“We’ve had a lot of fun, and we’ve really received a blessing from this project,” said Lou Williams, spokesperson for the Vinemont group. Volunteers showing the pattern of a dress in several colors and patterns, from left, are Lou Williams, Angela Sullins, Freda Bledsoe, Sylva McGukin.

By now, most of us have seen the charming pillowcase dresses that girls have been wearing in the summer. To make a child’s eyes light up, someone came up with the idea of putting them in the shoeboxes that are being filled for children in other countries.

According to Cullman County’s Operation Christmas Child organizer, David Ozment, the pillowcases for the project were donated by HomTex.

“They donated a thousand pillowcases, which we truly appreciate,” Ozment said . “From there, they are picked up and taken to churches and homes throughout the county to be made up from a pattern, then packed into the shoeboxes for pickup later in the year. They are shipped out from a central point to be delivered in time for Christmas.”

Each year, Operation Christmas Child brings gifts to a child who might not have ever received a present. This surprise in the form of a shoebox is filled with things that bring smiles to little faces.

It’s a way of sharing the word of Christ by first meeting the needs of the child, Ozment said. Sometimes those gifts are necessities, such as, toothpaste and brushes, combs and socks.

This year, the girls will get another kind of surprise. The pillowcase dresses with bright bias tape trim will surely light up the faces of the recipients.

“They can also be worn later after the child has gotten taller, as a shirt over jeans or a skirt,” said Dana Starnes, who is heading up an assembly line of workers at Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church, to make the dresses. “You can host a party to make up the dresses; it’s a lot of fun.”

“Anyone can help,” Starnes said. “They don’t necessarily have to know how to sew. They can also help with cutting, pulling elastic, pinning, pressing, folding and packing the items.”

The ladies sort different sizes to match up with specific colors. “This is a great way for a lot of people to help with this project,” Starnes said. “We are asking the community to donate their time and talents toward this project. You can use your own pattern, or patterns are available at Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church.”

 Lou Williams of Vinemont has been working with a group of women, who have completed 100 of the dresses over the past four weeks. “There have been five to eight ladies working with us. We’ve learned a lot,” said Williams. “Not everyone could sew when we started, but now all of us can. I’ve been sewing all my life and I’ve learned some things doing this. We’ve had a lot of fun, and we’ve really gotten a blessing from this project.”

 “I’m really excited about this,” Ozment said . “We can make history in Cullman County if our ladies can make 1,000 dresses from these pillowcases for the girls’ Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.”

The goal for Cullman County is to finish all 1,000 of the dresses in time for the deadline on November 16, 2016. If you have a favorite pattern, you are welcome to use it, but if you would like a pattern you can obtain it and any further information about this project by contacting Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church at 1310 Saint Joseph Drive NW, Cullman; or phone them at 256-739-0505.