Something Old, Something New Two

 The second of the Christening Gowns made from the Grandmother's wedding dress!

It was a magnificent dress but I think you can tell from the exquisite lace and embroidery incorporated in the christening gown.

Mrs. Suzie B had express wishes for her grandson's christening gown (see previous blog) but for the granddaughter-to-be's gown?  Carte blanche!  Two of the most beautiful words that any artist loves to hear!
I said 'embellished? over the top?' and Suzie shook her head YES...go for it!

Sooooo exciting!

 I was able to cut the body of both gowns out of the train and underlying fabric.  Just!  There was just enough fabric for two christening gowns - who woulda thought?!?   The photo on the right, above, shows the gown in two pieces, bodice and skirt.  Taking it apart was not painful because mom took it apart as it was stitched.  Goodness knows, we have taken stitches out on numerous occasions for boo-boo's, so this was easy.

 I used the center overlay from the front skirt of the dress for the center of the front skirt on the gown.  The overlay fit quite well and the majority of the sewn lace was able to be used.  However, I had to remove a big quantity of lace from the wedding dress in order to sew it around the waist of the gown.  Removing lace from netting is not fun.  Soooo time consuming and careful work.  It was hard to see!

 I also used a bit of the lace removed to adorn the sleeve.  Being a puff sleeve, the design was just perfect to show off on the puff.  Even better, I was able to remove the net lace bodice front from the dress and the button back with netting, and tailor it to fit the infant gown.  It was meant to be.  That should not have happened, that should not have fit, that should not have worked.  But it did.  Amazing!  Perfect!  What a giggle:-)

And this, my friends, was the hardest cut.  This was the first cut into the beautiful wedding dress overskirt to embellish the front the of the christening gown.  It's a funny thing.  This cut was 'ruining the gown'.  However.  Once this cut was made and the piece removed, I turned into a cannible, drooling over all this gorgeous fabric and lace wondering 'what else (drool).  what else can I remove from this and use (drool and slobber)'.

And then, ta da!, the end result.  One spectacularly gorgeous Christening gown for one spectacularly gorgeous baby.  Someday. And, hopefully, both gowns will be worn by many, many Baby "B's" in the years to come.  

Enjoy your day,

Mom & Jenny

Something Old, Something New

I have always said that we are in the most joyful business

ever.  And we have the most wonderful customers as well.  And one of my most creative challenges came from one of our lovely customers, Suzie B.  

Suzi brought in her wedding gown, worn 34 years prior, and asked to have two christening gowns created from it - one for her grandson, whom she will be welcoming in October, and one for the girl that will be.  Someday.

Oh. What. Fun.

Except for actually cutting into the most beautiful gown I've ever seen.   But I'll get to that.

And so, ta da!  The little lady's on the right, the young man's below.  Wow.

My goal was to incorporate the wedding dress into each gown.  The girl gown was mentally easier because, well, lace, pearls, netting, embroidery, okay.  The boy gown was a bit more difficult.  Suzie envisioned a simple gown with a smocked bodice, pin tucks  and an embroidered cross.  Challenge given! 

I used the fabric from the train for both gowns - just enough.  Believe that?  Just.  I turned over the front of the boy gown to mom, who pleated and smocked the bodice.  I think it took her about 6 hours to smock - could be a world record.  And it's tiny.  Tiny little diamonds.  Perfect!

The design came together on it's own.  As a boy gown, the collar and sleeve cuff were piped, as was the bodice.  I could not fit a proper cross on the bodice so it was embroidered on each sleeve, which really showed off the design.  I put the belt in the back to make the gown even more masculine and used the buttons from Grandma's dress.  Pin tucks added, all good.  But it needed something more from the dress to bring a bit more of the history in.  Aha!  I cut the bottom pleated edge down from 4 inches deep to 1 1/2 and added it to the bottom of the gown.  A little bit more tailored looking than the deep 4 inches, but in it's own way, it matches the girl's gown AND Grandma's dress.  Yea!

Okay.  Gown No. 1.  Gown No. 2 in the next blog!  With pretty pictures:-)

Make it a good day!

Mom & Jenny

Smock It To Me, Smock It To Me, Smock It To Me

People are fascinated when they see our smocked baby clothes and even more fascinated when they watch mom smocking on a project.  Beautiful DMC threads, two at a time, taking quick, continuous tiny stitches and the pattern grows.

We do not create the pleats by hand, thank goodness.  Well, we do.  The hand turns the crank and guides the fabric on our magical Amanda Jane pleater, which we purchased from a company in Australia.  Australia, come to find out, is HUGE into smocked, traditional clothing for girls AND boys.  (Insert big sigh right here).  I wish more people in our own US of A were.  There is such a small time in life when babies are babies and there is nothing more precious than a little boy in a smocked jon-jon.  I know.  My little boys wore jon-jons and the pictures in the scrapbook are adorable!  But I digress.

Smocking began in England in the 13th or 14th century.  Linen fabric was gathered into pleats and then secured with embroidery stitches.  Clothing was smocked on the yoke and sleeves, creating an elastic band! (Who thought of this?)   With the use of machinery, the loose garments became impractical and dangerous to wear around moving parts, so smocking died out.

In the early 20th century, smocking began to decorate garments for women and children, which was both popular and fashionable.  But the two World Wars brought availability of cheaper mass produced clothing, rather than the labor-intensive hand-smocked clothes.  And it became less prevalent.

And then!  On to 2009 when Just Baby Gifts & Apparel set up shop and started making smocked clothing again!  We love making bishop dresses for the smaller set - newborn to one year.  The smocked bodice dresses are for 12-36 months.  And they often have ties on the side to make a big bow in the back, just like Mom used to make for me!  Each smocked outfit is unique.  Mom just waits for the fabric to talk to her and then she lets the pattern flow, like magic! 

Here's a beauty that she just finished for the holidays.  It's actually red, not orange (fire the photographer!)  Check out our shop at http://www.justbaby.us/ to see our current collection of smocked baby clothes.  But hurry because there's only one of each.

Don't forget to check out our Facebook page for upcoming sales, and Like us while you're there.  Thank you!