The Ultimate Handme Down

Can you imagine being able to wear the exact gown that not only your mother wore, but your Grandmother before her along with your sisters and cousins.  Well this is the case for the Zgorski women, their Grandmother's gown has been worn by 7 family members spanning 3 generations. 

Such a beautiful story of family tradition.

read the full story here

My heart just swoons at the thought of having one of my christening gowns worn by so many family members and spanning over multiple generations.

Photo by: Joseph Victor Stefanchik/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

The above photo has to be my most favorite photos from the Washington Post Article.  Notice the labels sew into the under skirt; it reminds me of a slip I did for a current project. 

The front of the christening slip has the baby's monogram and christening date embroidered on it.  While there is a tiny label hand sewn in the back that lists the great-grandmother's monogram and wedding date along with the maternal grandmother's monogram and wedding date. 

The actual christening gown was made from the wedding dresses of the maternal great grandmother and maternal grandmother.  It was a very moving project to be able to lovingly refashion two gowns into something that will be worn by all the new babies welcomed into the family ... Starting with baby Aubry.

 

Baby Carlie

I hope everyone had a fabulous Mothers Day!

For me, Mother's Day 2012 began on Friday morning when I went to drop off my latest project,

Baby Carlie's Christening outfit. 
It was made from the train of her Mother's wedding gown.

I love the fact that her Mom saved the picture of her wedding gown

that she tore out of the bridal magazine at the salon almost 15 years ago.

Carlie's has three older brothers ages; 12, 8 and 2.  Her mom has been waiting 14 years for this little princess to arrive.  She has told me that since the day she was married she dreamed about having a daughter
and having her wedding gown made into the christening gown. 

This was such a fun project to complete.

I really enjoyed removing the lace from the hem of her train and

 reworking it for Carlie's Christening Gown and Blanket.

Her Mother also requested that I make a Monogramed Christening Blanket.

Above are a few detail shots of her blanket

When Chris opened the box that contained Carlie's Christening Gown

her eyes filled with tears.

It was an amazing moment to watch her face light up and hear her reminisce about buying her wedding gown and talk about how she dreamed of having a daughter who would be able to wear a Christening gown made from her Wedding dress.

This Mother's day I was able to help make one mom's dream become a reality.

Life doesn't get much better than that :)

Interested in having a dress like this made for your little one ... email me at:

willowbeanstudio@gmail.com

From Pants to Shorts to a Skirt; an Upcycled Story

So I bought my husband a pair of khaki pants for Christmas

He proceeded to tear the leg like the 3rd time he wore them

Aughhhh...

I put them away in my "to fix"pile

Okay it took me 8 months but I finally got around to turning them into these

It took me ten minutes to cut the pants legs off below the tear

a quick hem and my hubby gained some new shorts.

I was all set to pack up my machine for the night

when I realized I still had the two legs that I had cut off.

The fabric was really nice and I hated to just throw it away.

After much thought I realized that they could become a skirt for the Bean!

First I ripped open the inseam of each cut off leg

I then cut the legs down the the length I wanted the skirt to be

plus 1 1/2" for the turn back at the waist.

I joined the two legs together

Folded the top back a 1/4" then 1 1/4 to create the casing for a 1" elastic waistband.

I made two patch pockets from the remaining scraps

A cute new skirt for free

Gotta love that!

It's Time For A Little Spring Cleaning

I am in the middle of clearing out my kids' closets and making room for their spring clothes.  You know this involves trying on stuff from last spring/summer to see if anything still fits.  While doing this I discovered my son had a huge growth spurt and nothing from last year remotely fits.  I was so sad because he had several button down shirts that were worn once, maybe twice.  I didn't want to throw them out as they were like brand new and I really didn't want to give them away either.  This lead me to the following thought, "What crafty thing can I make from them?" 

I wonder if the Bean can wear them?

Aughh way to big ... then I realized I could make it into a dress! 

First I traced out the outline for the bodice while the shirt was on my daughter.  As you can see below I created a halter style dress.  Also if you look closely you can see the big black dot that was created when Bean wanted to draw on the shirt just like Mommy did!  Mental note next time use one of those washable fabric markers versus a permanent sharpie marker ... Eeeek!!  

I cut along the lines I had just drawn and below the collar stand.  Across the back I cut about an 1 1/4" above where I had determined her waistline to be; at this point I cut off the bottom of the front "skirt" section.  I turned under the edge along the front bodice and hem to clean finish the top.  To finish the back I created a 1" casing which I later inserted elastic to help keep the back snug.  I gathered the top of the front skirt and then set that section to the front bodice.  I felt like it still needed something to make it a bit more girly so I added a green satin ribbon at the waist to finish it off.

I am so happy with how this turned out.  Now if only Mother Nature would cooperate long enough for me to let her wear her new dress; after all it did snow in PA on April 1st!

This post was shared at the following linky parties;

                                       Made By You Monday             733blog Sugar and Spice

                                             The Girl Creative                  The Trendy Tree House

                  Sugar Bee Crafts Take A Look Tuesday     The Thrifty Home-penny-pinching-party

http://todayscreativeblog.net/get-your-craft-on-6/

funky polkadot giraffe too-cute-tuesday

Make It Sew It Love It / up-cycle

"The Dress"

 

               Okay I gave you all a little teaser on Tuesday.  Glad to see you stopped back to see what became of "The Dress".  I was so excited when I was commissioned to created a Christening outfit for my friend, Doreen's son Luke.  She had a unique request that I make this an outfit that could be used for both a boy and a girl as she hopes to have a daughter one day.  So after a little thought I figured we could just make the bottoms interchangeable with the help of buttons.  I was so pleased with the outcome and so was Doreen.  I couldn't be happier.  There is nothing I love more than creating special garments for sweet little ones.

This post was linked to the following blog:

Linkin' with Lil' Luna

Sew Chatty Made with Love

Upcycled Wedding Gown

 Looking for a unique Valentines present for your wife; why not have her wedding gown upcycled into a special piece that she can continue to wear throughout the years. Email me to set up a design consultation

Remember how the bow was all the rage in the early 90's; well we even found a way to include that little detail in the new garment.

We also included a small label on the inside with the wedding date. 


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