suprise Box

12/11/2016

West Virginia University Children's Hospital is one of our newest recipients of a hematology/oncology unit surprise box!

Their hospital was selected in honor of Matthew Rose, who was not only a gown receipient and patient at their facility, but the cousin of our former Treasurer.

Matthew "Super Matt" passed away in 2014 after a six year battle on and off again battle with cancer. He had been diagnosed with a Wilms Tumor in 2008 on his right kidney. His cancer relapsed three times. He was treated both at a hospital more local to our location, but also West Virginia University Children's Hospital.

This is Matthew, when he passed away he not only left behind his parents, but his brother Troy as well. We made Troy a Freckles that matched Matthew's gown before he passed away.

Below shows the items that were included inside the surprise box that we sent to WVU Children's Hospital.

Beads of Courage Bead Bags
Chemotherapy Bag Covers
Fabric Headbands
Reusable Face Masks
Band-Aids
Stickers

The first four items were all made from remnant fabric from gown requests and the last two are items that have been donated throughout the year just for this specific collection we do all the time.

It isn't much in comparison to what these children and teens go through, but we hope they find comfort in the little things...because not only are complete strangers thinking about them, but they're in their corner cheering them on!

We're also working on getting together our Tween & Teen Program that has been officially announced on our Facebook Page, and will be live on our website here shortly as well. This program has two sides that is recognizes the unmet needs of children in the hospital that are over the age of 10 years old, but it is also in honor and memory of another local cancer warrior her that passed away in 2012.

There will be more to come soon on that - and definitely new opportunities to help support Gracie's Gowns through this program between sewing opportunities, collection drives, and even packaging days.

No Fabric Wasted ~ Paying it Forward

9/30/2014

This year we've worked on some more Beads of Courage bead bags and we were looking forward to donating them to the table at CureFest last weekend, but they were not in attendance this year. So instead we are mailing them back to the main office of Beads of Courage and cannot wait for them to be distributed to children participating in the program across the United States and the world.

Each bag we make is from left over pieces of fabric from our gowns. Even though they won't make it to the same kiddos we have made gowns for (or by sheer luck some might) it is still a special honor to use the fabric we've received through donations or purchased with donations to benefit another great organization.

In this batch (yes, there will be more) is a total of 25 bead bags and if you'd like to make some from your own fabric remnants here is the link for the directions and more information:
http://www.beadsofcourage.org/pages/quilters.htm

This is a great project for Fat Quarters and pieces of fabric similar in size. The labels are supplied by Beads of Courage as well and they really do make the bags look so spiffy! Their labels is what actually made me want to get labels made for our gowns, they just have a more professional feel to them with a label.

Each bag is lined with a fabric of your choice and the seam once turned is sewed together on the bottom of the lining fabric, so no one really sees it (but still keep it pretty). I like using coordinating fabrics, plus it helps dwindle down the "stash" of fabrics I have here taking up space...so I can buy more...just kidding (maybe only halfway kidding). You can also use the same fabric you did for the outside of the bag as well.

Here is what I use for the drawstrings - it isn't cording and for the life of me, I can't remember what it is actually called. Once I purchase more, I will make sure to look at the name of it and post it as a comment to this blog posting. Normally I get it from Joanns with a coupon, it doesn't cost very much then, but you need 26" per bag, so I try to buy whatever they have. The last few times I have been in our local store, they haven't had any though.

Below are the close-ups of the fabrics we used for this batch of Beads of Courage bead bags.
Do you see the fabric we used for your child's gown? If so, which one?

These will go out in tomorrow's mail and should arrive before the end of the week - once again it has been a pleasure working on these bead bags and we can't wait to finish up another batch!

~ Gracie's Gowns

Precious Angel Bears - Eddie and Sofia

4/18/2014

Remember back to last month when we made Lucy's bunny?

We decided this was a great idea and that we would continue to do such gowns for the children that gowns were requested for, but unfortunately passed away before their gown was able to be made and sent to them.

The first of the three I have been working on is going to the Livingston Family in memory and honor of their son Eddie who passed away from Neuroblastoma in 2013.

His nickname was "Superman" and his gown was actually requested by a mutual friend of the family and myself. Isn't he such a handsome little man? I bet he is an even more precious angel - flying around with his cape and all...having all kinds of fun like little boys should!

