Lina and Vi: Sewing a Baptism Baby Dress

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Sewing a Baptism Baby Dress


Over the past few weeks, I've been working on sewing on a  baptism dress for my niece and god-daughter, who was born in February and will be baptized at the end of June. Since June is a prime time for the Michigan summer heat to arrive, this dress was designed to be light and airy. This wasn't my first baby dress (you can see a past baby dress I've sewn here), however it was my first that would be used for a pretty significant occasion.

To sew this dress, I used a free baby dress pattern by Made by Rae available here as the baseline. It's very basic with a sleeveless, scoop neck top and an empire waist with a gathered skirt. I omitted the pocket, added a satin white ribbon at the waistline, tiered skirt, and cap sleeves in order to create this baptism gown. Honestly, these types of alterations aren't my strong points, so they were definitely a challenge for me, on top of having to sew at what felt like minuscule proportions for a five month old baby. This was a great learning project (and one that required a lot of time from my seam-ripper and my patience!)

The bodice, sleeves, and skirt panel are made from white cotton. The skirt tiers are made from an eyelet lace trim that I first basted  to the panel and then sewed in a three tier layer with a slight overlap between the layers. The top of the skirt panel is gathered to give it some volume and shape. The cap sleeves are self-drafted after doing a bit of research on how to add sleeves to children's clothing. Honestly, they are not perfect, and they are one of the last things I sewed to the dress. The hardest part of this dress was inserting the sleeves to the bodice, but in the end, I think they turned out great and should fit her well. On the back, you will see two visible buttons and one that is hidden under the first layer of the skirt to help with getting her in and out of the dress easily.

Despite how difficult parts of this dress were for me, the finished baptism dress is one of my proudest sewing creations. I had a vision for how it would end up looking, and this is completely on point which makes me feel like it was a success. I'm looking forward to seeing my niece wear it at her baptism!

Baptism Dress - Lina and Vi

Baptism Dress - Lina and Vi

Baptism Dress - Lina and Vi

Baptism Dress - Lina and Vi
If you have any questions about how I drafted, designed, or sewed any piece of this baptism dress, let me know and I'll be happy to share the details!

-Erica

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