I hope to inspire and entertain you with a lot of sewing and a little of everything else!

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Christening Gown is 95% Done!



 I am so excited that my Goddaughter's Christening Gown is almost finished! I worked hard this week to get the construction done. The things left to do are: attach a tiny trim to the neck edge, run ribbon through beading, hem back edges, and do some sort of beading/ribbon/embroidery at the "waist" of the smocking.

Here's the yoke. Notice the 2 cable smocking rows: between them is where I will add some beading, ribbon, and/or embroidery. I'm not sure yet what to add.

 Here are the embroidery, fancy band, and ruffle. I love how they look together!


 Here's the whole dress, laying flat. You can see through the front to where the dress is open down the back. I decided to add buttons at the back yoke and leave the rest open. It will make it easier to dress a newborn and will look better spread open for pictures.

More ruffle detail. The ruffle is 132" gathered onto the 72" skirt. It took me a long time to gather and stitch that ruffle!




Project Details:
Fabric: 100% cotton Satin Batiste from Fine Stitchery- I had JUST enough with 2 yards.
Laces/Entredeux: Cotton French lace and Swiss embroideries
Thread: Madeira 80 wt cotton for machine embroidery and Madeira 60 wt cotton for construction 
Pattern: Chery Williams' Baby Yokes for Dress
Ellen Briggs Party Dress Sleeve only, size 1 reduced by 10%
Machine Embroidery: my own combo of designs from Linny's Heirloom by Artistic Designs

This dress went together wonderfully. It was a charmed project. I estimate 30-40 hours of work (including all the hand smocking). I LOVE the way it looks and I can't wait to see it on my little GodBaby!! She is due December 4 and her baptism is scheduled for December 30, so I don't have too long to wait! I'm going to take a break from this to work on my Thanksgiving and Christmas projects, but when I get back to it, I will also make a simple slip and bonnet to match!
I'd love some comments with what you think of it!     
 


7 comments:

Laura said...

Are you making a slip to go underneath? I mean, swiss batiste is fairly sheer, anyway... It's gorgeous, though.

Anonymous said...

A gorgeous gown! You do beautiful work and I am sure your granddaughter will look great in it!

SuperMomNoCape said...

The Christening Gown is absolutely beautiful! You've done a fantastic job making it and I'm sure it will be treasured.

Hazel said...

You did a wonderful job ,it's been fun watching this dress come together .You should be very proud ,that new Godchild
is certainly going to shine in it.

Jo said...

It's beautiful!! I'm so amazed that you took a yoke dress pattern and came up with that!!! I wouldn't know where to start!

Cynthia Gilbreth said...

Stunning! You did a beautiful job, and I can't wait to see it finished with the embroidery. Will you embroider the baby's name and baptism date on the slip? I would add just a few more buttons in the back, so when you hold the baby over your shoulder her bottom is covered. But you can leave enough so that it will still spread beautifully. I notice you have beading in the fancy band, will you thread some ribbon through it?

Elisabeth Rose said...

Thanks, Everyone!
Cynthia, I was thinking about embroidering that info on the back fold-over of the skirt, because the slip will be super-simple. I'm planning to use a tiny white cotton tank top I have and cut it and add an Imperial batiste skirt, just comfy and functional, but not fancy. I figured her bum would be covered by the slip, even if the dress opens a bit. My friend Loves it and has been showing everyone pictures of it!

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