Capture Your Grief, Day 19: Projects

I've made a few things in memory of Gabriel, but definitely the most intricate and time-consuming was the prayer flag I made for Carly Marie's October 15th Prayer Flag Ceremony. I made this 6 weeks after Gabriel died and it definitely helped me to start healing.

My prayer for Gabriel is that he has found peace and light in Heaven with Jesus. I take comfort in knowing he is safe and that one day I will be with him again.

I was also inspired by Gabriel and other BLMs to start a project to help others in the babyloss community. Shortly after Gabriel died I went to a local botanical garden. I found this purple flower and picked it and for some reason I associated it with Gabriel. It was so beautiful, fragile and full of life. It comforted me to have a tangible reminder of Gabriel, so now once a month I return to this garden and pick flowers for other babyloss parents.You can read more about Gabriel's Garden HERE.

Hand Made with Love

I finally sent my prayer flag off to Australia for Carly Marie's Remembrance Ceremony at Christian's Beach.

I finished it a few days ago, but have not had the time to go to the post office.

Anyhow, if any of you have not yet made a flag for your child, I really encourage you to do so.

I loved making mine! It took a lot of time, patience and effort, however I really enjoyed making something with my own hands that was special for Gabriel.

My theme (of course) was stars...

If you're interested, here is how I made my prayer flag, though I am certainly not an expert in making any kind of crafts :)

First, I dyed white fabric, a denim blue color and allowed it to soak in warm water to give it a faded, vintage look.

Second, I ironed on a picture of Van Gogh's Starry Night on a small piece of fabric, and stitched it to the top of the flag. 

Next, I covered the flag in stars cut out of yellow fabric, and sewed on star buttons for additional texture.

Then, I sewed on letters that spelled out Gabriel's name, and little angels, in the bottom corner. (I sewed similar angels into the blanket that Gabriel was wrapped in during his cremation, so they have special meaning to me.)

Then, I decorated a separate piece of fabric by gluing on blue stars and sewing on his name and birth date.

Lastly, I sewed the front piece to the back piece.

It didn't turn out exactly as I wanted (I'm not very crafty by nature), but overall I'm happy to say that it was made with love and with my baby Gabriel in mind. I think overall it probably took me about 1 hour of planning and shopping and another 4 hours to construct the flag from start to finish. Most of the time spent was sewing since I did everything with a needle and thread by hand. I'm sure I could have saved a lot of time by using a sewing machine, but I really felt like taking the time to make each stitch carefully with my hands.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to make this prayer flag in my son's memory. It was so healing! And it's so nice to know that it will be hung out on the beach and that its message will carried by the winds.

My prayer for Gabriel is that he is surrounded by God's glorious light in Heaven.

The only other thing I could ever ask for, is for God to show me mercy, by allowing me to join him there one day.