Blessing Cap and Shoes

Hello! It's been a long time since I've posted. I had forgotten that I hadn't finished this post that I started ages ago. I actually made an heirloom! Two of them! Well, three of them, if you count each little shoe separately.

Ivory wore a real family heirloom gown for her baby blessing that many of her female relatives* wore for their own blessing or christening. Including Yours Truly. The various parts of the dress were made by my great-grandmothers, and the slip was even made from a pillowcase belonging to my great-great grandmother. That's Ivory's great-great-great grandmother!

*Ivory's mother, maternal grandmother, great aunt, all her maternal aunts and female cousins, and 3 first-cousins-once removed.

I wanted her also to wear something special and homemade that she would be able to keep as her own. I used some lace and ribbon my mom had lent me to make a blessing cap and tiny shoes.

(Photos of Ivory taken by Deborah Harroun)

Isn't she the sweetest? I wanted the cap to be a special heirloom. But that thought was so intimidating that I had to put it aside before I got the courage to start sewing! 

Various ideas I doodled before choosing one.

Here's my final pick. Strips of the embroidered, raw-edge lace sewn together into a long rectangle. With matching, scalloped-edge lace for the ruffled front.

I sewed a casing on the back and fed some ribbon through it.

I tightened the ribbon and tied it in a bow to form the cap shape.

Ta da!

Now on to the little shoes...

I literally made these the morning of Ivory's blessing (church doesn't start until 1pm, thank goodness). I made them in the same general manner of the ribbon ballet slippers I made earlier in the year. 

They are teeny-tiny! So I only made her wear them once. Twice. It was worth it, though, especially since she gets to keep them!  (And since it didn't take me long to make them.)

There you go, Sweetheart.