Aidan's Baptismal Gown

I started this week, working on a baptismal gown for my newest, or rather soon to be godson Aidan.

Elements of the gown

Baptismal gowns are always a little difficult for baby boys. Although, many families have one gown that all children use, regardless of sex, they still tend to be very frou frou, covered in frills, and on first viewing seem to leave no question that it is a baby girl wearing it... even if it happens to have a bawling baby boy inside.

Masculine Lace

Most families just roll with it. It is only social conditioning and current fashion that says that little boys don't wear bows and lace. Moreover, the poor kid is only going to wear it for one day, and such little traumatic scarring can be done in such a short time. However, when you're like my two best friends, recently moved and unable to get to either of their own whipped cream coiffures , you can start from scratch.

Translucent Ribbon

Nikki has always had classic taste, so when discussing what her little Aidan was to wear, coupled with my own sewing abilities, I wasn't too surprised she choose to still stick with the basic concept of the gown. Yet, it was decided that we would choose materials that, in our current state of life, seemed more masculine or at the very least neutral. We picked a linen blend, rather than satin, left off any "Stevie Nicks" lace for more subdued trim, and went with a pattern that was greatly reduced in the puffiness.

Good Old Bias Tape

Initially, I had picked out a bit of lace, which I felt, was rather masculine, as far as lace goes. However, when I started playing with the fabric and other trims that I had for this project, I was a bit torn. It seemed to me that most of the trims worked nicely for the center piece of the gown. After much hemming and hawing, consulting Nikki, and playing around I decided against the lace for the gown (I am reserving it for another baptismal project) and went instead with some bias tape.

Pretty far from "Simplicity."

With that big trim choice of '08 behind me, I set about cutting out the million little pattern pieces for the outfit. Between the gown, the slip, and the cap, I thought I was going to go mad... all those tiny corners! For something that call it's self Simplicity, it surely wasn't a zen like act of cutting it out.

The good news is it is all cut out, but for some reason I ended up with nearly a 1/2 yard of fabric left over (even when I couldn't follow the pattern's own cutting layout, because the fabric was 54", instead of 60". Furthermore, I've got most of the gown and slip sewn in the last two nights and will post photos later. Yet, right now I've seem to run into some button hole trouble...