No, I don`t have a baby boy. And as I`m not religious, it`s neither my celebration. It`s for a very close friend of mine. Her baby boy, is going to have his christening ceremony the coming weekend. She just couldn`t find the right dress for him, in the end she asked me, if I would sew one for him. And of course, I just jumped at the occasion. For her and her family, it`s a special and important day. And it`s me, who`s going to sew up his dress. I felt so honored. I tried hard do give my best. I searched, a suitable pattern, for long time. Just to realise that there isn`t anything, like we wanted it to be. Finally, I drafted the pattern by myself. I made a muslin first, I rarely do so. But this time it was important enough, to spend some extra hours.
We were looking for a traditional dress, suitable for a boy. She prefered an overall, rather than a skirt. Not too much decoration, but still very festive.
I found a vintage lace stripe at a brokers`row, a week ago. I really like it. It`s so subtle and looks classic. It was kind of endless handsewing fun to attach the lace to the bodice. I think I didn`t had a project like this before, I had to use a thimble, my fingers get sore. But it was totally worth it. I think all the handsewing, who comes with such a dress, is exactly, what makes it so precious.
I used a very thin cotton Baptist. This fabric is amazing! My mother became it as a gift from an old lady, who worked as a tailor, and stored it for a long time. But, it`s still in an excellent condition! She passed it on to me, thank you mum! It`s so lightweight, I had to line it with a second Baptist who`s a bit firmer. Still the drape of the dress is like a cloud of fabric. I like! But it wasn`t that easy, to insert the invisible zipper. I couldn`t sew it between the two layers, the fabric wasn`t staedy enough. So I just attached it to both layers instead, and sewed a facing. Yes of course, by hand.
In my big zeal, no dress is complete, without the matching shoes. Here they are
Made of the softest Nappa leather, with some air-condition for the hopefully hot summer day. I drafted the pattern myself. As the leather is so soft, i didn`t had to line them. It was a very quick sew, compared to the dress.
Pictures of the sweet little boy in his robe will follow the next week.
Liebe Nina
mit diesem Anzug wird Finn wie ein kleiner Prinz aussehen! Toll hast du das gemacht, richtig tolles Handwerk!
Gruss Mami
Everything about this is beautiful. How did you make the holes in the shoes?
oh thank you, the little baby looked adorable in it, it was worth the work. the holes are made with a pounch (can i call that this way?)
A punch. Was it a special one for leather?
no an ordinary one. the leather i used was nappa leather. smooth and not too thick, it was easy to punch through!
Cool, thanks xx