We purchased the superman fabric, but two days after having his fabric Eddie passed away, so the special bear below will be headed to his family in Florida.

The second of the three is going to the Scott family in honor and memory of precious Sofia who passed away in March (on my little man's birthday actually) from complications with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type I.

Her gown was requested by a friend of the family, who also asked that we still send her gown to them as a keepsake. Once again, we decided to make an angel gown with a bear to be sent to them.

And here is the beautiful princess Sofia.

Her angel bear and gown will be making it's way home this weekend as well. Her gown was completed (in her size), but wasn't able to be sent before we learned she had passed away.

So, we sized it down to fit the teddy bear, below is her angel bear. It didn't quite want to sit up on it's own - hence the kinda of squished look in the photo.

Will be working on getting the third one done and posted - it is such an honor to make this tributes to the families we've received requests for and while we weren't able to provide their child with a gown to wear throughout their journey, at least we now have a way to honor their fight.

To the Livingston and Scott families - we are still praying for each of your every day...and while the loss of a child is beyond all words and the hurt will always still be there in many ways, we pray each day you find a little more peace, a little more comfort and a little more love from those surrounding you in prayer.

Much love and many blessings,
Gracie's Gowns

A Little Break in Routine

4/15/2014

Okay - so old picture, but had to use something with the sewing machine. I love sewing these hospital gowns, I love sewing them for your little ones and seeing their smiling faces and knowing how it can literally change a hospital experience from bad to at least tolerable.

Sometimes though, I have to break the routine of making gowns and work on other projects, just to keep from crying over how many precious little ones are in need of such an item. It breaks my heart in so many pieces at times, that I have to sit back and remember how much of a blessing each child is, how they have changed the lives of those around them...how they fight, just to make it through another day and while yes, the odds are usually stacked against them, they inspire others to do such amazing things - like Gracie's Gowns and so many other organizations!

One of the items that have been done and still being worked on were these squishy little monsters! We sold them over the course of a couple days in order to raise shipping funds for gowns.

I am happy to say they are almost all done and out in the mail (still have maybe 7 more in total to make I believe). Here is some of the ones that went out last week, as I didn't get pictures of the previous ones made to post. My apologies on that...they are too cute not to picture and post.

These guys come from leftover minky fabric that I have from making millions of blankets over the last few years I have been making for friends and family.

One of the other items that get worked on in those little breaks are some bags for Beads of Courage - I love making these little bags from leftover pieces from gowns!

They are easy enough to make and still give that feeling of inspiration and fulfillment I suppose in knowing the fabric we use won't go to waste and can brighten the days of so many other children too.

This year we have 17 bags made so far to donate to Beads of Courage and will probably have close to 50 by the time the donation is ready to be made. We are hoping to be able to donate them to our local hospital with a Beads of Courage program.

Lastly, whenever I really want to venture out into my sewing fun - I go back to making little items from leftover pieces of fabric and working through my own personal fabric stash and creating other items that we will be taking with us for our craft show in October - last year we raised $900 for Gracie's Gowns with items made from leftover pieces and whatever fabric I had on hand - this year we're hoping to meet and exceed that amount...especially with the Christmas Box Program coming up at that time of the year as well. Right now we've loaded the items into an etsy store (which will be put in vacation the Thursday before the show) to try and sell some of the items throughout the year with all the money being put into our shipping expenses. So here is the etsy mini with links in case you want to browse it!

With all that fun being said and shown - no worries, gowns are still being made, still being sent out and Gracie's Gowns is rolling right along like we always do. Sometimes just a little slower than normal, because we are in the process of moving and my health has gotten a little "interesting" for lack of a better word, but we are still upholding and maintaining our mission to provide every child we can a special hospital gown of their own to wear while in treatments, surgeries and hospital stays!

Much Love and Many Blessings,
Jessica

First Week of Winners - Spring Raffle

4/8/2014

Our first week of winners and a special drawing winner have already happened!! So exciting and the majority of these items have already been mailed out too - thanks to some extra running around we've had to do in our personal world and was able to swing by the post office on those trips too.
We're excited to start another week of winners - after I draw today's winner - we still have 22 awesome days of prizes left to give away and another special drawing prize if we can still 200 tickets in total (we're at 117 right now). Lots of great Pampered Chef and Scentsy items are being given away and you're not going to want to miss out on the upcoming prizes for sure!

