I saw this story on Facebook and thought you guys might love it too!
Lillian Weber is 99 years old, lives in Iowa and makes a dress every day for a child in Africa via the Little Dresses For Africa project.
The dresses are made from repurposed pillowcases (more on how to make them here) and Lillian starts on each dress in the morning, takes a break at lunchtime and the finishes her daily dress in the afternoon. So great.
Lillian’s made 840 dresses so far and she’s aiming for 1000 by her 100th birthday. That’s a heap of pillowcases and hundreds of little girls twirling in their new frocks.Lillian’s dresses are a bit fancier than the usual pillowcase frock. She adds sleeves and pockets and pretty trims to make each one super special. She says she could probably manage two a day, but she likes to concentrate on making just one a day and putting all her efforts into that.
The dresses are sent off and distributed via orphanages, churches and schools. So far Little Dresses For Africa have distributed 2.5 million dresses into 47 countries.
I love this in one million ways. You have to admire people who are purposeful and disciplined and creative right into their later years. I also love how focused and measured Lillian is about her work. I hope I can work until I am 100 or more too! Super inspiring!
There are other similar, worthy projects happening globally (Britches For Boys, anyone!) Here’s a (very green!) list of those, in case you’d like to contribute or spread the word.
I am guessing there are other very elderly, productive people toiling away doing amazing things like this. Do you know any?
x Pip
27 Comments
Lillian gets a big thumbs up in my home ????
There is an error in this article, Lillian uses a pattern I created by hand because many members of our group Brookside Seniors did not know how to sew or read a pattern. The idea came from a sewing book I was perusing in a fabric store. It mentioned making a blouse in this way. Lillian heard about our group through an article written by 90 plus year old Gloria Fisher and published in the Senior Voice in 2011. Lillian read the article and asked her daughter to contact me. She came to a sewing session in 2012 about a year after we began and has been our most prolific sewer. Brookside Seniors then sends her dresses along with our dresses to Little Dresses for Africa. Nearly all the members of Brookside Seniors are more than 80 years old, including an 87 year old gentlemen who irons.
Geraldine,
Would you share your dress pattern?
I, too, would love a copy of the pattern with the sleeves. So darn cute!!!! Where can I find it?
I’d like the dress with sleeves pattern, too! Thanks.
Such a great story. Recently I came across daysforgirls.org where voluntary sewing skills are used to make sanitary kits for girls who miss several months of school every year because they lack access to sanitary goods. So much we take for granted! Thanks for this post.
This is amazing, I really hope I will be motivated and able enough to do something like this as I get older.
I really like the other project on the Little Dresses for Africa site, which is sewing ‘sani-panties’, essentially washable/reusable pads for the girls/teenagers. It’s not as cute as sewing a dress for a little girl but menstruation is one of the biggest reasons these girls drop out of school because it’s a ‘taboo’ subject.
What an amazing woman…absolutely amazing. Wow….thanks for the link Pip, makes me want to go get my sewing machine out.
Wow – what an inspirational story! I love it. I wish I could make one dress. Let alone a dress a day!!! What joy she must bring to people’s lives.
Its stories like this i adore…no negative comments..no trolls…a story very worthwhile reading…there are some fantastic people on this planet.I hope she lives for a lot longer..bless her.
Me too! 🙂 Restores faith, I tell you!!! Thanks for reading! x
that is very cool indeed…Lillian is a legend! I hope I’m still crocheting blankies in my later years… thanks for sharing this inspiring story!
Thanks for sharing this story, it’s superb. Go Lillian!
She’s amazingly productive, isn’t she? And she shows us just how long and useful life can be!
This is very inspiring. I’ve been thinking lately that you just need to know who to do one small thing well to make a difference and here is the evidence!
Exactly! I totally agree. Just find a thing and stick at it… find a useful way to apply that thing!
My 84 year old Aunty Edna knits and crochets almost non stop.
There’s hats for premmie babies, booties for the op shop street stalls, blankets for TImor and singlets for kids in Africa.
She buys a lot of the yarn herself but sometimes a bag of wool finds its way to her home.
Every time I go to see her she is working on something new.
An absolute inspiration.
I think It the generation, having grown up during WW2 with so little and helping so many.
Oh yes! My Nan is nearly 93 and she’s the same. ALWAYS making stuff for other people, needing to be purposeful. I think I’ve modelled my life on being as much like her as possible. Your Aunty Edna sounds ace: switched on and motivated and community focused. Thanks for telling us about her! Say hello from me!
Oh my, Lillian is so amazing!
I am a textiles teacher and our school makes these dresses, too!
We send them to Timor, via a charity started by an 18 year old student last year.
Some peeps are just so amazing!
Xx
That’s amazingly great Erin. What is the Timor charity called? That sounds like something we would all fancy knowing about too! *waves to ace students*
It’s called “sew a smile” but no web presence! I will Suss out and see if I can send you some more details.
I loved this story, my 94 year old grandmother has only recently stopped knitting but two years ago a family friend was diagnosed with leukemia at aged 14 and my daughter asked her to knit him a few beanies as he was bored with the ones he had. She of course accepted the challenge and then some, she knitted enough beanies for the whole oncology ward. A truly amazing woman.
Aw. See… this is the stuff craft and handwork is about, I reckon. We get quite tied up in the whole ‘that’s lovely! you could sell that!’ idea, but really making to GIVE is so much nicer! Your nan sounds pretty ace, Nanette. I wonder how it felt to give up knitting… whether it was a relief or a sad thing… (Thanks for commenting and reading!!)
I saw this story too and it’s made my week – not just her generosity but Lillian’s disciplined approach and attention to detail. My husband’s Auntie S is in her late 70s – she makes cards to raise money for Alzheimers charities and she knits blankets for a local hospice. She too has a routine and manages something every day to the best of her ability. Very inspiring x
I feel like we are losing this tradition of making to give… but I hope I am wrong! Lots of people join in my Softies For Mirabel project, but I think we tend to be time-poor generally and less people have the skills for these make:give projects. I hope we can create a resurgence! Auntie S sounds pretty blinking lovely to me!
So glad that you wrote about this! I think it’s so amazing and wonderful what Lilian is doing!!