Both of my children were baptized in a century-old gown, previously worn by their father, aunt, cousins, second cousins, first cousins one-removed, grandfather, great-grandmother, and so on. It is such a lovely tradition, one that has connected generations of family through their children’s first sacraments.
My daughter is preparing for another sacrament this spring: her First Communion. In thinking of her special dress, she has a lot of specifications, and for the most part has designed it herself. I don’t have a First Communion dress to hand down to her, so I want to create another heirloom, albeit a brand-new one.
With an eye to making her dress one-of-a-kind, I’ve tried to teach myself a little traditional whitework embroidery to embellish it. In general, I am not a patient person when it comes to hand sewing, so it was an exercise in delayed gratification for me to actually practice the stitches before starting on the dress itself. But the practice paid off, and the result delighted my daughter; who, when it comes to clothing, is decidedly hard to please.
whitework practice 
Bodice with pintucks and broderie anglaise flowers
I’ll share more pictures as I make progress!
In Due Season 