99-year-old-woman sews a dress for an impoverished child every single day

By Maria Kyriacou

Image:Little Dresses For Africa
Image:Little Dresses For Africa
Lillian Weber is aiming to sew her 1000th dress for charity by her 100th birthday

Lillian Weber, from Iowa, is inspiration personified.  The 99-year-old spends each day making a dress for Little Dresses for Africa, an organisation that distributes clothes to little girls in need in Africa.

Image:Little Dresses For Africa
Image:Little Dresses For Africa

The sprightly senior attends a community complex in Davenport, Iowa, which offers weekly sewing bees, to create the dresses.

Weber has set herself a challenge, aiming to complete her 1000th dress by her 100th birthday next May 6. She has already completed an astonishing 840 dresses – all individual in design, in the last two years.

Her super proud daughter Linda, said Lillian personalises each and every one. “It’s not like good enough that she makes the dresses, she has to put something on the front to make it look special, to give it her touch,” said Linda.

They all share a basic single pattern but each one gets the special Lillian treatment, with frilly decorations, ribbon or ruffles making the garment unique.

Lillian has said she needs to keep busy and has no plans to stop sewing after the 100th dress.

Image:Little Dresses For Africa

The outreach group Little Dresses for Africa distributes the outfits to schools, orphanages and churches. Over 2.5 million pieces have been donated since the charity was founded in 2008, in Michigan.

All Lillian wants for her efforts is to see the pictures of the girls smiling wearing the dresses. Aside from being such a big-hearted inspiration, we think its fabulous that she’s also bucking ageist views of seniors. What a 99-year-old!

What do you hope to be doing on your 100th birthday?

 

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