Our first winner was Debbie - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were sponsored by Marie Snyder - a local Pampered Chef consultant to Gracie's Gowns.

You can find Marie's business page on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/PampChefLady

And her business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/foodisfun

Our third winner was Patricia - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were donated by Audra Smith - a Pampered Chef consultant that is close friends with a gown recipient's family.

Audra's business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/audra

Our fifth winner was Ellen - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were sponsored by Marie Snyder - a local Pampered Chef consultant to Gracie's Gowns.

You can find Marie's business page on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/PampChefLady

And her business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/foodisfun

Our seventh winner was Becky - her items were from The Pampered Chef!

The items for this day in the raffle were donated by Audra Smith - a Pampered Chef consultant that is close friends with a gown recipient's family.

Audra's business website is:
www.pamperedchef.biz/audra

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE!!

To purchase your ticket(s) you can visit our website under the events tab - www.graciesgowns.org/events.html
and purchase them there using the Add to Cart button through PayPal.

A Time to Remember - Two Years

3/25/2014

This past weekend we celebrated our two year anniversary in making hospital gowns for children across the United States and around the globe. What a great accomplishment, what an amazing experience, what a blessing for my own life the past two years have been (even with the crazy times)...but we also took the time this year to celebrate the lives of the children we have made gowns for and remember those that have passed away over the past two years.

Each child we made a gown for that traded in their super hero capes for angel wings had a lantern with their name, date of birth, date the became an angel, diagnosis and anything else the family, us, or the person who purchased the lantern in their memory wanted to say on it.

This year we released 45 lanterns - there were a few duplicates from where Gracie's Gowns had a lantern for the child and someone else wanted to purchase a lantern in memory as well, but overall there was one lantern per child. We had a few lanterns as well for children that we did not make a gown for, but were warriors as well - and we gladly added remembering their courage, strength and smiles to our ceremony.

Due to some weather related issues, we started later, but lanterns went in the water around 8:00 p.m. and the final one went out about 10:00 p.m. It was a very cold night, but watching the lanterns float in the water, seeing their reflections and just how they illuminated the water was breath-taking. Even more so, it was very, very emotional for me. Too have a visual of the children that lose their lives battling illness was heart-breaking...to know that this is only the children our organization has personally worked with in two years was devastating. There are so many more children who pass away each day, week, month and year that if we lit a lantern for each of them - we'd have to worry about them catching themselves on fire...there wouldn't be enough water for them all to float.

Watching the candles go out was probably the most emotional part of the whole night.

The lanterns - if the wind didn't blow them out - started to sink as they were wet. They are biodegradable, which is the point for them to get wet and sink/fall apart/etc. But as they did...you would see this light, barely above the water...like it was holding on unto the last second. Fighting until the very end to stay shining. They flickered, almost went out, flickered some more, got brighter and held on...and then once the water came closer, the flame disappeared without any warning. Just like our little warriors.

They fight until the very end, giving it 100% and then some - they have so many close calls and yet still manage to pull through and almost make a complete turn around and then...in a blink of an eye, they are gone.

Here is all of the lanterns we released out in the water - a beautiful tribute and celebration of their life.

Over the next few months, I will be creating an angels/in memory of page here on our website. It is my hope to get each child that we know has become an angel and learn about the ones we do not already know, on that page with their parents permission and help.

This will become an annual event for Gracie's Gowns - and for those that may not be able to attend at night, it is in my plans to do a balloon release during the day and make that a family event as well.

To view all the photos and lanterns from the event - you can visit this link below:

Gracie's Gowns Two Year Anniversary Lantern Release

Fabric with Lots of Love - Lilahroo's

3/12/2014

I have the wonderful opportunity to help out another great organization with some fabric to continue their mission. This time it is for Lilahroo's! Monica makes these precious, cozy, comfy and just wonderful blankets for children fighting medical challenges.

Do we have one? No - but my, oh my, you can just see from her photos and stories of children that have received one just how comfy they are! As someone who has made blankets for years, these are great quality, with wonderful fabrics. Cozy flannel on top and super soft minky on the back...perfect blanket ingredients!

