Bias and Lace Christening Gown from Granny Kay

Spiritual - Through the gift of His Body and Blood, our Lord wants to transform us. He wants to heal us of our infirmities, nourish our souls, and fill us with purity and grace.  Since the moment of the Last Supper to the present day this has always been the case.  We have only to believe.  Full of Grace, Johnnette S. Benkovic

Sewing -  Kay Manuel, a seasoned sewer, but a new "heirloom" sewer, made this gorgeous christening gown in anticipation of the birth of her first grandchild.  The gown is made of Nelona batiste, Swiss embroideries, machine embroidery, and entredeux.  The yoke is a simple square yoke and the sleeves are 3/4 length.  There are eight gore panels in the skirt.  The center gore has three loops of white lace tape bias representing the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. A cross was machine embroidered  within each loop.  Seven curved godets add extra fullness to the dress.  The gores and godets are attached by Swiss bridging.  The hem is scalloped and trimmed with a beautiful Swiss edging.  The overall dress is about 40 inches long.  Congratulations, Kay, on a beautiful and well done job!

Gown front

Center gore loops

Swiss insertion, machine embroidery, Swiss bridging on yoke

                                                      

Swiss bridging sewn in the center of each sleeve 

Scalloped skirt hem with endredeux and Swiss edging

Slip

Kay and Mason

Kay's daughter, Kimberly, and Mason

Christening Gown from Nanny Mitzi

Spiritual - "Jesus chided Martha, not because she gave herself to activity, but because she was too anxious about it;  'Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things' (Lk 10,41).  God wants activity, but not anxiety, for even in activity, the soul should attend to 'the one thing necessary, ' that is, union with Him.  Therefore, as soon as a soul perceives that it is beginning to lose its interior calm, it should interrupt its work, if possible, at least for an instant, and retire into its interior with God.  These brief moments of pause, frequently repeated, will accustom it, little by little, to keep calm and recollected in God, even in the most absorbing activity.  Divine Intimacy


Sewing - Mitzi Brignac is a "beginning" student and was insistent upon making the christening gown for her Godchild's first baby.  I thought, "Okayyy."  She began learning heirloom techniques sewing a few daygowns, then delved into this beautiful gown and matching cap.  We designed the gown based upon Swiss embroideries she loved and a basic yoke design. She even learned snail shirring!  I think this girl is not afraid to tackle anything. She is a blast to work with and she did a wonderful job!  I can't wait to see what she has in mind for the next project.

Gown front; gown is 30" long

Yoke with Swiss insertion;  Swiss edging at neckline;
machine embroidered cross stitch crosses

Ruffled Swiss edging snail-shirred and sewn to Swiss insertion

Machine embroidered cross stitch crosses circle the skirt

Slip with Swiss embroidery ruffle

Project Runway Simplicity 2359

Spiritual -  "If a soul seeks for God, her Beloved seeks for her even more" (J.C. LF, 3,28).  Mary looked for the Lord with all her heart and the Lord found her, calling her, Mary!  "Although He has risen gloriously, Jesus is always the Good Shepherd who knows His sheep individually; and he 'calleth His own sheep by name... and the sheep follow Him because they know His voice' (Jn 10,3-4).  When Mary hears her name, she recognizes the stranger as her Lord and cries out to Him, her Master!

Added piping

Sewing - An important event was coming up, and, I needed a "nice" dress  So into my stash of patterns and fabric I went.  I found a silk rayon I bought from one of my favorite online fabric sources, Fashion Sewing Group about 8 years ago, and found a project runway inspired simplicity pattern. 


The dress has two variations, sleeveless and this short sleeved version.  The empire upper bodice is underlined and the sleeves and midriff are self-lined.
The skirt is not lined, but easily could be.  I did raise the v-neck 1 1/2".  The pattern called for top-stitching around the front bands and midriff, but I chose to place self-piping in the seams.  The shaping in the bust is made with soft gathers and there are gathers at the front waist.  There are two length variations to the pattern.  I chose the shorter version.  Difficulty:  intermediate level.

Bill and me

Petal sleeves, lined