Re-purposing wedding dresses into beautiful baby burial gowns

Our Mission

We donate our angel gowns to hospitals, funeral homes, bereavement ministers, and individual families all over the world. While we are based near Chicago and serve the Midwestern US, our gowns have gone all across the country and to Haiti, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Peru, Guatemala, Columbia, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Canada,

RiHA Babies

Over 50 final services arranged since 2005.

All Babies

Baby Michael

September 23, 2005

Baby Michael Gerard laid to rest at Avon Memorial Cemetery in Grayslake, Illinois. Michael was found dead in a landfill in Grayslake, Illinois and was thought to have been born in August 2005. His identity and that of his parents is unknown. RiHA named him Michael meaning “Gift from God” after the great Archangel and Gerard after St. Gerard Majella.

Baby David

November 18, 2005

Baby David was laid to rest at the Highland Memorial Cemetery in Grayslake, Illinois. It is believed that David was the first baby illegally abandoned and left to die the day after the implementation of the Safe Have law in Illinois. David was found in a dumpster behind a grocery store in Round Lake, Illinois in August of 2001. His tiny body remained with the Coroner’s office until he was laid to rest in 2005. RiHA named him David meaning “Beloved One.”

Baby Rosa

January 1, 1970

Baby Rosa was also laid to rest at Highland Memorial Cemetery in Grayslake, Illinois. Born in 2002 and just hours old, Baby Rosa’s mother left her alone to die wrapped in plastic garbage bags inside of a closet in an apartment. Her mother was found and charged with this crime. RiHA named her Rosa to honor her heritage and because she was a beautiful as a rose.

Baby Morales

January 12, 2006

Baby Girl Morales was buried at Wheaton Community Cemetery in Wheaton, Illinois. She was born in 2005 while her mother was at work. She was left in a trash can and died alone. Her mother has been charged with the crime and the child is left without a first name at her extended family’s request.

Baby Theresa Anne

April 12, 2006

Baby Theresa Anne was buried in a private cemetery in northern Indiana. Born in January 2006, Baby Theresa Anne was found dead left in a dumpster behind a Blockbuster Video store in Streamwood, Illinois. RiHA named her after St. Theresa and St. Anne.

Baby Kinzie Marie

October 6, 2006

Baby Kinzie Marie is buried at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, Illinois. Baby Kinzie made news headlines in Chicago on July 21, 2006 – the day she was found in a burning bag under a train viaduct near the 4600 block of Kinzie Avenue. Named “Kinzie” by the people who discovered her with “Marie” added by RiHA, this little baby’s life was celebrated with a funeral Mass at St. Martin de Porres Church – in the community where she was found.

Ways to Give

Make a Donation to RiHA

Donate a Wedding Dress

Would you like to help make angel gowns?

The angel gowns are not terribly hard to make, although much love goes into each one.

And yes, we do need help from people who do not sew. One of the most time consuming jobs is deconstructing the wedding dresses, ironing/steaming them, and then laying out the patterns for the angel gowns. The patterns are traced onto the wedding dress and then need to be cut out. We welcome teenagers who need service hours for Confirmation to help with this as well as anyone who wants to help but does not sew. We host monthly Sewing Saturday workshops in the Chicagoland area and invite all volunteers to come and see the process. We provide the wedding dress material, patterns, trims and supplies, as well as examples, guidance and encouragement . . . and lunch!

To find out more about how you can help or when the Sewing Saturday events are scheduled, please see our Facebook group page or contact us.

Step 1: Take Your Dress Out of Storage

If your dress was not preserved, please clean it before donating. Most gowns can be washed on the gentle cycle at home and then hung up to dry. If it was preserved and boxed, no need to clean it – just remove it from the large storage box as we cannot accept those boxes – and hang it up to air out.

Step 2: Look at Your Dress Closely

Check for the type of material – If the dress is made of a stretchy or jersey material or a lighter-weight / see through polyester material, we most likely will not be able to use it. Many dresses from the 1970’s are not useable because once the lace overlay is lifted up, the satin sheath is see-through and does not give enough quality material for making angel gowns.
Check if its clean – If your dress is discolored/stained and did not come clean in the wash, we may not be able to use it. If it has dry rot, mold, or mildew, we definitely cannot use that for the precious babies who will wear the angel gowns.
Check for odors – If your dress retains a strong odor such as smoke, mothballs, pets, or perfume, we will not be able to use it.
In some cases, we may be able to salvage the lace and embellishments even if we cannot use the material. However, if we are unable to use a dress, we reserve the right to re-donate it or dispose of it.

Step 3: Understand that we cannot return a dress or any part of it to you once we have received it.

We are unable to make hankies or keepsakes for you and we do not return angel gowns to dress donors. So, if you wish to keep a portion of your wedding dress for keepsakes, please do. Just cut off the portion you’d like to keep, and we will work with the remaining fabric.
Unsure if a future bride might like part of your dress? Then we suggest keeping a piece that is somewhere between 12-30″ long by 3″ wide so a future bride could incorporate it as a belt or wrap it around her bouquet.

Step 4: Remove the netting/crinoline from the underside of the dress and discard it

Step 5: Please let the dress hang up for at least 3 days to air out.

Step 6: Option for those who are tech savvy

While your dress is hanging up to air out, would you please take a picture of the full front of the gown, one up close of the bodice, and one of the full back? (Might require 2 pics to get the entire train photographed). Then post them in a separate thread on our page. The post will be delayed until we receive your dress and it will make the process of checking it in so much easier on our volunteers.

Step 7: Donation Form & Receipt

Complete the bottom half of this receipt and donation form and attach it with a safety pin to your dress.

Click Here for the Form & Receipt

Step 8: Packing & Shipping

If your dress meets our criteria and you are ready to donate it, please remove all tissue paper, hangers or other packaging and attach the 1/2 page donation form (from Step 7 above)
If mailing, fold/roll your dress up to fit into as small of a box as possible. It is ok to send via ground mail or UPS or FedEx.
If dropping off, please put your dress into a plastic bag. There is a large drop box outside our front door so you can drop off when it is convenient for you. This is a residential address – a yellow ranch house.
The address is:
Rest in His Arms Angel Gowns
1016 Woodland Drive
Wheeling, IL 60090

Volunteer to make Angel Gowns

Would you like to help make angel gowns?

The angel gowns are not terribly hard to make, although much love goes into each one.

And yes, we do need help from people who do not sew. One of the most time consuming jobs is deconstructing the wedding dresses, ironing/steaming them, and then laying out the patterns for the angel gowns. The patterns are traced onto the wedding dress and then need to be cut out. We welcome teenagers who need service hours for Confirmation to help with this as well as anyone who wants to help but does not sew. We host monthly Sewing Saturday workshops in the Chicagoland area and invite all volunteers to come and see the process. We provide the wedding dress material, patterns, trims and supplies, as well as examples, guidance and encouragement . . . and lunch!

To find out more about how you can help or when the Sewing Saturday events are scheduled, please see our Facebook group page or contact us.

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