Nancy and Nora’s Tiny Clothes was informally set up after our twin girls Nancy and Nora died shortly after birth in December 2014. Both our girls weighed just under a pound and were too tiny to fit even micro-preemie clothes. It was so important to me that the girls were clothed. In the days after their death we found ourselves searching toy shops for dolls clothes. They were either the wrong dimensions or completely inappropriate, we couldn’t quite bring ourselves to dress our babies as cheerleaders! In the end we settled on them wearing home-made hats and blankets. I still to this day, worry that they might get cold.

Shortly after the girls died, I had some 1:1 sewing training and then spent the months that I was off on Maternity Leave with no babies, making Tiny Clothes for other babies who were born too small to survive.

I try to make the clothes out of soft, bright fabric that you would usually see baby clothes made out of. I use a variety of colours and styles to suit different families tastes. When a baby dies you have so little control and feel so powerless. I hope that having a choice of clothes will enable other parents to be able to dress their child or children in the kind of clothes that they would have chosen if they hadn’t died.

All of the clothes I have made have been donated to Worthing Hospital Delivery Suite. They are in a large case so that parents can select the outfit they want.

I hope to make more cases and donate them to more and more hospitals.