Traditional Christening Gown and Waistcoat for family S

bespoke christening gown on babe in arms

I was privileged to be asked to make two christening ensembles for Family S. We used fabrics left over from Mummy’s wedding dress to create a traditional christening gown for their baby girl and an 18th century style waistcoat, cravat and trousers for their little boy.

Baby christening gown from mothers wedding dress in brown and cream

Traditional Christening Gown with long skirt

The family decided on a christening dress made in the traditional ‘long gown’ style. This is where the skirt extends significantly beyond the babies toes. Obviously this style is only suitable for very young babies, before crawling age. In bygone eras all newborn babies clothing were made as ‘long gowns’ and the transition to their first ‘short dresses’ was a significant milestone.

pageboy waistcoat for church wedding

18th century style Waistcoat

We used fabric left over from the bodice of his mother’s wedding dress to make the waistcoat. I made the waistcoat with 18th century styling including a square bottom and high lapels. Our little man wore brown silk trousers and a matching traditional cravat to finish the ensemble.

18the century style Christening waistcoat and trousers
boys 18th century style waistcoat and cravat for toddler page boy on stand
waistcoat cover button detail with pearl and embroidery

The fabric for the waistcoat and dress bodice was incredibly beautiful and detailed. The silk organza was printed with a brown pattern on a cream background. The fabric designer had added cream and silver chain stitch detailing and well as hundreds of tiny pearls.

naming ceremony gown ruched sash
Long gown traditional christening gown back view with buttons

I made the traditional christening dress with couture details like these tiny covered buttons and french seams in the sheer silk chiffon. It had a simple round neckline and sleeveless bodice. I added a ruched sash to soften the join of bodice to the long, cream, silk chiffon skirt.

cover button and buttonhole detail on bespoke christening gown
Wedding dress by Linda Makin

Original Wedding Dress

Two pictures of the wedding dress originally made by Wendy Makin of Brisbane. I think the non-traditional wedding colours with more traditional wedding styling fitted their alternative but old fashioned tastes perfectly. We copied the styling and shapes of the wedding dress to make the the christening gown a really special keepsake.

Wedding dress by Linda Makin

See more examples of christening gowns I have made using mum’s wedding dress on my christening dress portfolio page. And this one was also made from Mum’s wedding dress.

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Felicity Westmacott

I write about all aspects of weddings, dressmaking, fashion history, and the human relation to clothing. I welcome comments and debate.

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I love an analogy, and I think this one is a really powerful one.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments 💜
@kathykyle_studio is a local artist who walked into my shop one day and asked me to make her a dress. She's a textile artist, and she was having a launch party for her latest collection, and wanted something extra special for the occasion.

Kathy makes wearable art. She paints beautiful, intricate designs and has her designs printed onto silk scarves. Her pieces are full of meaningful motifs about feminism, life and so much more.

Making this dress was such a wonderful collaboration. Kathy created a new design (5m x 1.5m in size) to be printed onto fabric, and brought me a vintage pattern she wanted to use. The pattern was actually reversable, with options for both a V-neck and boat neck. It was very cool to see Kathy switching her dress round for each part of her launch day.

I love working with fellow artists!

#dorking #surrey #textileart #bespokedress #customdress #printedfabric
Here are just some of my creations from the past year! I feel so lucky to get to make such interesting and varied garments as my job 🥰 colourful wedding dresses, unique mother of the bride ensembles, as well as alterations to make a dress feel more like home.

If you used my services (as a bride specifically) between Oct 1st 2024 up until now, I have a little favour to ask...
I've been nominated for the 2026 Wedding Industry Awards, in the "Independent Dressmaker/Designer" category and the people in the time period above are the only ones who are eligible to vote for me. 

So, if you have a spare few minutes, and you enjoyed both working with me and the outcome, then you can vote for me via the link in my bio. There are different voting links depending on whether you were a bespoke or dipdye booking, or an alteration booking. 

Industry recognition is one thing, but recognition from the people I work with is even better 💜
(and if you've already voted for me, thank you!! It means the world!)
emailme@felicitywestmacott.co.ukTEL 07762 543230TOUCHGet in
from design to completionbespoke wedding dressesFelicity Westmacott
Dorking, RH4 1RT241 High Street• Visit the Studio •
Dorking, RH4 1RT241 High Street• Visit the Studio •
emailme@felicitywestmacott.co.ukTEL 07762 543230TOUCHGet in