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Sew christening gown - Instructions & cut for a christening gown

  • Material and preparation
    • preparation
  • Sew christening gown
    • Sew skirt

Baptism is probably one of the most beautiful and emotional events in the young life of your little sweetheart. The word "baptism" means "immersion" in the community based on the Catholic faith. At the same time, the child gets a name and a godfather who ideally accompanies and supports it throughout his life.

As a sign of purity and innocence, the child is put on a white dress for baptism - in many cases, however, the baptized child is only briefly symbolically held to the body. So that you are well prepared for the big day of your child, I show you today how you can sew a beautiful, long christening gown with a cut and a short instruction.

The size of the christening gown is in the range 62 - 68 and should fit a child of 3 - 6 months . Since the lower part of the dress consists of a rectangular piece of fabric, you can extend or shorten the dress to baptism depending on your taste. We put the skirt of the dress in folds and sew it on the top.

Material and preparation

You need this:

  • white fabric (cotton, chiffon, linen, etc.)
  • fitting white yarn
  • scissors
  • pen
  • our cut and the instructions
  • Decorative ribbon or border
  • pins
  • sewing machine

Cost of materials 2/5
1 lfm white fabric about 10 EUR, ribbons about 10 EUR

Time expenditure 2/5
2 hours

Difficulty level 2/5
Inserting and sewing the pleated skirt requires some practice.

preparation

Step 1: First, print out our pattern on two pages of A4 paper. Make sure that the actual print size is 100%. If the print size is smaller, the christening gown may become too small.

Download pattern template

Step 2: After you have printed the cut, cut out the template as precisely as possible along the lines.

ATTENTION: The seam allowance is already included in our cut!

TIP: If the head circumference of your child is already over 38 cm, the head section should be slightly enlarged or made at the end of a small cut on the back of the dress that can be closed with a button.

Step 3: Now lay the pattern on the double-layered white fabric and draw both front and back with a pen on the fabric. The material break must be here on the edge of the doubled fabric!

Step 4: Next, for both originals, flatten the bottom of the dashed line and repeat the third step with the smaller patterns. These later form the evidence of our christening gown and are located at the end of the inside of the garment.

Step 5: Cut all 4 pieces of fabric with the scissors or the rotary cutter.

There should now be 2 pieces of fabric for the front and back.

Step 6: Now we put both the document (smaller pieces of fabric - front and back) and the outer parts (larger pieces of fabric, front and back) right to right together and pin the sides and shoulders with pins or Wonderclips respectively.

Sew christening gown

Step 1: With the zigzag stitch of your sewing machine or with your overlock, sew the document and the outside of the dress together at the shoulders and sides.

This is how your sewing result looks now.

Step 2: The document and the outside must now be sewn together in successive order. To do this, push the fabrics together right to right.

To do this, slip the document on the right side of the fabric and push it into the outside so that the sleeve and neckline meet exactly.

You can now pin one of the sleeve cutouts and sew it together with the sewing machine.

Step 3: Apply the top of the dress to the right side of the fabric. Now press the fabric of the two open cut-outs approx. 3-4 mm with your finger inwards and pin the edges of the fabric with pins.

Step 4: All cutouts (1x neck and 2x sleeves) are now quilted with the straight stitch of the sewing machine and matching sewing thread.

This is how your sewing result looks.

TIP: It is advisable to sew slowly and to guide the fabric with your fingers to the sewing machine before sewing.

The seam should be about 2 mm from the edge of the fabric.

Sew skirt

Now we start with the bottom part or the skirt of our christening gown. We use a large rectangle, which we later fold into folds and attach to the top.

Step 1: Measure the lower part of the top, which will later be sewn to the skirt. Multiply this number by 1.5 so that the fabric is one-third wider than the cutout.

ATTENTION: Do not forget that the fabric is double.

In our case, the section should be about 56 cm tall, that is, the width of the fabric piece is 84 cm. (56 x 1.5 = 84)

Step 2: From our white fabric we now cut out a rectangle the size of your calculated width (eg 84 cm) and a length of about 60 cm.

Step 3: The rectangle is now folded lengthwise and stitched together with the overlock or zigzag stitch to create a 60 cm long "tube".

Your sewing result will now show this image.

4th step: At the open end of the tube, the folds are now hit and fastened with pins.

Make every 7 cm a small point on the fabric and fold this point about 1 cm to the left. Each fold is pinned with a pin.

Then I recommend to iron the wrinkles for a short time, so that nothing gets distorted when you sew on the skirt.

5th step: skirt and top are now folded right to right at the opening, pinned and sewn with zigzag stitch.

Continue sewing with your sewing machine.

The following result is now visible.

Our christening gown is almost finished!

Step 6: In my case, I decided to spice up the seam between the upper and lower part with a ribbon. Ribbons and braids are available in any well-stocked sewing or fabric shop!

Also on the hem of the dress I attach with pins a kind bias binding in the same color.

TIP: Of course, the bottom can also be lined. To do this, fold the bottom edge of the fabric twice inward and quilt it with the straight stitch.

Step 7: The ribbons are then sewn with the straight stitch on the christening gown.

Sew the last stitches with your sewing machine.

Voilà - the christening gown is ready and ready for the big day of your little sweetheart!

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