Clothes for the taking
After strife in Haiti grounds planes, women seek other groups to help share “pillowcase clothes” with kids in need
By Jessica Brodie
COLUMBIA—They’ve been making the pillowcase dresses so long no one can quite remember when they started. As for how many they’ve made, it’s anyone’s guess.
“When we got to 6,000 dresses, we quit counting,” June Suddeth, the organizer and leader of the group, says with a laugh.
The evidence of their labor fills her cozy house—boxes and bins of cheerful prints, artfully sewn with ribbons and colorful buttons, alongside their other labor of love, pillowcase shorts and matching tops, so the boys can have something to wear as well. In the sewing room, there’s space for several to sit and craft, while in the laundry room, clothes line one large table and spill over into boxes next to and beneath it.
On a chilly day in January, two of Suddeth’s friends have braved the snow to sew with her, and they ooh and ahh over the bright prints and delicate fabrics.
“I like the happy fabrics,” says Margaret Combs, showing off a whimsical dress sporting tiny brown and white chickens, along with a precious little pocket and polka-dotted ribbons at the top. “If they’re going to wear a pillowcase, it should be a happy fabric.”
Mary Lynn Felsberg tenderly sorts the shorts and matching T-shirts, her pet project. She found cheerful, bright patches on Amazon for a good price, and she irons those onto the shirts so the boys have something fun to wear, too.
“It’s so fun to see the pictures of the kids holding the clothes,” Felsberg says. “You say, ‘Oh, I did that one!’ That one little boy was grinning ear to ear, he was so happy.”
“That’s the reward for us, seeing that smile on the children’s faces,” Combs agreed.
Suddeth started the project decades ago. A longtime lover of the sewing arts, she wanted something practical, helpful and enjoyable to do after retirement, so she got some church friends together and started making clothing for kids in Haiti, which were regularly transported to the island nation thanks to a local connection. They get donations, then buy materials to craft what are dubbed pillowcase dresses, a relatively easy project that requires little cutting since the shape is already there. They also use curtains and other fabric—whatever they can find. For years, children in orphanages and elsewhere in Haiti received the dresses, and later shorts and tops, much to their delight.
But recent strife in that nation has made delivering the clothing dangerously impossible. Now the Ashland UMC women are reaching out to other mission groups, hoping they will bring the lovingly crafted clothing along with them when they journey to communities in need.
“I don’t care who gets them, what denomination, as long as they come get them and bring them to kids in need,” Suddeth says, gesturing to the boxes and bins of ready-to-go clothing all around them.
For now, the women continue to gather at Suddeth’s home every Wednesday, faithfully sewing the clothing and knowing that somehow, some way, God will provide a path for the clothing to get to the children.
A labor of love
It’s not all hard work. In fact, it doesn’t look like work at all. The ladies giggle and tease each other, enjoy a homecooked meal, and compare which embellishment will look best on which fabric.
The day the Advocate visited, Beverly Stallings wasn’t present, but she’s usually a key part of the group, and she and Combs share a deep love for the “pretties,” the ribbons and other accessories that transform a pillowcase dress from functional to fashion.
Felsberg likes to use the serger mostly, a specialized sewing machine that simultaneously trims and encloses the raw edges of fabric with multiple threads.
“We just sit in there and laugh and carry on, chew the fat,” Felsberg says. “It’s the highlight of my week, coming over here.”
Suddeth grins. “I’ve adopted all of them,” she says, gesturing to the women.
Combs nods, smiling.
“I guess you can say the Lord put June in our path.”
Suddeth still remembers the first time she decided to make boy clothing in addition to the pillowcase dresses. She was watching television after a hurricane in Haiti, and she noticed a little boy onscreen.
“He didn’t have anything but a T-shirt on, and he kept pulling that T-shirt down, tugging it to cover himself, and I just felt so sorry for him,” Suddeth says, the other women nodding. “I just know that boy spoke to me, and God told me, ‘They’ve got to have pants.’”
The women also make other needed items from the leftover fabric, such as sanitary napkins. They know the need is great, and they do what they can.
“You can use your talent if you’ve got a talent,” Suddeth says.
The clothing is available for free to any mission group willing to distribute them. To get in touch with the group, contact Ashland UMC at 803-798-5350 or https://www.ashlandumc.org.