Second Life For Dresses

Back in another lifetime, I loved sewing beautiful lacy dresses for our two little girls. And they loved these dresses that twirled out wide when they would spin around and around. Many, many hours were invested in making sweet garments for my sweet little girls. So as you can imagine, when my girls outgrew the dresses about 30 years ago, I couldn't bare to part with them. They were carefully packed away.

Now I have two more little girls—our granddaughters—who love to twirl in pretty dresses. So this week I pulled out the dresses that I think might fit them now. And I got them ready to take with me when I head that way this weekend. (There is a birthday party for a certain 3 year old happening!)

You rarely see dresses like these any more, but this was the typical Sunday dress for little girls at our church back then. As I ironed for hours, I thought about why little girls don't wear these to church any more. And I think it's because I had to iron for hours. No one wants takes the time any more for that. It is a labor intensive process to iron miles of lace and ruffles. Moms are busy elsewhere.

I also wondered how I found the time to do this kind of sewing with young children in the house. No social media? No text messages? No smart phone with beeps and whistles that requires attention? No Pinterest boards to follow. No blogs to read? Or write? Maybe. Whatever the reason, life is different now. But I'm delighted that, at that point in my life, I had time to make these precious dresses. And even happier that I saved them for this generation.

It is likely that these dresses will only be worn one more time. My own little girls wore them to church every Sunday, but now the two that fit might be worn on Easter. And then we'll pack them away again. Who knows? Maybe there will be more little girls to wear these in years to come.

Of all the objects that we might want to save, textiles are particularly fragile. These dresses are made with batiste fabric that is as thin as tissue paper. And the threads in the lace are as delicate as butterfly eyelashes. So as I ironed, I found a few spots where the lace had simply given way to age. A basic whipped stitch with a single fine thread made a presentable repair.

If you have keepsake garments—like baby clothes, christening gowns, etc— that you want to keep for years, here are some steps you should take before storing them. Understand that these are not true conservation techniques. But these basic steps will help your stored clothing survive longer than they might otherwise.

Clean the garment before storage. Even oil from your hands can show up as yellow spots years later.  I hand wash these dresses in cold water, using a gentle detergent such as Delicare. Rinse in cold water and repeat until rinse water is clear. Do not wring out. Hang to dry. Do not iron until ready to wear it again.

Once a year, check garment for any discoloration. Wash again every year or two (or 4 or 5) to keep them fresh.

If storing in a drawer or box, wrap in acid-free tissue paper. If possible, don't fold the garment. If hanging, make a cover with an old, well-washed 100% cotton pillowcase to keep the dust off the dress. An old pillowcase that has been washed many times should be pretty much chemical free. Don't use metal hangers because they can rust. I like padded hangers.

Store in a dark, dry place with a moderate temperature. That means not in a hot attic or in a damp basement.

And then if you save some special dresses like I did, you'll be lucky and your grandchildren will be girls!

Peaceful Easy Feeling

Here is "the dress." Finished on Saturday afternoon for Sunday morning's christening. If there had been more time I would have added hand feather stitching, but maybe it's nicer that I stopped when I did. Sometimes less is more. I was happy that Jessica was home to make photographs.

Today will be a very slow day around here. Or at least a "no stress" day. Last week was a rush to make a gown that Mommy wants to save forever. No pressure there. I had not done this kind of sewing in 20 years. But a couple of phone calls to my friend Doris  and four phone calls to Gail at the Bernina dealer and I was on my way.  

 

The best help was remembering that many years ago I had purchased Martha Pullen's book on French sewing by machine. The book, untouched for years, was high on a shelf and covered with dust but on the inside was treasure! There were drawings and instructions for everything I needed to know. As I began to work, my hands began to fall into old rhythms, remembering how this was done. I made dresses using these techniques for my own daughters when they were little.

Remember the beautiful old cap in yesterday's post? Last night a cousin read the blog and then emailed me a photo of her mother (my aunt) wearing that same cap. Her mother, born in 1914, was about two years old in the photo. My cousin had never seen the cap (don't think she knew it still existed) but recognized it from the photo. How very special for both of us.

And yesterday, after the beautiful christening, we enjoyed wonderful family time as all the grandparents and aunts went to lunch with Baby Sister and her family to celebrate baby's day and Father's Day. Then afternoon storms blew through bringing much needed rain.

As the rain slowed and the wind died down, Granddaddy called for me to hurry. He wanted me to see the rainbow. Peaceful sky after the storm. Peaceful time after a busy weekend.

I Have Called You By Your Name

A christening is always a special service in our church. This morning was even more special to me because it was Baby Sister who was being christened.  Our pastor--the same pastor who married Mommy and Daddy--retires next Sunday so this was his last baptism before his retirement, even more reason to mark this Sunday as special.

This cap belonged to my grandmother -- Baby Sister's great-great grandmother -- and it was one she used for her babies. Would she have ever thought it would be used again in another century?

The sewing project I mentioned? It was the christening gown for Baby Sister. 

I think she and I both relaxed when the serious part was finished.

A dear lady who passed on many years ago used to make a banner for every baby who was christened in our church. She did this until she was well into her 90s. She had no children herself but doing this for every baby made it feel like they were all connected to her in a way. Her banners gave the child's name and then this Bible verse, "I have called you by your name. You are mine. ~Isaiah 43:1."  So, Baby Sister, today you were called by your name.