A Little Help From Our Friends - Drain Caddy Belt

As you can see from my last post, I haven't been doing a lot of sewing or quilting this summer.  It has been super busy and too danged hot! 

But I did manage to accomplish one thing on my list - I found a pattern for and made these drain caddy belts for a friend who had to have a double mastectomy earlier this month.

I wanted to wait until she gave it the thumbs up before I shared it with you, and she says it worked great.  The only issue was that I cut the belt too short.  Since she is petite, I thought the 36" belt would be plenty.  What I didn't realize or account for is significant bloating and swelling the first several days.  Also, I didn't want to ask her waist size or make it too big - word to the wise, if you are making these for someone else, make them WAY too big and tell them to just cut it off at the right length AFTER the surgery.

Other than that, she said the belt worked great and she really liked the fabrics.  I really wanted to share this because I had a very hard time finding the pattern and it seemed to be a help.

When I gave her the belts, I also tucked in some little gifts for recovery.  Use your imagination!  I included some hard candies, a pack of minty gum (helps with nausea and freshens hospital breath for visitors), a deck of cards, two prayer cards (you could use poems or little notes for the non-Catholic), a lip balm, and some mildly scented hand lotion.  Not only did my friend say these were all helpful, but it was a little distraction the evening before her surgery to open and look through.  Luckily she is doing great and all of the test results came back with the best possible news!

If you are looking to make something for a friend having a mastectomy, I also found these pillows that are also a big help.  I didn't get them done before our trip, but the hospital had some that my friend liked a lot.

Hope you have some good news this week!