About Gracie Mae's Designs
Hi friends! Welcome to Gracie Mae’s Designs. My name is Barb, and I’m the owner and designer of my small sewing business. Gracie Mae’s Designs was started in March 2025 from my love of sewing, fabrics, and creativity, and named after my daughter Gracie, age 10, who has spent 8.5 years fighting brain tumors (bilateral optic pathway gliomas) and my best friend Nicolle (lovingly referred to as NikNik by Gracie).
At Gracie Mae’s, I strive to give back to my community because several non-profit organizations have blessed us during Gracie’s cancer journey. In 2022, we were introduced to an incredible group of volunteers at Charlie’s Champions Childhood Cancer Foundation located in Lexington, NC. The foundation was formed in 2021 by a group of friends and former classmates of Charlie Ward’s dad, Bobby Ward. The group of friends rallied together to provide initial financial and emotional support for Charlie and his family. At the same time, Charlie fought Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in August 2020 at the age of 1 year old.
The exposure to Charlie’s battle led the group to see the fight and challenges that so many children and their families were facing, and that’s when Charlie’s Champions was formed. Charlie’s Champions provides HOPE and LOVE to families as they face a battle they didn’t willingly pursue. The foundation supports families in many ways, such as care packages, mortgage/rent assistance, end-of-life expenses, and more.
During Gracie’s 3rd relapse, Charlie’s Champions embraced our family and blessed us with support financially and emotionally on multiple occasions. Many nights as I lay awake with a grateful heart, all I could think about was how do I give back to the organization that has done so much for us!! One day when I was sewing, I remembered that Gracie was gifted a small pillow called a port pillow that attaches to the seat belt with velcro to protect her port site (a port is a small disk shaped device that is surgically placed under the skin in the chest to provide reliable access to a vein for chemotherapy and other medications). I knew at that moment that I could make these and donate them to the children who are a part of the Charlie’s Champions family. I felt such a sense of peace when I finally found my way to pay it forward and bless others like we had been so many times during this journey.
So, with every purchase made, a portion of the proceeds will help me purchase fabric and supplies needed to make the port pillows for Charlie’s Champions Childhood Cancer Foundation. Thank you for supporting my small business and helping me support other children and their families fighting childhood cancer. NO ONE FIGHTS ALONE!
