Charity Feature: Tiny Angel Gowns
Tiny Angel Gowns is a volunteer-run organization that provides comfort in one of the most devastating times a family will face.
If you’re on social media at all during the Fall, you will see a lot about medically fragile babies because the awareness months during this season are as follows:
- September is NICU Awareness Month,
- October is Pregnancy and Infancy Loss Awareness Month, and
- November is Preemie Awareness Month.
Handmade Brings Comfort During Bereavement
So makers across the United States are doing their part with their handiwork making and donating things like:
- hats for preemies in the NICU
- NICU bonding hearts (aka scent hearts), and
- Halloween costumes for NICU babies.
There are also makers supporting the families who have experienced pregnancy loss with tiny keepsake beanies along with burial blankets and outfits.
Resources For Pregnancy Loss And Infant Deaths
But before we hear from the wonderful Colleen Angel about the work she does, I want to share some resources focused on helping families with education, services, and additional care.
After all, handmade items are just a small piece of providing comfort during a family’s grief.
These nonprofits are:
- March of Dimes – Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month
- Star Legacy Foundation – Honoring Babies, Inspiring Prevention, Supporting Families
- Pregnancy Loss And Infant Death Alliance – Perinatal and Neonatal Bereavement Care
Founder Interview: Colleen Angel, Tiny Angel Gowns
Now it’s time to hear from the founder of Tiny Angel Gowns, Colleen Angel, so she can share her organization’s important story with us.
Please note: Some of the interview has been very lightly edited for clarity.
Create To Donate: Why did you start Tiny Angel Gowns?
Tiny Angel Gowns: In 2008 I took hats that I had been knitting on a wheel to my local hospital and they asked if I knew anyone that could sew bereavement gowns.
To meet the need, I researched gestational sizes and created patterns for the gowns then took them back to the hospital.
Word spread and today there are over 350 hospitals that receive the Tiny Angel Gowns!
Why did I start? There was a “need” and I loved to sew!
Create To Donate: Who do you serve and what handmade donations do you provide?
Tiny Angel Gowns: We serve over 350 hospitals all across the US. Even the US Naval Hospital in Rota Spain requested our gowns.
We sew wraps for babies too tiny to dress and then 5 sizes of gowns.
The gowns have matching hats – knitted or crocheted. The large gowns have matching bonnets.
To ensure that the intended outfit is presented to the family, the gown and hat/bonnet are pinned together.
We used to include flannel diapers, but due to the cost and JoAnn Fabrics going out of business, we no longer include diapers.
Hospitals receive a box of assorted sizes of gowns or we ship what they request.
C2D: What other types of groups or organizations do you hope to serve?
Tiny Angel Gowns: We send donations directly to the Labor & Delivery or NICU at the hospitals.
Sometimes a bereavement support group will request gowns.
A few times a funeral home has requested gowns.
C2D: How does someone request support from your group?
Tiny Angel Gowns: It is easy to request gowns from the www.tinyangelgowns.com web site.
A second option is the FB site: www.facebook.com/tinyangelgowns
C2D: What requirements & guidelines do you have for your handmade donations? Are there specific types of items that are more popular than others?
We need help with knitted or crocheted hats. Here are the hats and sizes needed:
Size 1: Head Circumference 4-6″ Hat is about 2 1/2” tall
Size 2: Head Circumference 7-8″ Hat is about 3 1/2” tall
Size 3 Head Circumference 9-10″ Hat is about 4” tall
Any pattern is fine as long as it is baby yarn and as stretchy as possible.
Pastel BLUE or PINK, or White. Hats that are white and have a stripe of color are the best because we can match it to the ribbon colors used on the gowns more easily. Variegated or yarn with flecks of color.
Please feel free to message me if you want knitting or crochet hat patterns.
Please note: No yellow yarn– hospitals say it makes the babies look more jaundiced. We do a lot in white for a total white christening outfit if needed for the baby that won’t live long.
We take donations of wedding dresses to make some of the gowns.
If you want to donate a wedding dress, we ask the following:
- wedding gowns should be 1990’s or newer,
- dresses need to be clean.
- please email a picture of the dress ahead of donation so that I can see the style and determine if I can use it to make the type of gowns that hospitals want.
If you don’t have a wedding but have lace or embellishments – we always need white lace, pastel and white ribbons, ribbon roses, pastel gems, angel and heart charms.
C2D: Where should people send their donations?
C2D: What special events do you hold throughout the year?
I usually work about 10 hours a day. For the past several years we have been making and donating about 15,000 gowns a year.
So far, we donated a
-Colleen Angel of Tiny angel gowns
total of over 147,000 gowns.
There is a wonderful local group of ladies that come to decorate gowns when I have piles sewn and ready.
We get together at least twice a month to decorate gowns and sometimes there are a few ladies that come just to help sort hats, organize ribbons, sew lace on the bottom of gowns, etc.
C2D: What else would you like people to know?
Most people don’t realize the need for these gowns unless this type of loss has touched your family.
March of Dimes estimates that there are a half a million babies born too soon each year.
So we appreciate and welcome any support you can offer.
How Will You Help Tiny Angel Gowns?
Tiny Angel Gowns is an organization that supports families in one of the most difficult times they will face.
It is also important to note, they Tiny Angel Gowns is not a tax-exempt 501(c)3 and instead a volunteer project that is always in need of handmade support and material donations.
So while Colleen mentioned the need for finished hat donations, certain wedding gowns, and embellishments, they also welcome flannel in white or soft pastel pink or blue, fleece fabric, and thread donations. You can learn more about their specific material needs here.
If you are able, how will you support this wonderful organization? Please let me know as a comment below.
