I've spent the better part of 2019 so far playing with lace, lace and fabric. I was making a christening gown for a little girl, using one of her great-grandmother's old cocktail dresses. Although the skirt was full, Great-grandmother had a tiny waist and there were many seams and darts, seams and darts sewn through many layers of lace and fabric and tulle.
The first order of business was to deconstruct the original dress. The lace was delicate and fragile, disintegrating in places. I am sorry I didn't take any pictures of the full dress, but it was strapless with a full skirt. There had obviously been a pink ribbon at one time, threads remained where it had been tacked in place, and several areas of the lace had pink stains.
Once the fabric was in pieces, repairs were made, where possible, by appliqué and embroidery, layering lace motifs and creating new lace chains as needed. This was the longest part of the job, but in many ways the most enjoyable.
A week before the baptism, which was this past Saturday, I was given another dress. The dress was mostly tulle, but there was a panel of embroidered organdy on the front of the dress. Unfortunately the organdy was very white, and the original lace was off-white with a yellowish-green cast. The two did not look good together and I could not quite figure out how to combine them in one dress in a way that would satisfy me. I decided to keep the dress out of the original lace, and use the organdy as a coat. I also decided to use a third shade of white, an off-white silk satin organza which was sitting in my stash, as a lining for both pieces.
The organza was a remnant from Miriam's wedding, and as I hadn't yet used it for anything, I decided that it had been waiting for just this occasion. It was off-white, with a beige-cast, more yellow than the white organdy, but not as yellow as the lace, although you can't quite tell that in the photo above, taken late in the evening under artificial light, before the dress was finished. The firm hand of the satin organza also provided stability and protection for the lace.
Both garments were finished with a simple bias binding at the neck. The dress was tied at the back neck with a ribbon, but I could not find a ribbon to that worked with the hybrid color of the coat, at least not on short notice. The coat remained open.
The coat was made in a simple, sacque shape, and was really the simplest part of the outfit since no great efforts were required to preserve the fabric.
But the two garments worked together, and better yet, looked adorable on Annalyse.
(all photos are mine except for the last photo, from the baptism. This photo was used with permission of Annalyse's grandmother)
Comments
12 responses to “A New Christening Outfit from Old Lace”
Gorgeous. You have many talents. I can’t wait to hear more of what you do.
This dress was a gift from Mardel to Annalyse. It will be one of Annalyse’s greatest treasures and, to me, as well a loving memorial to her great grandmother, my cherished mother, who looked down and said, to Mardel: Thank you for allowing me to be at Annalyse’s, my great
granddaughter’s, baptism. Mary Candler Smith sent a kiss from heaven and said Well done and thank you to Mardel. And Shanti to you all.
Stunning work, Mardel! Lace is so challenging to work with.
Just beautiful – what an awesome gift to be able to give. And that baby is a cutiepie!
So beautiful, and I can imagine what joy you had making this beautiful creation.
That’s extraordinary!
Thank you.
I was happy to do it and greatly enjoyed the process. I love making things, as you know, and also am partial to preserving things, not necessarily hidden away with lost memories, but in using them in away that builds upon history to move toward the future. A fancy way of saying it is good to preserve and thoughtfully repurpose.
The lace was challenging, but I love the way it forces one to slow down and pay attention.
Thank you. It was fun.
You know I was a little worried about making it work, but once I got started it was good to just let the fabric talk to me and tell me what it wanted to be.
Thank you. You know I worried initially, given the materials, that it would stray too far from tradition, fretting about how we merge tradition with modern sensibilities. But I think it worked out well. And Annalyse looked like she was ensconced in a happy little bubble.