Pretty Purses

Our customer came to us with her wedding gown and an idea to have 4 wristlets created for each of her daughters and daughters-in-laws to use on their wedding days. We designed 4 different ones using different parts of her wedding gown and the lace on her veil. The flowers on one of them came from her headpiece. She had also wanted us to keep enough of the gown intact so that she could have other things made down the road...a christening gown...a teddy bear....etc so we only took fabric where we normally don't use for a gown. We used a PUL fabric for the lining because Jayne thought they could be used as makeup bags later on. We also used the swivel hooks so the straps could be removed. We think this is another great way to recycle wedding gowns!

Christening Gown to Heirloom Pillow

Our customer brought us her daughter's wedding gown and asked us to create a christening gown and as a memento of her wedding, a pillow with her wedding date embroidered on the back. We used a 12" x 12" new pillow form, the fabric, lace and embellishment from the wedding gown to create this wonderful pillow. The pillow was given as a birthday present and the gown will be given at her daughter's baby shower on May 31st, so stay tuned!

Teddy for Paxton

Grand mom's new grandson now has a teddy too!! Cousin to the teddy we made and is pictured below, this one has a jazzy vest and covered buttons and bow tie made from the groomsmen's tie. Now grandmom's gown will be part of the new generation! Thanks Cathy!

Our Website!!!

Ta da! We are so exited to announce we have launched our new website which contains more information about us and what we do as well as our pricing structure, products and contact information.  A 'shout out' to my brother Richard for all the work he did for us on this site and especially putting up with his "control freak" sister. Another thank you for our mommies who let us post their baby pics on the web. Please go to our website and let us know what you think and check back regularly as we expand our available products for purchase!

www.christeningcreations.com



Newest Wedding Gown Conversion

Our newest creation was designed and made for baby Annabelle and her mom Carly. Carly requested that we try to use only the long train on the back of the dress and leave the main dress intact. We're happy to report we were able to accomodate her. She also wanted the sheer, appliqued overlay used on the christening gown bottom and we were able to remove more appliques to tie it all together. Several appliques were hand sewn onto the bonnet and the bodice of the gown. Many times we have to work around dirty and stained areas of the gown and in this case we had to move up the train to get good fabric but this meant the long swoop of the train overlay would not lay straight on the skirt. We were able to work around this by pulling up the top of the overlay skirt and create an upsweep in the back, sort of a "princess" look.

We Love Getting Thank You's!!!

We love when our customers are happy! Bless you Ashley!

Sweet Ashley

Our latest customer, brought us her gown that had been thrown into a black garbage bag and stored who knows where! Trying to find clean fabric to use for the gown was quite a challenge. We usually tell people to get the christening gowns cleaned after we work on them, rather than before, but this one was a doozy! After undoing the bustling and de-construction, we were able to find a good amount without stains. We also like to use bead work from the gown to decorate baby's gown, but we found this bead work to be rather clunky for a wee baby. Fortunately, mom brought along her veil, cathedral length, decorated in very delicate bead work all the way around, which I carefully cut around and placed on the hat, jacket and the bottom of the gown. I used silver embroidery thread to hand sew it all on. We did find some larger bead work from the bodice to use on the bodice of the gown to tie it all together and the back of the wedding gown became the back of the christening gown. Mom was very happy with the results and hopefully we'll receive pictures of baby in her gown.

 

 

 

Soft and Sweet

Our newest customer came to us not knowing whether she was having a boy or girl so asked us to create an outfit for a girl and a boy. She brought along photos for us to use as samples of what she would like. We love different and this time instead of a bonnet, we created a headband and the boys bonnet was actually a little cap. The boy's outfit was topped off with a jacket, all trimmed with satin ribbon. So adorable!!! Mom's gown was ruched up both sides so we had to undue all the stitching. The outer fabric was a very soft satin--lots of it once the ruching was taken out. The under fabric was a stiffer satin, and there was less of it so we had to purchase lining for the gown. Mom will find out whether a boy or girl on Sept. 18th, can't wait to find out which outfit will be worn first!

 

And sew it goes!

After taking a brief holiday and wth very successful holiday sales, Angie and I are back at work creating items to sell at the various stores we rent space in. We are currently working on a new "one of a kind" Christening gown for our newest customer Jen from Michigan. Hi Jen!!! I'll be posting before and after pictures soon. We like to design the Christening gowns to look similar to the wedding gown. Jen's gown was very loose and flowy, sort of like a Grecian goddess. So as not to make a baby Grecian goddess, we incorporated some of the elements but kept it looking like it would be worn by a baby. So, watch soon for new pictures!

And a shout out to my goddaughter Macy, who has designed her own prom gown and we'll have the fun of puttin it all together.

Christening Gown and Romper Samples

For an upcoming show we're participating in at Our Lady of Lourdes, 44 Cleveland Ave., Milltown, NJ (plug, plug) we decided we needed more than just one sample of our handiwork to promote our business. As luck (or as we call it a "God-incidence") would have it, we didn't have to look too far. A friend donated her daughter's wedding dress (thanks Tracy!). It probably is the most elaborate gown we've ever worked on so far, heavy cream satin (great for winter) with an overlay of lace, beading and sequins. Because of the long train, we were able to create both a boy's and girl's christening outfit. The boy's outfit done up in the cream satin has a faux vest with a bowtie, covered buttons and pearls scattered across the front. The girl's also used the cream satin as the base dress, decorated at the hem with the detail from her veil. A long coat was created from the overlay, utilizing the expansive lace, beading and sequins. What a great way to "recycle" something that more than likely would be hidden in the back of a closet and never see the light of day and is now a treasured heirloom that can be passed down from generation to generation!