Wee Care is a project of the Smocking Arts Guild of America. The project site says,
SAGA members sew and smock simple bishop-designed gowns and donate them to local hospitals to clothe babies who die at birth or shortly after. Many groups also donate smocked bonnets for premature infants.
For a parent holding a dying baby, sorrow is often overwhelming…What comfort there is often comes in simple acts – an arm wrapped around grieving shoulders, shared tears, the gentle touch of a hand.
At many hospitals across the country, comfort also comes in the form of small gowns lovingly hand-smocked by members of local smocking guilds. A social worker at one hospital stated, ‘We use them almost exclusively for babies that have died or are going to die. We’re able to cover up a lot of the medical equipment with the gowns so that the parents get to see their baby looking great. Sometimes, the parents keep the gowns as a keepsake; sometimes, the babies are buried in them. I try to let the parents pick out which gown they want on their baby. Sometimes, it’s the only parenting they get to do.’
If you are not a guild member but you would like to participate in the Wee Care project, contact Mary Siegel, the Wee Care Chairman at [email protected]. Project details and patterns are available on the site.
Many thanks to CraftGossip sewing editor Anne Weaver for sharing this information.
I commend the Smocking Arts Guild of America for their Wee Care project. Compassion shown through the gift of time and effort means so much to those who are grieving. I hope that many more people will join in this effort to comfort through sewing and giving.