Friday, September 7, 2012

A reader's story of sewing, Grandmother's Hope Chest and a lil Faith



Today we feature a reader and fan who was taught to love sewing at an early age by a mother who is a fan of Martha Pullen's.  Below is Alena Dixon's story...

My mother has been a seamstress since about the age of 12, and has now been sewing for about some 30+ years.  She taught me the love of sewing and crafting, and how to take pride in the garments I have made. I wanted to share with Sew Beautiful the beautiful Christening gown my mother made for our "Christmas miracle, baby Faith." This gown was made using one of the Martha Pullen pattern books, Grandmother's Hope Chest.
Myself and my husband have been married 8 and 1/2 years (now 9) at the time, and for whatever unknown reason, we could not have children.  So in 2010, we decided to try adoption, but that is a very long and can be a heartbreaking/rewarding experience. After several times of getting excited about a potential match and even getting to meet one little girl, things just weren't working out. Each "possible"child fell through.  I was about to give up on ever being a mother.  I had just lost all Faith.  But my husband, Josh, decided to pray that he could witness a Christmas miracle, even if it was for someone else, and when he told me this, I was like Sarah, Abraham's wife, in the Bible, and felt like 'good luck with that.' Christmas 2011 came and went, and I forgot about Josh's prayer for a Christmas miracle, but 2 days after Christmas we got a phone call from our adoption worker, saying they had a baby girl for us if we were interested and her name was FAITH! So I'll be forever thankful that God heard our prayers even when all looked impossible!








*Photo credit: Sabrina Sifuentes, of Tallassee, Alabama. Sabrina Sifuentes Photography.



Comment below for a chance to win a $100 gift card to Martha Pullen's Online Store! 
Winner will be announced Monday.



35 comments:

  1. endlessdesignsbycarrieSeptember 7, 2012 at 1:15 PM

    What beautiful gown, story and expression of a lil FAITH! - Carrie C.

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  2. The story, the gown, and the miracle of God is wonderful to read. Boo

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  3. We adopted our daughter under similar situations and know that she is exactly the child God intended for us.

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  4. Wow, that is an awesome story and a great dress to match!

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  5. It is my Grand daughter! and she is truely a gift from God!

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  6. Thank you Sew Beautiful for putting this on your blog!

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  7. I love to hear stories like this!! Beautiful dress but the story behind it is even more beautiful!

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  8. Wonderful story and wonderful dress! I want to try the puffing at the bottom on my daughter's dedication dress. :)

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  9. A special dress for a very special baby - what a wonderful story and testimony!

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  10. Beautiful dress for a beautiful Christmas miracle!

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  11. What a beautiful testimony about the faithfulness of God! And what an exceptionally beautiful Christening gown! I'm so glad God gave Faith a Christian family.

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  12. Thank you for a wonderful reminder to have faith. Congratulations! What a beautiful Christening dress!

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  13. What a wonderful testimony of God's goodness to your family. May that dress be worn by your grandchildren, too, someday.

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  14. Beautiful story and dress. While Christening gowns are not something I make, I do love to look at those that someone else has made. Great work.

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  15. I bought Grandmother's Hope Chest in 1995 when our oldest son married. Martha wrote, "if you plan to sew one of these creations for your grandchild, don't wait. Start now." I love to sew beautiful clothes for children. We weren't blessed with grandchildren then. We were all totally devastated. Our middle son couldn't decide to marry until they felt they were too old to start a family. Finally, our youngest son married last summer, and our first grandchild is due next month. I have made and sold at least four different dresses from that book in the last 17 years, either selling or giving them away. We know she is a girl! I made a version of the gown with godets, pintucks and swiss motifs, using batiste from Switzerland and Belgian linen handkerchieves with battenburg lace trim for the godets. Grandmother's hope indeed.

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  16. I keep putting that book on my wishlist. It is a goal of mine to sew dresses using it. The story gave me "God Bumps". God is great!

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  17. Congradulations on your new baby Faith. Your Mother is very talented.

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    1. You are our winner! Please email your full name, mailing address & phone number to blog@sewbeautifulmag.com! Congrats!

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  18. How wonderful that this little girl got some wonderful Christian parents.

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  19. My beautiful daughter is also adopted and she and her surprise brother (born to me in my early 40's) are the light of our lives. We consider them both miracles. The dress your mom made is just exquisite. God is so GOOD! Blessings to you and your sweet Faith.

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  20. Such a sweet story! We too were supposed to not be able to have children, and lost at least one that we know of, and I had difficulty going full term with both of my successful pregnancies...and then my oldest has leukemia and God healed him of that, so he is definatly my little miracle, my angel, so aptly named Gabriel. My second son is Christian Asher, which means blessed follower of Christ, and he already has such a kind and loving heart, we feel so blessed to be parents to such wonderful (although mischevious!) little boys!

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  21. Faith is a huge word in my life! It keeps me going!

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  22. What a beautiful story! I just love the colored lace on the white gown!

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  23. That was a wonderful story. Your mother made Faith a beautiful Christening gown, and I am sure she loved every minute she spent sewing it for her miracle granddaughter. Many blessing to your family!

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  24. Beautiful dress and wonderful story! God is good!

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  25. Such a precious, heart-warming story and gorgeous gown!! (And I'm sure every stitch in that gown was made with overflowing love!) I was blessed to see little Faith wearing her gown at her dedication service - something I'll never forget!! So glad to witness another miracle from God!!!

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  26. Really touching...
    the story shows how god helps each one at the time of need . God bless you, the miracle 'faith' and your family each and every day.

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  27. Amazing Christening gown! Love the story of Faith's adoption!

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  28. What a wonderful story, and a beautiful dress! The lace shaping is amazing.

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  29. What wonderful stories to share. I just finished a blessing dress for my daughter's baby using the kit and Grandmother's Hope chest. It was a challenge but turned out special and loved by all. 2 more grandbabies this fall so I must return to do some more sewing.

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  30. What a wonderful story of Faith--and an absolutely beautiful dress to celebrate amazing grace! Thank you for sharing!
    KarenVA

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  31. This gown is Extraordinary & the story that accompanies it was very touching as well. I'm so glad that Alena shared both so that we could see the gorgeous work of her Mother's hands & hear about the wonderful work of the Lord, too.
    I have the Grandmother's Hope Chest Book & pattern & am heading to my sewing room right after I hit "publish", so I can look up this dress. It is just beautiful!

    I'm also thrilled to be back on the email list & able to receive postings from the Sew Beautiful blog again. Thanks to whomever made that possible!

    fondly,
    Rett

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  32. A lovely story and a gorgeous christening gown

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  33. What a sweet and unexpected blessing and what joy your mom must have had making that beautiful gown! Faith is a wonderful testimony to God's love and provision.

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