Sewing for the Savior:
Ellen Larson, Laura Crafton, Betty Phelps, Alice Forgy, and Ann Bartholomew. PHOTO | Staff Report
Staff Report
In the summer of 2015, Ann Bartholomew presented a program for the Clara Lee Circle at First Baptist Church about a church that made dresses for missions. A few days later, she received a call from Monical Davis, who said, “I think we could do that.”
Ann made two dresses, and the idea was presented at the next Circle meeting. Little did anyone know what a far-reaching mission project it would become. At this October meeting, the group completed twenty-nine dresses. Bro. Greg Wallace used to joke about having “a sweatshop in the Fellowship Hall!”
In the beginning, there were two meeting times each month — one during the day and one in the evening — each lasting two hours. At the first night meeting, Karrie Robbins and her three daughters arrived, each bringing her own sewing machine. “We’ve often wished we had a picture of that,” Ann recalled.
A little girl smiles in her new handmade dress, crafted by the Monical and Larry Davis Sewing Group and delivered on a mission trip. PHOTO | Submitted
The night group never grew because of so many evening activities, so Larry Davis suggested combining into one daytime group that sewed for four hours. The group now meets on the first Thursday of each month, working from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. They share lunch and fellowship while sewing.
The group also has a name — The Monical and Larry Davis Sewing Group — honoring the couple who believed, “We can do this.”
Over the past ten years, the group has made hundreds and hundreds of dresses that have traveled to nearly every corner of the world. The first dresses were sent to missions in eastern Kentucky. Since then, their work has reached areas affected by natural disasters, the Philippines, Haiti, the mountains of Asia (by pack mule!), Puerto Rico on a medical mission trip, and missions in North Carolina and Texas. Most recently, Tammy Alford delivered eighty dresses and thirty outfits for boys on a mission trip to Honduras.
Their current project is providing dresses for Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes and for backpacks going to a school in Kentucky. Dresses are arranged by size in the church hallway for anyone who wishes to take them. The group also makes t-shirts for boys and jump ropes crafted from recycled shirts for every child. For the past three years, they have assisted Quality Baptist Church with dresses for their shoeboxes and helped Living Hope Church start a sewing ministry of their own.
A young girl proudly shows off one of the handmade pillowcase dresses crafted by the sewing group. PHOTO | Submitted
Through the years, the group has mourned the loss of Monical and Larry Davis and Betty Phelps. Betty always said it was “the best day of the month.” Peggy Drake and Alice Forgy, both original members, sewed faithfully for years but have retired due to health reasons.
Today, the sewing group includes Ann Bartholomew, Wanda Chandler, Laura Crafton, Wanda Embry, Shirley Hampton, Katherine Jennings, Tammy Plamp, and Linda Wood. Not all members sew — some cut fabric, organize supplies, or prepare lunch — but each plays an important role.
Not all members attend First Baptist Church, but all share a common goal: spreading God’s love through the gift of a dress.
