Clothes for baby Luke

Last week I received emails from a woman who had lost her son, Luke, at 22 weeks and was working on making him some clothes. We sent several several emails back and forth. She sent me pictures of the service and the clothing she had made for him and she gave me permission to share some of this with you:

Hi Stacy,
In all my 43 years of life and 22 years as a mom, I never would have imagined that I would have an angel baby.  I find great comfort knowing that I am not alone in this world. We laid my little guy to rest today. It was SUCH a beautiful celebration. 
We took pictures, filmed it, and played music. I read a poem to him. I put pictures of us inside his little casket. It was so tiny. My oldest made a card the size of his casket and we all got a chance to write something to him. At the cemetery, we released the balloons.  
I did include a couple of pictures of his casket all dressed and a picture from his ceremony today. They should be closer to the bottom of the pictures. I hope it is OK to share.  
I am totally in love with the kimono pattern. You did an excellent job creating the pattern. It is top notch in my book. I love the little angel hat. I made one for the bear. My husband loved everything. He (and the funeral director) was so touched by the layette set.  
Thanks again for the patterns.  It is very therapeutic for my emotions to make his clothes.  

Tasha

Link for pattern for pants

Such sweet tiny booties!

You can find the kimono pattern HERE

I really love the hat for this bear. 

And this poem is beautiful: 

I cannot even tell you how reading these emails has felt. There is the familiar ache of knowing another Mommy is missing her baby. And there is an amazing feeling of being able to help someone in a time when there really is very little most people can do to help. THIS is why I do work for angels...why I make clothes, why I keep a whole closet in my house of tiny clothes, why I go out at odd hours to photograph angels, why I spend hours editing and worrying if the editing is done well enough (editing is really the hardest part for me), and why I share stories like this. It is, emotionally, hard work sometimes. But knowing you've been able to help someone in their time of need makes it all worth it.

Small Diaper Pattern

Small Diaper Pattern

Sewn Pattern

18-25 week size

These finished diapers measure about 5" top to bottom, 1 1/4" at the crotch, and 5 1/2 " across the long tabs

We like to use 1 1/2" (or size 2) safety pins to close the diapers. But if you have a way that might be better that's fine too.

Small Diaper Pattern PDF

Instructions:

1. Print/cut out diaper pattern

2. With fabric folded right sides together, trace pattern onto wrong side of fabric
3. Cut diaper out

4. Sew 1/4" seam around diaper - right sides of fabric should be together

5. Trim off excess fabric

6. Turn diaper inside out so the right sides are out.

7. Iron/Press diaper

8. Top stitch diaper

9. Fold tabs in and safety pin together

For our large diaper pattern click HERE

Our pattern is loosely based off of several different patterns:
Skip To My Lou
Doll Diapers
Sizing as compared to Teeny Tears

and also some hand drawn patterns that I'm afraid I cannot link to as they're not anywhere online.
Thank you for your inspiration! Also, special thanks to the volunteers who helped write and test the patterns.

Terms of Use

We ask that our patterns/products made from these patterns not be sold. We create our patterns free of charge because we believe in providing clothes for angel babies free of charge for families who need them.

There are no stipulations on our patterns. Please feel free to use them and share them. We love to be inspired by seeing others work from our patterns and if you are interested in sharing pictures or stories with us email us at lilysangelcloset@gmail.com.

New Patterns and Terms of Use

Have you noticed we have some new patterns up?

Taylor Gown
Large Size Diapers
Small Size Diapers

We're working on getting a few more up too.

Please note:
I am NOT trying to take over any other organizations patterns or ideas. I have run into a little trouble with some other organizations feeling we're not giving them the credit they deserve for their patterns. I realize that every pattern has it's own terms of use but in trying to coordinate donations from many different people and places I can't always keep track of which patterns are used.

We love getting all kinds of donations and gladly welcome any and all patterns, but please be sure that you follow the terms of use on the patterns you use. If you need to add cards, give an account, etc - please do that before you give them to Lily's Angel Closet. We will always pass on any cards or information that come in with your donations.

Here are our terms of use for ALL our* patterns:
1. These patterns and the products they make should not be for sale. They were created and shared freely and we ask that they remain that way.
2. We require no account of the use of these patterns. Use them and share them freely! However, if you'd like to share what you've done with our patterns you can email stories and/or pictures to lilysangelcloset@gmail.com.

*All patterns on lilysangelcloset.blogspot.com and loveyoumorethanabus.blogspot.com count as our patterns - since I wrote the patterns on the bus blog too.

If you have any questions about any of this please email lilysangelcloset.blogspot.com and we'll get it all figured out.

Thank you to all the people who have put so much time and effort into getting these new patterns up. There are more in the works and it's turning out to be a lot more work than I realized it would be. I greatly appreciate those who have been helping me with testing and pattern writing and....well, I've had a lot of help lately, and I'm grateful for it.

Large Diaper Pattern

Large Diaper Pattern

Sewn

26-30 week size

These diapers finished measure about 7" top to bottom, 1 1/2" at the crotch, and 7 1/2" across the long tabs.

We like to use 1 1/2" (or size 2) safety pins to close the diapers. But if you have a way that might be better that's fine too.

Large Diaper Pattern PDF

Instructions:

1. Print/cut out diaper pattern

2. With fabric folded right sides together, trace pattern onto wrong side of fabric
3. Cut diaper out

4. Sew 1/4" seam around diaper - right sides of fabric should be together

5. Trim off excess fabric

6. Turn diaper inside out so the right sides are out.

7. Iron/Press diaper

8. Top stitch diaper

9. Fold tabs in and safety pin together

For our smaller diaper pattern click HERE

Our pattern is loosely based off of several different patterns:
Skip To My Lou
Doll Diapers
Sizing as compared to Teeny Tears

and also some hand drawn patterns that I'm afraid I cannot link to as they're not anywhere online.
Thank you for your inspiration! Also, special thanks to the volunteers who helped write and test the patterns.

