One Family, Four Generations

Recently I had a customer enquiry about making a family heirloom christening gown. This lady wasn’t sure I could help her. She had her own Wedding dress over 40 years old, satin and lace with pieces cut out of it over the years, her daughters Communion dress about 30 years old which is cotton, a piece from the bottom of her daughter’s wedding dress, a few years ago and a small piece of embroidery her dear Mother had done many years before. She really wanted to incorporate all these elements into a new family heirloom for her first grandchild. Was it possible?

Absolutely! I designed a long sleeve christening gown using the wedding dress and added the piece from her daughter’s wedding dress into the lining of the gown. Then I sourced a new fine cotton fabric to make a shawl. Using the pintuck detail from the skirt of the communion dress, I designed an inner square on the shawl and added the embroidery to one corner.

Although there are many different elements, this gown and shawl complement each other and turned out absolutely beautiful. It doesn’t have to be a wedding dress, it can be any piece of clothing or embroidery that is important to you and holds dear memories you want to keep and pass on.
Honoured and privileged to have a hand in this design and creation spanning four generations.