{"id":6952,"date":"2010-05-02T00:11:27","date_gmt":"2010-05-02T04:11:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/?p=6952"},"modified":"2015-01-11T20:52:22","modified_gmt":"2015-01-12T01:52:22","slug":"babylock-christening-gown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.janicefergusonsews.com\/blog\/2010\/05\/02\/babylock-christening-gown\/","title":{"rendered":"Babylock Christening Gown"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"gown<\/a><\/p>\n

This christening gown was the main project for the Babylock school I taught at Martha Pullen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s school in Huntsville, AL, a few years ago.<\/p>\n

The ecru and white combination has always seemed the height of elegance to me. Also, since photos had to be posted on the school web site, the ecru embroidery showed up much better than if the embroidery had been white on white.<\/p>\n

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\"bodice<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It seems to me that anytime Swiss batiste, imported trims and heirloom sewing techniques are combined, the result is likely to be something beautiful. In this case, the classic christening gown is a melange of Swiss batiste, French lace and entredeux.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"full<\/a><\/p>\n

Elaborately embellished, it includes classic details such as point de Paris, Madeira appliqu\u00c3\u00a9, shaped French Val lace, feather stitching, pin tucks, twin needle shadow work, and delicate embroidery. Also incorporated into the gown\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s design is Lace Tape, a recently rediscovered heirloom trim, applied as a shadow appliqu\u00c3\u00a9 on the wrong side of the batiste.<\/p>\n

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\"back\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But the list of goods is relatively modest for a christening dress, a total of 12 \u00c2\u00bc yds. of French lace edging, insertion and beading, 4 yds. entredeux, and 3 \u00c2\u00bd yds. Swiss batiste.<\/p>\n

The details that hold the most interest for me are in the embroidery, continuous bodice lace insertion, sleeves, shadowed lace tape and Madeira appliqu\u00c3\u00a9 hemline. A few readers have inquired about the Madeira appliqu\u00c3\u00a9 technique, so I have included that information at the end of this post.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"floral<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EMBROIDERY<\/p>\n

The embroidery does the heavy work on this heirloom, though the multitudinous tucks help carry the load. The designs are from Babylock\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Borders 1 disk and Small Polo Shirts card #20 (cross only). They were combined, recolored and resized using Palette and Designer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Gallery Sizeworks. The tiny flowers on the sleeves are from Fil Tire\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and Fancywork Elements, by Suzanne Sawko and me.<\/p>\n

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\"cross<\/a><\/p>\n

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For reasons unknown to me, the digitizer of this collection chose to have each segment of the design stitched completely before moving on to the next. Six colors and 34 color changes were required for the design on the bottom of the front panel, before the addition of the cross from the card #20.<\/p>\n

With careful color sorting and the addition of the cross, the design had 6 colors and 9 color changes. That was a significant savings of time. Each area of embroidery was similarly color sorted for a proportional reduction of thread changes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"bow<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Learning to use the color sort function on your embroidery software will be well worth the time spent. As I do more and more editing, I find it not only useful but often necessary.<\/p>\n

CONTINUOUS BODICE LACE INSERTION<\/p>\n

On the first several heirloom dresses I made for my daughter, I tried to match up lace insertion at the shoulder. It seemed that I always had to fudge one direction or another to get them to match up. Then the lace had that distracting seam.<\/p>\n

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\"sleeve\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Since then, I have traced the bodice patterns onto the fabric, including the lace placement lines, and then cut out the pieces with at least one inch extra around the entire perimeter. The front and back bodices seamed at the shoulder and the neckline and armscyes are straight stitched to prevent stretching.<\/p>\n

Because the back yoke shoulder seam lines are usually slightly longer than the front and meant to be eased in to match, rarely do the lace placement lines match: thus, the cause of my out-of-alignment lace insertion.<\/p>\n

But if the lines are matched up after the seaming\/easing in process is complete, then the lace insertion lines can be drawn to lie smoothly over the shoulders. By adding the lace at this time, rather than prior to seaming, the insertion is continuous and smooth.<\/p>\n

SLEEVES<\/p>\n

A three scallop cap has been applied to the top of the sleeve, using the Madeira appliqu\u00c3\u00a9 technique detailed at the end of this post. After being stitched with washaway thread and pressed flat, the scalloped appliqu\u00c3\u00a9 piece was attached to the cap of the sleeve with a pin stitch.<\/p>\n

The portion of the sleeve cap covered by this appliqu\u00c3\u00a9 was cut away, after which the tiny flowers were machine embroidered at the peak of each scallop. Finally, gathered lace edging was zig zagged in place, treating the pin stitch holes as if they were entredeux.<\/p>\n

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\"hemline\"<\/a><\/p>\n

SHADOWED LACE TAPE<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lace tape is a fabulous 100% cotton product that can be shaped with a pull thread on either side, just like heirloom insertions. It comes in 23 colors, making it a unique heirloom trim. When applied to the underside of sheer fabric, it shadows through, just like traditional shadow appliqu\u00c3\u00a9.<\/p>\n

For this gown, ecru lace tape was used with no shaping. It gives an ecru shadow, made more noticeable by the ecru thread used for to pin stitch it in place. The lace tape is used on each of the fancy bands in the front skirt panel as well as on the sleeves.<\/p>\n

The shadow effect is barely visible in the photos.\u00c2\u00a0 In real life, they are subtle but noticeable.<\/p>\n

MADEIRA APPLIQU\u00c3\u2030 TECHNIQUE<\/p>\n

The design must have center axis, with the design mirror imaged on either side of line, such as hem, collar, etc. The center axis\/line becomes a fold in the fabric.<\/p>\n