Here is Autumn with her gown and Lilahroo while at her clinic appointment! Doesn't she look super cozy there?!

There website to learn more about what they do, who they are, how to support and even all the stories from families that have received a blanket from Lilahroo's is:

http://www.lilahroos.com/

They are also on Facebook at:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lilahroos/621064347914209

So since the kiddos and I are getting a lot closer to moving time and we've been holding onto some of these fabrics for a while now, without any requests to use them for, here are the cozy flannels we had to send Monica's way and even a minky fabric too:

They will be on their way shortly - as in probably tomorrow's mail!!
Can't wait to see what little ones get wrapped up in a cozy blankie made from these fabrics.

Gracie's Gowns Special Project for Maggie's Sticker Box

11/2/2013

Gracie's Gowns made the very first personalized gown in April of 2013. It was given to a precious little princess in Ohio named Maggie.

She was diagnosed with a Wilm's Tumor and has been through many surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation therapy and many other therapies and treatments as well. We met Maggie's family through a marriage conference event and have just made her family since then a part of our own family.

Maggie being the little princess and fashionita she is would not settle for less then princess level care and fun while in the hospital. She has been known to wear tutus with her hospital gown, butterfly wings, crowns, big flowers on headbands and so much more. More recently they pharmacy started putting stickers on her chemo to make it "princess perfect" and now because of Maggie the pharmacy wants to do it for ALL the children on the hematology/oncology unit.

That being said - Maggie now has a mission called Maggie's Sticker Box and of course we want to help her out in a big way! So we've started to collect stickers in a large box to be the start of Maggie's Sticker Box. So if you have any stickers for boys of girls, seasonal or just for fun, characters or just cute animals send them our way and we will include them in our box.

Awesome right?! There is nothing more exciting to me than children helping children get through the toughest and hardest moments of their lives. And what a simple, but meaningful mission Maggie has! So below is our box that we are going to fill up with everyone's help and the start of our sticker collection drive for Maggie's Sticker Box!

Stickers can be mailed to:
Gracie's Gowns
159 Ordinary Road
Mineral, VA 23117

The hospital they will be used at is Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio - they will be used on the hematology/oncology unit! We'd love to have our box filled and mailed by Christmas to Maggie and her family so they can be used over the holiday season - when of course besides birthdays is the worst time to ever be in the hospital!

CureFest 2013

11/2/2013

On September 1st, 2013 - Gracie's Gowns participated in CureFest for Childhood Cancer on the National Mall in Washington D.C. with 52 other organizations. We banded together for the day and there on out to advocate for pediatric cancer awareness, research, treatments and cures.
The event was co-hosted by Journey 4 A Cure and theTruth365 - both have done amazing things for children battling and surviving cancer. They not only bring awareness and research funding, but they get to you on a personal level - they tell each child's story, I'm sorry I need to rephrase that - they have each child tell THEIR story, each family share their experience in ALL aspects of the cancer world, the successes and even more heartbreaking, the losses. They show the real statistics of the pediatric cancer world and if you read each of them...it will change your life forever.

At CureFest they had several speakers - parents, siblings, organization representatives...but the ones that shook you the most were the children.

Gabriella was one of those children - her speech had you laughing at one minutes, inspired throughout and in tears over the reality of what cancer does to children. Her speech was beyond motivational - there was no way you could hear her give "the cold hard facts" without making it your mission to do something to make a difference.

I am posting her here, because this past weekend, Gabriella lost her battle very suddenly to a brain tumor. She was diagnosed in November of 2012 and passed away October 26, 2013. She made the last year of her life a mission, a legacy even...to show Virginia and the world they HAVE to do something to improve the lives of children battling cancer, to "give them their childhood" to not only treat, but cure the cancers and in a way that doesn't rob them of the life they deserve. She raised funding for the Make-A-Wish foundation after she was granted the wish to go to Paris, France with her family - she knew that other children deserved the chance to have that one lasting memory with their families. She helped raise over $250,000 for Make-A-Wish in just one campaign.

Gabriella - know that you are deeply missed, but never forgotten! You have impacted and changed so many lives that can only be counted by God. Your parents will continue your work, those that are touched by you have been inspired to do the same as well. We may never do it as great as you did, but we will always try our hardest.

