Something old, something new…

A few weeks ago, a friend forwarded me a request from the MONA listserv, someone was hoping to mark a family heirloom—a baptismal gown—with the initials of those who’d worn it.  As it turns out, several friends replied to the thread giving her my name and shortly thereafter, I heard from her.  She brought me a silk gown hand made for her mother, who wore it for her baptism in 1948.  We discussed options and decided to sew a tag into the hem of the slip for each child who’d worn it, featuring their initials and their baptismal dates. 

Sewing in individual tags for each child makes it easy to add another whenever the gown is worn again.  And putting them in at the hem ensures there won’t be any “scratchy” issues that might bother the little one wearing the gown.  The subtle, light pink signifies that each child who has worn it has been a girl, and should a little boy wear it in the future, we’ll do that tag in a light blue.

Any time someone entrusts me with a treasured heirloom, I am equal parts honored and nervous.  Taking on such a special project carries with it a pretty hefty responsibility, but that makes the reward of the finished project so much sweeter. Listening to the delighted mom tell me how much she looks forward to showing her sister and her mother what we came up with was definitely sweet.