Natalie Christening Gown pt. 2 : Heirloom sewing details

I finished the gown a few weeks ago but have been busy with other projects; Chinese New Year, Valentine and DD2 second birthday. The gown came out very well for being my first heirloom project and would recommend this pattern (Natalie in Sew Beautiful issue 135 March/April 2011) to anyone else looking for a beginner project.

There was no lace insertion but strips of lace were sewn together to create a wide lace border at the bottom of the skirt. I used this website for tips and hints on how to do this.

I didn't have an edger foot for my machine and so I tried my blindstitch foot. It worked ok but in the end found I had better or more control with my regular foot. Decreasing upper thread tension is a must otherwise the lace will become puckery. The hardest row was the last one which was sewing a gathered lace edge to entredeux. I gathered the lace by pulling one of top header threads in the lace. I had to sew really slow and adjust the gathers as I went with a straight pin. The presser foot wanted to keep pulling out the gathers but it worked out in the end just lots of patience.

One change I made to the construction was finishing the edge of the dupioni skirt before adding the lace band. According to heirloom sewing, the lace would be attached using a narrow zigzag roll described here as flat lace to flat fabric technique. This method rolls the fabric very narrowly while attaching the lace. I have worked with dupioni and feared the unraveling would cause some problems with this, at least to my inexperience heirloom sewing skills. I instead opted to serge the bottom edge first and then overlap the top lace edge over the serger stitching with a narrow zigzag. I don't think anyone will notice.

Here is the end result, enjoy.

Update: Baby was blessed this last Sunday, June 2, 2013

Maria in her dress

Natalie Christening Gown pt. 1 : Prep work

I am very excited to be able to join Esther's blog. As she mentioned, I am costume designer by trade but  currently have taken some time off to raise my girls. Before children, I worked as a university professor teaching costume design, theatre technology, and special effects makeup. I have recently started to dabble in tutu making and have done some freelance work in that area. Hopefully, my posts will be of interest.

So right now I am working on a Christening/blessing gown for baby #3. I decided to go the heirloom route. The pattern is from Sew Beautiful issue 135 March/April 2011, the Natalie Christening Gown. I have never done anything heirloom before except for making some 19th century women's blouses for various theatrical productions. Materials I am using are silk dupioni, French cotton laces, silk ribbon and glass beads. I haven't bought all the lace yet but will need to soon. The cost of this project is a bit on the expensive side. I think the cost of the laces will end up being the most expensive items. I goal is to have this finished by the end of the month.

Below are some pics of what I have done so far (Hopefully, you can make out the details, photographing white is tricky).

 Center Front panel traced onto fabric using pencil (This is marking cutting lines so no worries of it showing through once sewn). Center front is marked using a disappearing ink pen.

I chose to pencil mark the embroidery pattern.

Detail of finished ribbon embroidery. Still debating on adding more but will look at it when the dress is sewn together.