Sam Wall
editor@ourvalley.org
Friends and family know Pat Dillard for her generosity when it comes to making baked goods and other delectable treats, but now she is using one of her other talents to help those in need.
Pat Dillard of Christiansburg shows off one of her favorite dresses that she made. With the help of her daughter, Dillard has started sending dresses to women and children in Haiti.
Dillard, 77, started making clothing for herself when she was a teenager and eventually for her children when they were growing up.
“The old feedbags that used to be all different colors, we would make our skirts out of that,” she said.
Now, using a plethora of fabric donated to her by longtime friend, Phyllis Blevins, who owned a fabric shop in Blacksburg, Mrs. Dillard is making dresses for women and children in Haiti.
A lifelong Christiansburg resident, Dillard said her first shipment of dresses was sent in March, and she plans to ship at least 25 dresses every three months with the help of her daughter, Virginia Street who works for FedEx in Orlando, Florida.
“I have a friend that goes to Haiti every couple of months to provide medical assistance through Doctor’s Without Borders and so we started sending dresses with her when she goes,” Street said.
Dillard said that she makes a standard dress in a little over an hour.
“Its just two seams and a zipper, so they are fairly easy to make,” she said.
Dillard, who has a room in her house full of different types of sewing machines and boxes of fabric, said that she has enough supplies to make thousands of dresses.
“It’s something I’ve enjoyed doing since I can remember and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon,” she said.
