Traditional Christening Gown and Waistcoat for family S

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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Two pictures of the wedding dress originally made by Wendy Makin of Brisbane.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.

See more examples of christening gowns I have made using mum’s wedding dress on my christening dress portfolio page.