Throughout the day we gave away 50 goodie bags to those that stopped by our table - here is a collage of the items that were included. Knowing we were headed to this event, simply because it was local enough to us to do so, I invited other organizations and businesses to contribute to our bags and help spread the word about who they are and what they do.

Healing Helpers participated with their Heart Key Chains that they also embroidered a Yellow Ribbon on.

Socks4Surgery participated with their information and magnets.

Pink Door Fabrics sent some quilting bundles of fabric - Chelsea and Charlie have been amazing with donating and letting me purchase fabric at a lesser cost for gowns.

Bee Brave sent their mini stress relievers - which if you remember from our blog on them, they were made from scraps of fabric from our gowns.

We of course included our bracelets and information.

Hollie is a Thirty-One Consultant and contributed her information and nail files from Thirty-One Gifts, she also contributed our raffle item for the day too!

The Hensons contributed their information about Zeal for Life (will update this with their website, once I have it again, it is not with me right now).

Tricia contributed her Pediatric Cancer Awareness bows! One of which was given to Gabriella when we met her. She wanted it so bad and decided it looked great on her dress for the day!

THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to our bags! I know each item was well received!

One of the best moments was meeting The Beltran family! We had been working on these freckles for his siblings and when I found out that they were going to be at CureFest, I just knew I had to get them done.

Dominic was a local little guy that passed away from cancer - he loved superman so the fabric was made with superman and each one had a different color for the eyes, arms, legs and stomach and then we embroidered his name in gold.

This is the page they created for Dominic on Facebook and they are continuing their efforts for pediatric cancer research, awareness and advocacy!

https://www.facebook.com/Staystrong4dom

Here are the rest of our photos from CureFest for those who want to see some of them. I hope you enjoy them and check out all the amazing pages and organizations we've posted on the blog.

Healing Helpers: Comfort, Education and Friendship

11/2/2013

I have been wanting to spotlight Healing Helpers for a long time now...but as is with life, it gets in the way and well I am finally at the library, without kiddos and can sit down and write out a couple of blogs...so I am starting with them before it closes today.

On a personal level and a professional level I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE...did I mention LOVE? Healing Helpers! Lani-Lee and Michael and all their precious children have become so near and dear to me over the last year and some it isn't funny.

The idea of using stuffed animals, which ever child has at least one they MUST drag with them everywhere they go, or at least have for naps and bedtime and turning them into a teaching tool for special needs and medically complex children is fantastic! They are practical, functional and beyond all else really help show your child (when and how they can understand) what they have been through in life. This is my son and his Healing Helper piggie (that he calls Piggie or Oinker depending on his mood I suppose). David was the first kiddo to receive one with an Autism heart - because that is his diagnosis and what he battles everyday, he has had surgery and leg braces, but this is what mattered most to me - his heart...the soul of who he is. His diagnosis does not define him, rather he defines it and it helps make him the special little-big man that he is! David loves his piggie and enjoys showing the heart off to others, showing his name and the Thomas the Train pouch inside it (he loves Thomas the Train too) and just snuggling with it at night. It has become his friend when he is hurt or we have to go to specialist we haven't been too before.

So that was on the personal level - oh plus they are so awesome to talk to on the phone and seriously spent HOURS of time with me on the phone when things went all crazy in July here with Gracie's Gowns. They were my rock, they really helped get me through that week at times!

Now professionally - we have teamed up with Healing Helpers in making smaller "animal sized" hospital gowns. These are ordered through Healing Helpers when someone orders one or just orders the gown if they already have one. This was the first Healing Helpers gown and of course was made for precious Annabelle when she had her most recent open heart surgery. It matched the gown that we made for Annabelle to wear. Since then we have made some others - and have a couple more to make as well. So I am just going to share some of the picture that they've posted of the gowns with and without their Healing Helpers.

To learn more about Healing Helpers or to even inquire and place an order for one, please visit their links below:

Website: http://www.healinghelpers147.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/healinghelpers
Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/healinghelpers

They also accept donations of materials, like new or new stuffed animals and monetary donations as well. They have a sponsorship program too and are looking to do so many more great things in the future with Healing Helpers!
So stop by and see how you can help them out too! That is how I first was connected with them was through donating stuffed animals and fabric scraps from gowns and other projects to be used for their pouches!