Christening Gown Restored

Besides wedding gowns, the other types of specialty clothing we get to work on the most are christening or baptism gowns. Often the gowns have been worn by multiple generations and babies, and I love to hear the stories.

Last week a customer contacted me about a christening gown that needed cleaning and repair to be worn in just a few short weeks. The gown had been in her husband’s family for over 100 years and put away without being cleaned. It also had some repair work done to it that was not neat and a bit off-center.

In these Before photos, you can see that the 2-pc gown is discolored and torn. Most of the yellowing is from age and stains that were not removed before storage. I believe that some of the extreme yellowing around the neckline is oxidized oil; oil is used to anoint the babes in this tradition.

My first step was to clean the gown. The entire process of gentle baths, whitening agents, and stain removal plus drying time took about a week. The gown has to be tested at each step to be sure whatever solvents and detergents we are using will not weaken or damage the delicate fibers. I rinse and condition the fabric between treatments and then allow it to dry so I can assess how the gown is progressing through the process.

The only areas I was not able to clean completely were the areas where the oil had not been removed before storage. It certainly looks better, but there is still a yellow hue to the neckline and cuffs as well as a few spots down the front. However, the overall yellowing was reversed and the gown is white again!

Once the gown was cleaned, I then turned my attention to the repairs that were needed. The sleeveless slip had a split down the middle of the bodice. I repaired that and then covered the repair the a small piece of vintage lace that coordinated with the rest of the gown.

The repair for the gown was a bit trickier. At some point in the gown’s history, a repair was made to some torn lace at the neckline. However, this made the two sides not match and the repair was quite noticeable. Unfortunately, the repair had been made by fusing fabric, rather than sewing it, so there was no way to undo the repair and start over. So I decided to use thin fabric, similar to the gown, and add a lining behind the lace neckline, squared and even, to repair both sides and also add some stability. I think it also helps to brighten the stained neckline so that the yellow is not as noticeable.

Here is the before, during, and after of that repair:

Now the gown is ready to be worn by the newest baby in the family. Afterwards, we will clean and preserve the gown so that it stays in this restored condition for the next sweet babe. I was honored to work on this special garment that has been worn by over 20 babies so far; we want to keep in in good condition to be worn by at least that many more.