Christening Dress

In February Hubs and I had Olivia christened. She was about nine months old. Most of the time the babies are much younger at a christening. We put it off a little longer than I (or our very Catholic families) had wanted to....but her arrival into this world was a little bit more eventful than we had expected.

Before she was born I was DEAD SET on making her Christening gown, but as things got busier my resolve waned. I ended up doing a lot of online gown shopping before I made my final decision to make the gown. Everything I saw online was so shiny or expensive.....or both. I wanted Olivia to look like a baby in a pretty white gown.....not a bride.

So, it was decided, I would make the gown. I had bought this pattern from Simplicity:

image via Simplicity.com

I liked the lace in View A, but I liked the bodice in View B and decided to meld them together. I decided on cotton batiste as my fabric and ordered everything I needed from Fabric.com. This is in no way a sponsored post for Fabric.com (because my blog really isn't popular enough for those), but they were FABULOUS. I got everything I needed....even the buttons, all from one place, only had to pay shipping once, and didn't have to wait in a long line (while trying to juggle a bolt of fabric and a squirmy baby) at the fabric store to have my material cut. It was amazing....and only cost me $35. I was a happy mommy. Oh wait, I just remembered, I got the lace at Joann's.....so I got almost everything at Fabric.com. Still counts. I remember obsessing over the lace. I wanted it to be just perfect.

I took pictures on my iPhone while sewing, so bear with me......

The bodice had pin-tucks on both sides of the center. They really didn't turn out as perfectly as I had hoped, and I really couldn't figure out why. I took them out and resewed them a couple of times, but it always came out the same way. After the second time redoing them I gave up and hoped it wouldn't be so noticeable to everyone else.

The pintucks on the bottom of the gown came out MUCH better. Of course my stitching could have been a tiny bit straighter, but all in all I thought it looked good. I love how the ipod cord and baby toy just snuck into the pic......

All together, no sleeves or collar, but all the hard work done. I ended up having to tack down the top row of lace because it just didn't want to stay upside down.

Completed! Isn't it so pretty?? Honestly, I think it's probably the nicest thing I have ever made. I should have taken a picture of the seams on the inside too, cause I made sure that they were all done nice and neat as well.

Linking up at a few parties.....