In our church, infants are given a special baby blessing. Keri's baby blessing was on July 26 and the actual blessing was a really special experience. I just love baby blessings. I am so grateful to my sweet husband for the wonderful daddy he is to our kids.
What babies wear is definitely not the most important part of a baby blessing ...as my dad said to me, "Just something white." I had tossed around the idea of making Keri a blessing dress when I was pregnant with her but with all of the other projects I was working on, it got pushed aside. But I am hopelessly sentimental and I really wanted to be able to give Keri the little outfit she wore for her blessing someday along with a few other things I am collecting along the way for each of my children. So, with her blessing date approaching I realized I either needed to get started or find a white dress made by someone else! Here is a little tale that I'd like to call "My Three White Dresses" (not to be confused with the popular poem "My Three White Dresses"). I apologize for the length, but reading it will be much easier than experiencing it...
My Three White Dresses
On the Tuesday before the blessing, I pulled out 1 1/2 yards of white satin and a Simplicity pattern (this particular company chose their name poorly if I may say so) that I bought a few months ago. I cut the pattern pieces out after I spent 45 minutes staring at the pattern's simple instructions and its simple pictures. I pinned and sewed, found my seam ripper in my sewing drawer and ripped some seams, and pinned and sewed some more. I continued until I had the bodice sewn to the gathered skirt.
At this point I thought maybe I should go make sure it fit Keri before I attempted the sleeves (which I was dreading since I have never sewn a dress in my life...and the pattern instructions mentioned "easing the sleeves"...not a clue what that means, I guess I was just going to wing it). Well, much to my dismay, the size XS infant dress which was supposed to fit a 7-11 pound infant (I would like to mention here that my baby happens to weigh over 11 pounds and is very long) was HUGE. That was the end of Dress #1 (well, at least until I find an obese 9 month old baby who wants to dress up like a chubby ballerina for Halloween).
I packed my children into the car the next day and journeyed to the fabric store. [Yes, I took my children to the fabric store. No, I could not concentrate.] I bought a yard of white flowered cotton material and returned to The Factory (our spare room). I found a free pattern for a little jumper online and started Dress #2. After the bodice was sewn, I tried it on Keri. This time, too tight. Tight, as in "a-little-snug-but-it-will-work"? No, tight as in "so-snug-my-baby-can't-inhale-or-exhale". Dress #2 would fit a newborn perfectly and it is not formal like some blessing dresses, so at least I can give it as a gift.
For Dress #3 I decided to take some measurements and attempt to resize the pattern I used for Dress #2. I made another trip to the fabric store (minus the kids, thank you husband). I returned home and got to work, this time creating a bodice that fit perfectly. Hooray. I attached the skirt and tried it on Keri and it was perfect. She almost spit up on it while I was figuring out where to pin the jumper's shoulder straps but I grabbed a burp cloth just in time. Nothing short of a miracle.
The original pattern said to tie the shoulder straps in little knots so it was more like a sundress but I didn't like the way that looked. I decided to attempt sewing button holes on my sewing machine for the first time ever. If it had failed I would have hated myself, but I practiced once on a scrap of fabric and then took the plunge and it came out beautifully. Hooray again.
I know it looks pretty simple, but that's kind of how I wanted it to be. Simple and white. Here is the finished jumper:
What babies wear is definitely not the most important part of a baby blessing ...as my dad said to me, "Just something white." I had tossed around the idea of making Keri a blessing dress when I was pregnant with her but with all of the other projects I was working on, it got pushed aside. But I am hopelessly sentimental and I really wanted to be able to give Keri the little outfit she wore for her blessing someday along with a few other things I am collecting along the way for each of my children. So, with her blessing date approaching I realized I either needed to get started or find a white dress made by someone else! Here is a little tale that I'd like to call "My Three White Dresses" (not to be confused with the popular poem "My Three White Dresses"). I apologize for the length, but reading it will be much easier than experiencing it...
My Three White Dresses
On the Tuesday before the blessing, I pulled out 1 1/2 yards of white satin and a Simplicity pattern (this particular company chose their name poorly if I may say so) that I bought a few months ago. I cut the pattern pieces out after I spent 45 minutes staring at the pattern's simple instructions and its simple pictures. I pinned and sewed, found my seam ripper in my sewing drawer and ripped some seams, and pinned and sewed some more. I continued until I had the bodice sewn to the gathered skirt.
At this point I thought maybe I should go make sure it fit Keri before I attempted the sleeves (which I was dreading since I have never sewn a dress in my life...and the pattern instructions mentioned "easing the sleeves"...not a clue what that means, I guess I was just going to wing it). Well, much to my dismay, the size XS infant dress which was supposed to fit a 7-11 pound infant (I would like to mention here that my baby happens to weigh over 11 pounds and is very long) was HUGE. That was the end of Dress #1 (well, at least until I find an obese 9 month old baby who wants to dress up like a chubby ballerina for Halloween).
I packed my children into the car the next day and journeyed to the fabric store. [Yes, I took my children to the fabric store. No, I could not concentrate.] I bought a yard of white flowered cotton material and returned to The Factory (our spare room). I found a free pattern for a little jumper online and started Dress #2. After the bodice was sewn, I tried it on Keri. This time, too tight. Tight, as in "a-little-snug-but-it-will-work"? No, tight as in "so-snug-my-baby-can't-inhale-or-exhale". Dress #2 would fit a newborn perfectly and it is not formal like some blessing dresses, so at least I can give it as a gift.
For Dress #3 I decided to take some measurements and attempt to resize the pattern I used for Dress #2. I made another trip to the fabric store (minus the kids, thank you husband). I returned home and got to work, this time creating a bodice that fit perfectly. Hooray. I attached the skirt and tried it on Keri and it was perfect. She almost spit up on it while I was figuring out where to pin the jumper's shoulder straps but I grabbed a burp cloth just in time. Nothing short of a miracle.
The original pattern said to tie the shoulder straps in little knots so it was more like a sundress but I didn't like the way that looked. I decided to attempt sewing button holes on my sewing machine for the first time ever. If it had failed I would have hated myself, but I practiced once on a scrap of fabric and then took the plunge and it came out beautifully. Hooray again.
I know it looks pretty simple, but that's kind of how I wanted it to be. Simple and white. Here is the finished jumper:
Here is a family picture we tried to take just before leaving to go to church. One of us was very hungry...can you guess who?
And here is my dad who flew out to be part of the blessing and got to meet his first granddaughter for the very first time! We had a fun visit and I'm so glad he was able to come.
2 comments:
I wish I had just an ounce of your motivation! Good job on the dress! Did you finish her bumper? I want to see pics! I'd like to attempt a bumper and bedding for my next one. Is it a horrendous ordeal?
Her dress looked so incredible! I'm so impressed Meredith!
Post a Comment