When the time came for Columbus East High School senior Katlyn Thomas to choose a topic for her senior project, she was certain she wanted to find a unique idea that could make a difference for others.
When English teacher Julie Hult shared a list of suggestions with her senior English students, Thomas’ vision for her senior project became more clear when she saw “angel gowns” among the ideas on the list.
“I wanted to do something that would help other people feel better,” Thomas said.
Using beautiful, white dresses once worn at weddings, Thomas is sewing gowns for babies who never make it home from the hospital.
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Before moving to Columbus from Michigan two years ago, Thomas knew of a woman whose baby died just a short time after having given birth to the infant prematurely.
“She wanted to do something special for her, but never had any ideas,” Thomas said.
Hult’s own stepson and his girlfriend recently had a stillborn baby, a tragedy that Hult said was still fresh on her mind when creating the list of suggestions for her students’ projects.
Once Thomas agreed to take on the project, Hult made a post on Facebook asking for wedding dress donations. What the pair didn’t expect was just how many people would respond to the call-out.
As of Oct. 3, one week after the original post was created, 48 people had responded, volunteering to donate their dresses and asking questions about how to donate. The post had also been shared 125 times.
“What that tells me is that there’s a need for somebody to pick this up and go with it,” Hult said. “If you’ve ever lost a child, you would definitely have a sympathy and be attached to this project, but also, these wedding dresses are so sentimentally valued, but what do you do with them? They just sit in the closet.”
Hult said this gives individuals a way to engage in their community and reach out to help one another.
Cutting apart the white satin fabric and placing it onto the sewing machine, Thomas secures the fabric together, working carefully to maintain the original lace detail.
When it’s finished, the dress, once worn by a young bride, will be repurposed as a tiny funeral gown and donated to the Columbus Regional Health Birthing Center where grieving parents can find comfort in knowing their little one will be dressed in love.
“I hope this goes to show there is always someone there to help you,” Thomas said. “Even when something bad happen, there’s always a good outcome.”
Thomas currently has five dresses in her possession that she plans to transform into angel gowns, including the dress that her own mother once wore as she walked down the aisle. The other dresses have come from all over the United States, including one from Alabama and another from North Carolina.
In her donation of her wedding dress, one woman wrote to Thomas in a note, “I read about the student, Katlyn Thomas, on Facebook and her project making angel gowns. This gown is 46 years old. I was widowed last year. I’m happy to donate it to such a worthy cause, and I’m glad it could be used in such a good way. Kudos to Katlyn Thomas for her effort.”
Thomas said it’s a great feeling to see others voluntarily donate their meaningful possessions to a great cause.
“Wedding dresses to most people are really special,” Thomas said. “For them to give it up to this cause is just amazing.”
Hult agreed. She said that for some women, this may even be a way for them to heal from whatever it is that prompted them to give away their dress.
Every gown will be one-of-a-kind, sewn into different patterns with unique details that make it special for the grieving family. Thomas is learning how to sew with the help of her grandmother.
“It’s showing Katlyn that there’s a big world out there, and when you have tangible evidence in the form of a big box shipped from North Carolina, it drives home the idea that, yes, you can make a difference.”
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Those interested in donating their white wedding dress to Katlyn Thomas’ senior project can drop off or ship the dress to the main office at Columbus East High School, 230 S. Marr Road, with attention to Julie Hult.
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