Christening Gown and Accessories

A friend of mine asked me a couple months ago if I would make a Christening gown for her daughter's baptism this coming Saturday. She wanted it made out of her wedding dress. No hesitation on my part, it was a definite yes!! I love creating!! This set was to her specifications, but I had the opportunity to create it. It was fun thinking about the possibilities and then figuring out how to put it together. When she brought her wedding dress I was a little nervous at first. The thought of cutting into somebodies wedding dress is a little scary! I first sent her some links to some patterns and she responded with what she liked and didn't like. I then looked through my patterns to see if anything I had in my stash of a million patterns would get me started. I started off with the top from one pattern, lengthened the skirt and then took the sleeves from another pattern. I did a test run on the bonnet, shoes and gown for her to try on her daughter. They live 2 hours away and I haven't even seen her daughter in person, so hopefully with the test run and alterations everything will fit just right!!

The test run had binding around the neck, but we both liked the way I ended up doing it much better (the idea at the time, since she hasn't seen the pictures or seen it in person yet). I added little tucks around the sleeves (around the shoulders and the bottom of the sleeves). She wanted the band around the bottom of her wedding dress on the bottom of the gown as well as incorporated into the top of the dress. I couldn't figure out a way to cut out the skirt pieces with the band on the bottom, so I had to take off the band (and then reattached it later). I couldn't use the entire band around the waist because it was too wide and couldn't figure out how to sew it into the waist and have it looking right, so I made a separate sash to tie around the waist. What do you think? I LOVE the way the sash looks around the waist and it really added to the look of the gown.

A drawstring bag to hold the gown and accessories.

Gown with sash.

The buttons on the back of the dress are from her wedding dress. I also added a button to the strap of each shoe, but I don't have a good picture of the shoes. Hopefully my friend will send me a picture of the the shoes on her daughter's little feet (I'm sure they will look much cuter on her feet).

Without the sash around the waist.

The bonnet made from another pattern (an actual Christening gown pattern). It's simple, but beautiful!!

It's Raining It's Pouring

I'm sitting here at my desk trying to motivate myself. It is pouring down rain outside!! When I checked the weather about an hour ago it looked clear for the rest of the day, but we all know how wrong the weather people can be sometimes!! I'm really glad I spent 3 hours outside today raking the garden to loosen up the weeds, pulling the weeds and then adding Preen in hope that the abundance of weeds will stop!! I thought I might head out more later to do some planting, but don't think that is going to happen now!!

I spent some time this morning (before heading out to the gardens) cutting out pieces for the Christening Gown my friend is having me make for her daughter out of her wedding gown. I spent several hours last night trying to determine the best way to cut out the skirt and realized I needed to take the trim off the bottom (and then reattach later). Now that I have most (or all.....need to double check what I have cut) pieces cut out for the dress I need to cut the rest of the pieces for the bonnet, shoes and bag (for storage). My friend is hoping this dress will be passed down through generations and I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to make this for her. She hopes their next child will be a boy and hopefully I'll get the opportunity to make the boy outfit as well!!

Off to take a short nap and then sew, sew, sew......need to have the gown and accessories in the mail Saturday or Monday since the Christening is next weekend!!

Happy Memorial Day!

We've had a nice weekend as a family. After being gone for a week visiting my parents it was nice to be home and see hubby. I spent some time this weekend cleaning the dirty bathrooms and attempting to unpack (not all done, but I've made progress). I spent some time Sunday night trying out a new skirt for my daughter, which she wore today. I was bad and didn't get any pictures, but I do plan on getting pictures tomorrow and will post!! I plan on making more of these skirts because they are so cute and great for the summer!! We spent the day with my in laws shopping at an outlet mall and then had a meal at Tumbleweed. We were all so hungry and order a bunch of appetizers and didn't leave much room for the main course, so we brought a lot of that home. My in laws live a couple hours away, so we met part way in between and then drove farther south to the Tumbleweed. It was a beautiful day, but on our way home we ran into some thunderstorms and delayed traffic, so the trip home took an extra 30 - 45 minutes. We made it home, put the kids to bed and are now vegging in front of the TV watching some movies we just got from the in laws. Onto movie #2!!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!

Remember those who have given their lives to keep our country free and safe and thanks to those serving our country and their families!! May God bless you and keep you safe!!

Pattern Testing

I had the opportunity to test a pattern this past week. I'll share more information at a later time, but wanted to share some pictures of my daughter modeling it!!

Zebra Capris and Raggie Bow

This is going to be quick since I'm in the middle of working on a bunch of custom orders, but it's been a while since I posted, so I I wanted to do a short one.

I've been wanting to get a pair of zebra and pink capris made for my daughter so I can get some pictures and add them to my shop. Yesterday, while working on some orders for zebra and pink pillowcase dresses I also cut out a pair capris to throw together for my daughter. While I talked to my Mom I also played around with some raggie fabric bows to match the zebra and pink outfits I have in the my shop.