Stitch By Stitch
Generous Spirits and Sewing Machines Make a Difference Around the World
Little girls in the impoverished village of Lomnička, Slovakia, welcome the simple but precious gifts of new dresses through the Little Dresses of Love Project.
News spreads quickly in our modern world, and it’s especially inspirational to hear of good news and good works making their way from the sewing machines of sisters and seamstresses in the United States to impoverished villages around the world.
Our community’s involvement in the Little Dresses of Love project has grown incrementally since Sister Elaine Hromulak saw a segment on NBC Nightly News in 2016. She was just about the only one sewing before an article about her efforts appeared in The Pittsburgh Catholic newspaper in May 2017, inspiring nearly 60 people – sisters, alumnae and friends – to contribute their sewing talents to the project.
Sister’s army of volunteer seamstresses use lightweight fabric and accessories, a simple pattern and their own creativity to churn out a steady stream of new dresses to fit little girls worldwide for whom a new piece of clothing is among the greatest blessings they can receive. In just the past year, Sister Elaine’s team produced 525 little dresses, bringing the total since 2016 to 1,545.
Of this year’s dresses, 75 went to children at our sisters’ mission in Lomnička, Slovakia, where the poverty is unimaginable. The dresses generated bright smiles on the otherwise soiled faces of the poor village children.
“Several of the sisters from the United States visited our village and witnessed how our people live here,” wrote Sister Magdalena Sumilasová in a letter of gratitude back to the States. “We are trying to do our best in serving them, but without the help of our benefactors, we could do nothing.”
Also in 2019, 325 dresses were donated to the Diocese of Pittsburgh’s mission in Chimbote, Peru;
170 via work by the Sisters of Divine Providence with missions in Puerto Rico, Santa Domingo and immigrant children in San Benito, Texas; and 25 more to migrant children in El Paso, Texas.
“We were told that you sew the dresses for the poor children all over the world,” Sister Magdalena writes. “We are happy that we are part of that world and that our children in Lomnička are experiencing your goodness. May the Lord reward all of you who are helping us with what we need the most – materially and spiritually.”
If you’d like to support the Little Dresses of Love project by sewing, donating sewing supplies or making a monetary donation, contact Sister Elaine at ehromulak@schoolsistersosf.org.
Sister Elaine Hromulak