Baptismal Gown

This is one of those projects that I was too busy to do. It was referred to me by the Home Dec department. An Older woman who has this idea and needs help with the finer points. She has been designing clothing for many years but her hands are getting old and she was looking for someone to create the pin tucks and to do the "entre deux". I told her I was very busy and I really might not have the time, but she was insistent. So, I took it on. We met here at my home.


It took me weeks to begin this because she had no definitive layout for the front placket. How am I supposed to place the pin tucks if I don't know what she wants for the opening? Finally, I called her and she had in the bag with everything she gave me, a very rough sample of what she wanted to do. Very rough. So, I went by that. Her paper pattern was way off base. So I really had to guess and hope that this would suffice.


Each tuck is done by hand stitching with silk thread. The fabric is a cotton batiste from Switzerland. I think it is too thin for a little boy's baptismal gown. I think the fabric should have more substance. But, it is what she wants. I charged her $100 dollars for the work to start. This tucking took me five hours to do. There are sixteen tucks, each 8 and 1/2 inches long. 1/8th inch wide. I used silk thread to do this work as it is very smooth. I then used a DMC Perle Cotton floss #8 in a pale blue and pale blue batiste and made her over 2 yards of the thinnest piping about 1/16th inch which she wants to pipe around the collar and maybe around the cuff. If you look at a ruler, it amazes the imagination at how thin that is, but really, with the proper foot, it is really not difficult to create. Whether she can work with it or not will have to be seen.

She picked it up on Wednesday and hasn't called, so I am thinking she is pleased. I now have to wait for the next step which is applying the lace. I bought the lace myself as she had no idea what to look for. It was in her head but not something I was unfamiliar with.

More pictures to come.