This has been one of my favorite makes so far. Having an open design plan has left plenty of room to explore and embellish a basic layette.
First of all, I found the PERFECT color pink. Now, pink is my favorite color, but it can't be too "bubblegum". It has to be soft and delicate looking. And this gorgeous Swiss batiste is soft pink without being pale. It is absolutely stunning.
For the frills, I found a beautiful set of champagne laces which came in all different sizes of edging (the kind that is flat on one side with "scalloped" on the other) and insertion (flat on both sides like a ribbon or piece of tape). Added to some matching beading (lace with holes to fit ribbon through), I am able to combine them in different ways to ornament this lovely layette.
First up was the bonnet. I love working with lace. It just comes together so easily and is beautiful right from the start. Sometimes clothing patterns have dozens of steps, and its really in the last few that it comes together and looks cute. But lace... lace speaks for itself. This particular French lace has the most gorgeous details. If you look closely, you can see the bows along the edge, such a sweet and feminine detail! Now the bonnet can be tricky, because, in my opinion, you can make a bonnet too fluffy. I want it to have volume, but not look like a top hat! This is where my newborn daughter came in. Before she was born, I had ideas in my head to use her lovely little baby self as a template to draft the perfect layette. While I did not use the daygown pattern in this particular layette, I did use the bonnet template that she and I came up with. It sure is satisfying when you get to use the basics of algebra and geometry that your very
... passionate...
middle school teacher engrained in your mind! A few calculations later and this pretty little thang was done!
Next up was the body of the dress. In this particular style, the dress is way over sized, and then at the very end it is gathered together at the neck and left to flow down to the hem. It really creates a stunning look for babies who, lets face it, tend to be scrunchy! Here is a closer look at the neckline (for the back).
After basic construction it was time for ALL the lacework! When commissioning an heirloom garment, this is the part where a lot of the investment comes in. Firstly, heirloom quality French (and others, if desired) lace can range anywhere from $4 to $30+ a yard! And for day gowns, you can use over 10 yards. This particular gown used 15 yards of lace and about 4 yards of entredeux. For a flower girl dress or a Baptismal gown, you're looking more at the 20+yard range depending on the amount of lace and if it can be used strategically (bits of lace in many places rather than gobs and gobs of lace for the sake of it.... although I'm fine with gobs and gobs too!!!)
This part of heirloom sewing is also one of the most customizable, after the garment design itself! Lace can be used a variety of different ways and really any budget can be strategically used to embellish a gown and make it perfect. I definitely wanted an all-lace fancy band (the ruffle hanging off the facing of the dress) but this can be customized too! It can actually be made from the same batiste as the dress with a bit of lace edging, or even made from a contrasting color to really make it pop! A trick I often like to do is use a batiste matching the color of the lace you are using, in this case it would be champagne, and use it for the fancy ruffle. It blends well with the small bit of lace edging and almost becomes seamless as if the whole band is made of lace! But for now, here is a look at the actual all-lace ruffle.
THOSE BOWS!!! I'll seriously never get over it. It will take a pretty special lace to top this one.
After the dress and fancy band construction, it was time to finish this gal off with a beautiful ruffled hem. This dress can have a normal hem, of course, and that would cut the lace amount off by about 2/3 (Guesstimate head math, I can sit down and do the real math if you'd like). Even if you kept the all-lace ruffle, but wen with a normal fabric-folded-under hem, you'd still make out saving a good bit-o-money but still having a statement-lace ruffle on the facing.
Another fun thing about all of the lacework is playing around with the gathering, For this hem, I gathered the longest piece of the wide edging and hand stitched it to the beading (lace where ribbon goes through). And then I gathered that ever so slightly and stitched it to the final piece of lace insertion. Then that was gathered slightly and sewn to the dress. It makes for a lovely tiered effect of soft ruffles that gently get more and more pronounced as your eye is drawn down the dress.
Viola! This lovely lady is finished after about 20 hours of TLC. It is certainly a labor of love and something I seriously could not get tired of. While I do believe that there is monetary value in hand crafted items in any genre line of craft, I do not believe on stamping it with a fancy sticker and up-charging because of that stamp (think "cage free", "grass fed", etc) I believe in open and simple pricing which is why I base my invoices on the cost of materials + hourly wage.
Commissioning an heirloom is be extremely customizable and I intend on creating an environment of ideas, brainstorming, and honesty so that any one could bring home a family keepsake lasting through generations regardless of the ticket. Please email me if you would like to chat about commissioning your very own layette, portrait gown, boy's button-on suit, flower girl dress, anything!
Until next time, SC
lalayetteheirlooms@gmail.com
