Special Wedding Keepsakes

 My niece had a lovely wedding at the beach last Christmas and I had a grand time helping her and her mom create special touches for the wedding. They searched the internet for a ring bearer pillow and couldn't find anything like they liked so they asked me to create one for them. It had been a very long time since I had made a pillow but I got busy! Here is a picture of the finshed product.

I used white Maline lace, white pima batiste, white entredeux, Mother of Pearl buttons, and white satin ribbon.
Here is a picture of the back of the pillow.

An elastic enclosed band  was added to the back so the young ring bearer would have something to hold onto and hopefully not drop the pillow! The body of the pillow measured 8" x 8" and ended up being the perfect size.

The bride also wanted custom handkerchiefs for herself, her mother, groom's mother, plus the groom's grandmother. I decided the father of the bride would definitely need a handkerchief! The female handkerchiefs were made using linen fabric, hemstitching, and french Val lace. The blue thread used coordinated with the bridesmaid's dresses and other wedding colors.

The handchief for the father-of-the-groom was different. I didn't think he would be too thrilled with lace on his handkerchief so I made one of my linen hemmed and hemstitched handkerchiefs. Here it looked and he definitely needed it before and during the ceremony for some happy tears.

When I sent the package to the bride before the wedding, I included a few surprises. I made a lovely set of garters for her to wear. One for her to wear and save as a keepsake and one to wear and throw at the reception.

Something I did for my daughter when she married last summer (another post about it later) was make a custom satin ribbon label for her wedding dress. I thought my niece needed one, too. In addtion to a label for her dress, I made two more labels for the father of the bride and groom ties. She loved the special touch. Again, I used the same blue font font used on the handkerchiefs. I hand stitched them into the garments after I arrived a few days before the wedding.

Below is a picture of everything before it was shipping to my niece. 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the special items I made for the wedding. Handerchiefs can be ordered from my Etsy shop Monogram Elegance

Pink Swiss Batiste Baby Gown and Bonnet

It has been too long since I last posted to Behind The Monogram. I've been busy with life and constructing beautiful heirloom garments. Today I want to share with you a pink baby gown set.

The set is made using a pale pink cotton batiste called Bearissima from Bear Thread, LTD. It is a beautiful fabric and so easy to work on. The laces are ecru French Valenciennes laces. I used my favorite baby gown pattern Babette by Sarah Howard Stone.

Narrow beading is sewn to the front placket and the ruffle is attached with entredeux. The wrist bands are made using narrow beading sewn to the gathered long sleeve and fabric ruffle with entredeux. Tiny 1/8th inch ribbon is woven through the beading holes on the front placket and tied in a bow at the wrists.

Ivory hand embroidery compliments this sweet gown in the front corners and the placket inside edge is stitched down with feather stitching. The embroidery design came from one of Sarah Howard Stone's books on heirloom sewing. Most of my inspiration comes from her books.

The details on the sleeves turned out lovely. Down the center of the long sleeve is a lace band attached to the fabric with machine hemstitching. If you have read previous posts you know I have one of the old - older than I am - Singer hemstitch machines. 

Taking great photographs is still a challenge for me. Some of the pictures turned out too light but hopefully you can still see the detail in the photos. The picture above shows the hand embroidery corner design. It has bullion roses and tiny leaves.

The picture above is a close-up of the from placket detail. There are tiny bullion roses and leaves between the buttonholes. The placket closes with tiny Mother of Pearl buttons.

The back of the bonnet has the same lace band and hemstitching as the sleeve. The crown is attached to the bonnet with hemstitching and gathered lace.

Hand embroidery compliments the front band of the bonnet and ribbon rosettes are attached to each end. The bonnet ties under the chin with ecru stain ribbon. A matching A-line slip completes the set.

This sweet set would make a great Coming Home from the hospital outfit, a great first portrait outfit, or a beautiful baby dedication outfit. I hope you have enjoyed reading about this project and I hope to post more of my work soon.

Have a nice day!

You can see more of my work by clicking this link and visiting my Etsy Shop Monogram Elegance.

Monogram Elegance and of course you can shop for the perfect baby gift at The Polka Dot Store .

2018 Christening Gown Ensemble

Creating keepsake heirloom Christening Ensembles are my favorite thing to make in heirloom sewing. It takes hours just to plan the style of the gown and bonnet, what laces to use, and to “play” with the laces to find just the right combination for the fancy bands.

My customer last summer wanted a very elaborate gown made with Nelona Swiss Batiste and French laces. She gave me a budget but let me make all the decisions about the gown. She was a dream customer! Her only request was a puffing strip in the fancy band. After looking through magazines and books by Sarah Howard Stone, I decided on a high yoke gown with a fancy band and ruffle. I put rows and rows of laces together to get the perfect combination. All the laces are beautiful but some look better together than others. When I was happy with the selections, I started measuring the depth of the bands to figure out the depth needed for the fabric at the top of the skirt and for the ruffle. I laid the pieces out on a grid mat to see the measurements

The picture above shows the lace band, tucked bands, puffing strip, and bottom ruffle laid out but not sewn together. It is on my grid table so I can check the height of this portion of the skirt bottom. As a rule, the embellished portion of the skirt should not exceed two-thirds of the skirt length measurement.

When working on an heirloom project, I do it in sections. Usually, I work on the fancy part of the skirt first, then the front and back bodice, and lastly, the sleeves. I get each section completed before I start assembling the gown. I like to work on the dress in this order: fancy bands, skirt, ruffle, front and back bodices, and sleeves.

The strips of lace were joined with tiny narrow zigzag stitches. I kept adding lace strips until I had the band the way I wanted it to look.

Here are the details of the dress:

Pattern: Sarah Howard Stone Christening Gown Pattern

Laces: French Valenciennes Lace, color light ecru, and white entredeux

Ribbon: Ecru Double Face Satin

Fabric: White Nelona Swiss Batiste

The bands in the skirt, ruffle, the front and back yokes, and sleeves are all joined together with endredeux.

The front yoke features hand embroidery embellishment.

White fabric is the hardest to photograph and I struggle with lighting and getting great pictures! I took pictures outside and inside.

The picture below was taken inside with light coming in behind the dress. I hung the dress in front of a large window.

This is a picture with a close-up of the bodice showing the hand embroidery.

The back of the gown features a placket and my customer will use two beauty pins to close the gown. Beauty pins are often passed down with the gown to use for generations.

Beauty bar pins can be purchased here: https://www.thepolkadotstore.com/baby-jewelry 

Gold and sterling silver pins are available.

The skirt band is an elaborate combination of four lace bands and two tuck bands on either side of a wide puffing strip.

The fabric ruffle has a center row of lace insertion and lace edging is attached to the bottom of the ruffle. The fabric in the picture is white but the lighting makes it look ecru.

 Here you can see all the skirt details.

A matching slip and bonnet completed the Christening Ensemble. The slip has a beautiful cross embroidered on the front center bottom. A monogram with Christening date will be added to the slip after the Christening. Unfortunately, I forgot to back a picture of the slip.

Christening gowns are my favorite thing to make. Creating something this beautiful is very fulfilling. I can’t wait to start on my next Christening gown project!

Note: All supplies can be purchased from Granny's Attic. Contact info: grannysheirlooms@gmail.com 

Custom Christening Ensembles are made on request.

The Polka Dot Store

Monogram Elegance on Etsy