Loving Stitches

Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours. Yours are the eyes through which He is to go about doing Good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless people now. - St. Teresa of Avila

What We Do...

This ministry is comprised of parishioners who offer their time and talents to help sew and assemble layettes for mothers of newborns in our area who otherwise could not afford the many items their babies need. We are completely funded by donations given by parishioners and their friends, often in honor of a new baby, or in memory of a beloved mother or grandmother, with which we are able to provide the supplies for our layettes.

We donate our layettes to the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Atlanta who, in turn, donates these gifts to women (often young or unmarried) who have come to them for help with parenting their babies, despite difficult financial and family circumstances. We also occasionally supply our layettes to families in emergency-need thru the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

What is a Layette?

A layette is a gift set containing some basic clothing & personal care items for a newborn baby. Each layette contains the following handmade items:

Blanket (knitted, crocheted, or quilted by our members)
Receiving Blankets (sewn by our members)
Infant Gowns (sewn by our members)

We also purchase & include: 2 undershirts or "onesies", 2 pairs of socks, 20 diapers, 2 bottles, 2 pacifiers, a package of baby wipes, 1 bottle each of baby powder & lotion, a bar of soap & a washcloth.

We hope to give a small, soft stuffed animal or toy for each baby, too, and in the winter months, we appreciate having knitted or crocheted hats, booties and sweaters to include in the gift sets.

How You Can Help...

* If you can knit, crochet, or sew straight lines on a sewing machine, we can use your help! This work is done in your home, at your convenience & we supply the materials, which can be picked up anytime the church is open. Instruction on how to sew each item is available as well. Please call or email for details!

* If you can donate one hour, four times per year, to help assemble these layettes, we can use your time! We meet on the fourth Monday afternoon of February, May, August & November in the Parish Family Center.

* If you can offer our ministry a monetary gift, or supply some of the above-mentioned items for our layettes, we can use your gifts! If you have a business affiliation that can supply any of the items we use on a low or no-cost basis, we would especially like to talk to you!

* Contact Mary Fergus at 404-245-1657 or email mfergus@bellsouth.net. Monetary gifts can be mailed to the church office and made payable to St. Oliver's Loving Stitches. A sincere thank you message will be promptly printed in the bulletin.