Terms of Use

We ask that our patterns/products made from these patterns not be sold. We create our patterns free of charge because we believe in providing clothes for angel babies free of charge for families who need them.

There are no stipulations on our patterns. Please feel free to use them and share them. We love to be inspired by seeing others work from our patterns and if you are interested in sharing pictures or stories with us email us at lilysangelcloset@gmail.com.

August Donations

July was a busy month and August is proving to be even busier. I photographed 6 angels in about 1 months time. I used my first crochet outfits for a set of twins in July. I finally gave someone an outfit I had made (a goal of mine this year). And then I took 2 weeks off and now I'm trying to get caught back up with making outfits and editing photos.

Here are some of the things that have come in this month:

This was after spending 1 week at my mom's house. A huge donation of outfits, flowers, bracelet sets, headbands, diapers, some blankets and my grandma let me raid some of her fabric boxes to see what I could use. Yes - all of this was donated in a week's time. 

And this was the next week - some wildlife blankets, a couple gowns, and some more diapers

I made up these tags a while back for some memory boxes a friend was making. I revamped them and now they are tags for our closet to add in the bags with the outfits so people will know where to find more information about angel baby outfits. Most of the cards have a blank spots for names of angel babies which the outfits are donated in memory of. 

We've also sent quite a bit out this month as well:

And this is a set of neutral outfits we sent to a hospital in New York along with some other angel baby crafter people.

This set when to a mom who had lost her little girl the week before. It wasn't used on the baby, but just a remembrance for the mom of the size of her daughter.

Last night I packed up a whole box of outfits to go to a photographer friend who was on her way to a middle of the night NILMDTS photo shoot an hour away. Sometimes we are spread thin and someone has to drive a long ways. There are 52 NILMDTS photographers in Utah. But that's not enough for the number of losses we get each month. 

And we started an adoption program on our Facebook page - you can now post pieces of sets that you have and others can adopt them and finish them off. It makes it really fun to coordinate and bring more people in on projects. https://www.facebook.com/groups/143567529150005/

We keep this page up and going and there are lots of sharing things, ideas/outfits/questions etc going on. Come and visit us if you want to know more first hand what we have going on.

Please note: if you donate diapers made from the Teeny Tears pattern without cards we CANNOT pass them along. Please include cards with your donations of diapers.

And we've had a couple really neat stories about outfits this month:

1: A photographer friend stopped by to get some outfits on her way to the hospital for a shoot. When she got up to the hospital they told her the mom had changed her mind and didn't want pictures at all. My friend offered the outfits anyway and the nurses came back a minute later saying the mom had fallen in love with one of the outfits and had changed her mind, that she definitely did want pictures now. It was an outfit I had made. It made my heart happy for days to hear that story.

2: Another photographer friend was out of town and was going to do a shoot for a friend of hers. My family lives close and my 14 year old sister has been working tirelessly on outfits for several months, and saving them all so she can show everything she's made in November for a project she's working on. When she found out there was a need for an outfit and we asked if we could have one of hers she told us that she had made the outfits to be used, not just to show her friends. We managed to get the outfits up to the photographer in time and we had others on stand-by in case we needed more help.

People are truly amazing and giving. I really can't open my closet without feeling love come spilling out of the open door. It truly is amazing. I continue to be inspired by all the wonderful giving people who make this closet a reality. Thank you to all of you out there. I know there are often times it feels like no one values the work you do, but I wish you could see the looks on some of the parents faces when we give them beautiful, appropriately sized outfits

And so it begins...

Things are finally coming together for this closet! I have been thinking of starting my own closet for several months now - but a lot of pieces had to be in place before that could start. It has been a couple months of planning, painting, and sharing the idea with several friends who are also angel baby crafters - and now we are finally ready to move forward with this closet!

Here are a few of the things we've had donated to get this closet ready for opening:

40 outfits from Heidi - 10 of each size of each gender

 They look so pretty all hanging up, don't they? I only have a few hangers that are small enough so for now most of them are still in a box - but I do love the look of the hanging gowns.

Blankets - many from Heidi - some from my aunt and a few from other people too

Blanket/bracelet sets all in memory of Chloe Howell. Her mom makes such beautiful headbands to go with the girl's bracelets:

The bracelet sets have one Mom bracelet and a baby bracelet with a matching charm. The little boy sets have a little bow with a matching charm instead of a bracelet.

And I got another donation today of a whole bunch of beautiful crochet work - but I haven't had a chance to photograph it the way it deserves yet, but I'll get better pictures up soon. Thanks Ginger for bringing me all this new stuff today! We had so much fun reorganizing things in the closet and completing sets (outfit, blanket, diapers, hat).

This is what my front room looked like today - isn't it great?

We also sent out our first donation (4 sewn outfits) to a NIMLDTS photographer in Missouri who wants to have outfits to take with her on photo shoots. 

I have to admit - I had no idea how much love went into a project like this. And not just my own love for the project - but the love of so many people who make so many beautiful things for angel babies. There is so much love in my little closet - every time I open it the love kind of spills out. It truly is a beautiful thing and a blessing in my life. I can't even count the number of amazing people I have met through working on this project. You might think that a lot of angel moms (as they are typically called - meaning a mom who has lost a baby at some point) getting together would result in tears. And it does on occasion, but it also results in some of the most amazing sharing and loving and tender mercies I have ever seen.