I am getting very close to finished with the dress itself.  Just wanted to share this photo, with the sunlight streaming through the fabric you can really see the detail of the embroidery and how translucent the fabric is.  Looks ethereal.

It is starting to look more like a dress now. I put gathered 1 inch lace edging along the 2 seam lines, but I am not sure about that, it may be too much, but I’ll have to wait until I get more completed to see if it overshadows the embroidery or if it looks out of place.

I decided to make the remainder of the skirt bottom out of panels divided by lace, each panel will have embroidery like the front but gradually tapering down to only embroidery at the bottom. This is one of the panels that will be attached directly behind the front panel.

This silk dupioni christening dress was adapted from a girls dress pattern called Natalie. It was featured in Issue 135 of Sew Beautiful Magazine.

Detail of lace fancy band

Bodice Detail

Detail of embroidery

Completed Dress

While doing research for christening gowns, I ran across some photos of an antique Ayrshire christening gown. I fell in love with this beauty and have decided to try and reproduce an Ayrshire gown. Ayrshire Embroidery is hard to find, I could not find a source for any Ayrshire linens to use for the dress, so I will have to embroider my own by machine. I searched for “whitework” patterns in order to find something similar to Ayrshire.

Ayrshire embroidery, also known as sewed muslin, was worked in white cotton thread on white cotton muslin, usually in floral designs with trailing foliage, occasionally incorporating peacocks or other birds. It is characterised by cut-out spaces filled with needlepoint lace stitches, often in circular wheel patterns, surrounded by satin stitch with stem, beading and other stitches. It is most often found on baby robes, caps and bibs, women’s collars, cuffs and caps.

Close up detail of embroidery

My middle child, Lindsey, now has a son, John Theodore Ehricht. He is my newest grandchild. Initially we did not know the sex of the baby, so I could not start on a christening gown until she could find out the sex at her ultrasound appointment. when she did finally find out, I was able to start on the gown.

Finding pretty christening gowns for boys is difficult. I wanted it to be elaborate without being prissy. Searching for boy’s christening gowns, I found this pattern. It fit the bill nicely.

I am very picky about items I sew. If I make a mistake I will always know where those mistakes are, even if they can’t be seen by the client. I was just learning my embroidery machine, and I did not know you could combine patterns into one. . Because of that, the embroidery on the center panels initially wasn’t lined up well. Even if Lindsey or anybody else would have never noticed, I knew it was there, so I had to remake the center panels on this dress, and had to order more fabric to do that.

The image above is the detail from the two front overlay panels. In the center between those two panels, I have embroidered the Trinity Cross set.

Unfortunately these photos don’t do the gown justice as it is difficult to see the level of detail in the gown.

In this photo you can see the Trinity Cross embroidery in the center.

I made shoes and a bonnet to match.  There is a beautiful embroidered “E” on the back of the bonnet in the Christian Crosses pattern. I don’t currently have a photo of the bonnet.

and a smaller complimentary “E” on the shoes.  Teddy’s feet are so big, I don’t think these fit too well by the time he was christened.

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