Madison creates funeral outfits for ‘angels’ taken too soon

by Madison Evans

news@thenewsleader.com

A video documentary moved many central Minnesotans to tears when they saw a Sartell woman creating “angel gowns.” Angel gowns are funeral outfits for babies who were stillborn or who have died at CentraCare-St. Cloud Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

The touching documentary showed Sue Madison, a seamstress extraordinaire, creating the angel gowns in the video shown on CentraCare’s social-media post and on its employee online platform. Many were so moved by what they saw they asked where they can donate their dresses for Madison’s angel-gown  creations.

Madison then decided to host two collection events on Saturday, Feb. 15 at two grocery stores – Coborn’s in Sartell and at Cash Wise in Waite Park.

She collected 28 wedding dresses from generous people who wanted to support her heartwarming work.

“There were lots of tears,” said Madison in an interview with the Newsleaders. “Women dropping off their wedding dresses shared stories where they had a grandchild that passed away or they themselves lost a son or daughter. They may not have gotten one of my dresses, but they received some sort of gown and they still have it in their homes.”

CentraCare was also on site at the Sartell location to document the collection event for a follow-up video. While there, they captured on film Sue Baron, a CentraCare employee and Sauk Rapids resident, as she shared her story with Madison.

“I lost my husband a year-and-half ago, and my oldest son was in the NICU when he was born so your story touched me immensely, thank you,” Baron said. “I spent Valentine’s Day reminiscing, looking at wedding pictures and crying and remembering, but it was special. I don’t have a use for it [the dress] anymore so it was something to do that would give meaning back.”

Since the collection event, Madison’s guest bedroom is now overflowing with 40 dresses stored in their original wedding boxes or carefully laid out on her guest bed. Each wedding dress can make about 17 angel gowns.

Madison has been sewing since she was 10 years old, but only started sewing angel gowns a few years ago. A friend who knew she sewed asked her to turn an old family wedding dress into angel gowns. Madison was unfamiliar with the concept so she did some research and found a pattern for the gowns.

At first, she designed gowns that resembled small wedding dresses and suits. To make the dresses, she uses the decorative portion of the wedding gown adorned with beads, lace and sequence patterns. For the boy outfits, she uses the plain satin portion of the gown and adds small vests that resemble a waistcoat from a man’s suit. Madison soon realized while the infant outfits were small, she needed to make them even smaller. She began sewing satin pockets for the tiniest of angels.

Madison learned from NICU nurses that some babies have delicate, underdeveloped skin, making the hard edges of the dresses potentially harmful. To ensure the comfort and safety of the angels, she lines the dress with soft flannel.

A philanthropist at heart, Madison, who also donates quilts to Anna Marie’s Alliance, didn’t want to stop at just one wedding dress. After that first dress, she collected two more wedding dresses and transformed them into 50 angel gowns, creating each dress with love, thought and care and donating to NICU’s throughout Minnesota.

Since Madison has 40 dresses now, she doesn’t have any upcoming collection events planned, but she is thankful for the support she has received. She works as a special-education paraprofessional for the St. Cloud School District and looks forward to having more time this summer to transform the wedding gowns.

Each dress once used as a symbol of love can now continue its legacy, ensuring the angels are wrapped in the same comfort and safety a bride feels on her wedding day.