Screenshot of Camp Mystic sashes on Birdies Embroidery website.
The Lakewood resident behind Birdies Embroidery is crafting Camp Mystic-themed wreath sashes to fundraise for the impacted families of the tragic Fourth of July flash floods.
Camp Mystic is a Christian girls summer camp in Hunt, Texas. Flooding on the Guadalupe River killed 27 campers and counselors earlier this month, according to a statement on the camp’s website.
Birdies Embroidery founder Kelly McCoy-Hosley, who has lived in the Lakewood area for 10 years, doesn’t have a connection to the camp, but when she heard the news, she knew she had to do something.
“I was heartbroken,” McCoy-Hosley said. “I was sitting with all the weight and just thinking, what can I do as a mom?”
She created a sash for her wreath to show support for the victims and their families. Lo and behold, she found that the community was interested in this project.
“It just kind of resonated with a lot of people wanting to show the same support,” she said.
McCoy-Hosley started the project by giving 100 sashes away for free.
“I just wanted to do my part in helping spread the, I guess, love or helping someone be able to communicate that they are hurting or grieving with the families and with those who are impacted,” she said.
Camp Mystic alumni and families affected by the tragedy can get a sash for free. McCoy-Hosley has made some custom sashes for the impacted families, even for funerals. She described that particular task as emotionally difficult but also healing.
“Hopefully, they feel their loved one is honored and respected and remembered in such a heartfelt way,” she said.
She added, “These girls are really, really loved. I’ve heard from best friends of these girls. I’ve heard from grandparents, uncles, ballet teachers, swim instructors, the actual heads of the school, teachers wanting to put these in their classrooms. There’s a lot of love and honor that’s going into these girls, and I just hope their families really know how much the community is loving them and supporting them.”
The sashes are also available for sale on Birdies Embroidery’s website for $15, $25 and $100, and the proceeds are donated to the Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country to aid the victims’ families.
McCoy-Hosley plans to continue making the sashes for as long as they are wanted. She has crafted more than 125 sashes.
McCoy-Hosley said the community has also supported her while she has been making them by dropping off materials and helping with the embroidery and sewing. All sashes are handmade, and each one takes about 30-45 minutes to construct. Those who want to continue helping out are welcome to do so.
Birdies Embroidery has existed privately for a couple of years as a creative outlet for McCoy-Hosley. She formally launched her website last year.
“I originally just started kind of puttering around with embroidery, and then, I started to create things that people actually liked,” she said. “It started with the holidays and doing napkins and doing little mementos, and then it started to kind of mushroom into this little business that folks had a bit of a need for in our community. I do it more to be helpful in the community, rather than it being my core focus.”
