Christening Gown

I know you've been holding your breath waiting for the day I'd post photos, right? Right. Well, we (as in me and my mother) did finish the gown before Troy was born. We actually finished it in August. Below are the photos and details. Patience is needed in reading this post...it is long and has lots of photos!
Shortly before I found out I was pregnant, I knew the type of Christening gown I wanted to make for my children, their children and so on. I found the style in a 1994 Sew Beautiful magazine my mother had from when my sister, Rebecca, was a child.
Here's the magazine and a photo of the "inspiration" gown.

Once I found out we were having a boy, I knew this was my only chance with this child to do whatever I wanted for a Christening gown. I drew a photo of what I thought I wanted it to look like, took it to Kids Kloset and Debbie suggested the pattern below, which I ordered that day. While the pattern was good, the instructions were a bit confusing. Thankfully, my mother is very good at heirloom sewing so I leaned on her a lot for tips and clarification.

Here's my sketch:

Here's the pattern:


My sketch of the dress was pretty sad so my Mom and I re-drew it when we went to a sewing shop in Columbus, GA. Here is the sketch:

We spent three hours picking out the laces.



I put the puffing strips together (Brian helped gather the puffing) and attach them to the entredeux.


Mom came over one Saturday and we spent 9 hours working on the gown while Brian and John painted the deck. They got through before we were at a stopping point. After 9 hours, we had assembled MOST of the entredeux and laces together. The construction of the gown had not even begun!

I took over the dining room for a few weeks:



I put the strips for the middle panel of the gown together:

Then I began assembling the bodice top.

Here are the four panels of the gown skirt. Sometimes the cat is needed for things like this. She, of course, is a great help. Laying on the fabric is a must and never requires using a roller brush to remove hair.


I put the skirt pieces together and then added the bodice to the top. I then put the lace around the bottom of the skirt and finished the placket.

I met Mom in Montgomery and gave her what I had finished. She added some shadow work and handwork:
She's so talented! She's a perfectionist when it comes to sewing, too. I sometimes find myself making small, minor mistakes and try to ignore them. She doesn't which is something I totally admire about her. She did a wonderful job with the handwork. We are also going to put Troy's initials on the middle bottom panel of the gown (no, not the slip). My intent is for any other child who is Christened in this gown to have their initials, too. I'm also making a scrap book to pass down and take photos of each child to be placed in the book. Can you tell I'm excited about this?




I just LOVE puffing, don't you? I took an heirloom sewing class at Kids Kloset earlier this year and fell in love with puffing. It is so much fun to do and I love the finished look. I was determined to put it on the Christening gown.



The finished gown: