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| See special project story below |
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LINING CASKETS
No sewing required. All you need is a hot glue gun, some baby flannel, 2 yards of gathered lace, some pillow stuffing and you are ready to line a casket and make it warm and cozy. Then other volunteers add a new receiving blanket, handmade blanket (26" x 26"), a small toy and its ready to go.
This isn't something you would normally do. It feels a little strange at first and then it's not surprise: you get into it and start making it perfect and adding your own touches. As you go along, you will make this a warm, soft and loving bed for a little baby that no one wanted. You make this special place for them to rest.
Add a note in the bottom that no one will ever see but you. You can write a message to a loved one that has passed on or something sweet to the child that will lay in this little spot. Once you line the casket no one will ever see it, but you will know that your love went into that little box more ways then one.
Lining a casket is not hard. We have a volunteer willing to explain the process and answer your questions.
We use flannel as it is warm and soft. Satin is slippery and cold, so we never use it. We like our caskets to be just like a little crib. Just cut a cardboard template for each side of the casket as well as the bottom. Make sure that the top of the template is a bit below the top lip of the casket so that when the template is covered the material will not hinder closing the casket. Glue batting material to the cardboard. Cut the flannel in pieces large enough to cover the batting and include an inch or two of material to make it easy to cover each template piece by gluing the extra material to the unbatted side of the cardboard. The photos below will help you understand the instructions.
When all side and bottom templates are covered, slide the covered template pieces on to the correct casket sides and glue the cardboard to the casket side or bottom, as applicable.
After the material is glued into place, then take about two yards of pre-gathered lace, no more than an inch wide, and glue along the top edge--over the lip of the flannel where it meets the casket edge. Make sure that the lace and flannel is below the wood edge so that when the top is placed back on there is not material hindering the closing and securing of the casket lid.
There is a small indented area in the casket lid. Cut a template for the indentation, glue batting on to the template, cut fabric to cover the batting as well as extra to secure to the back of the templatel and glue the template into the lid indentation. Line it with lace as well. You can add bows, buttons or anything decorative that you might want to add. The only people that will see the inside of the casket is you and the person sealing it shut.
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| You only need cardboard, a glue gun, scissors, flannel, batting, lace, and a lot of love. |
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| Everything is hand-made |
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Special Casket Lining Project:
Delma Gomez, president of the Relief Society of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said her group was deeply moved to help the mission of Garden of Innocence by installing linings into hand-made caskets.
"As sisters, mothers, daughters and grandmothers, a baby is such a symbol of hope and love," said Gomez, whose organization serves San Marcos and Escondido. "We thought the project might be too grim for some young mothers and that they wouldn't want to participate. But young mothers have been our biggest supporters, perhaps because they felt so blessed to have a healthy child."
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