I wanted to share my granddaughter’s Christening Gown.

I made it using my Big Sister Pamela pattern.  Even though it is featured as a smocked yoke dress, it can be transformed into any basic yoke dress with a few tweaks.

I wanted to make an heirloom style gown without smocking.  It was inspired by a scrap of hand embroidery I had trimmed off of Carol’s First Communion Dress.  I had just enough to fit into a yoke so Big Sister Pamela fit the bill perfectly.  This was also my first project using Nelona.  What a delight it is to work with.  It’s just so gorgeous and easy to sew and press.

First, I traced off the Yoke pattern piece and the Blocking Guide for the smocking.  I overlapped the seam allowances across the front and traced off a whole bodice piece.  Now, I had a template for laying out my  heirloom laces.  I added the V shape in the center to feature more of the embroidered piece and add some visual interest.

The hardest part was mitering the entredeux into the V shape.  Next time, I will just draw a separate template for the shaped seam line and hand stitch the entredeux pieces together first.  I think it would be easier to manage.

Next, the sleeves were finished with lace insertion and the hemstitch on my sewing machine. Gathered lace and entredeux are used for the armband.

The next big decision was concerning the skirt treatment.  I knew Carol wouldn’t want a huge skirt, so I chose a 36″ width.  I also liked that the number is divisible by 3 for the Trinity.  Then I calculated the lengths I would need for the lace band and stitched the laces together.  The ruffle is double the width of the skirt with lace insertion and pintucks on each side, with lace edging along the bottom.  I added the V shape in the middle and added seam allowances for stitching to the entredeux.

I also wanted to embroider a cross for the skirt and coordinate it with the embroidery on the yoke.  I tried to shadow embroider the cross but it was too large and I couldn’t get it to look nice.  So, then I tried a chain stitch.  My dear friend Lori suggested silk floss and my goodness, it was lovely to work with.  Then I used some floche for the vines and I even found some of the same white silk ribbon that I used on the original dress!  Same patina to match the roses on the yoke.  Sometimes it pays to not throw things away! LOL.   A lace insertion oval and it was complete.

I’m pleased with how it turned out even though my heirloom sewing skills are a little rusty.  It took almost 2 months to complete, which includes all the mistakes and Plan Bs, but it was still fun.  I think I’ll submit it to Show and Share when I go to the SAGA convention next month.

Happy Stitching!