Vivian Rose, 5 days old, in vintage pink petal daygown. Her gorgeous blanket was knit by her paternal grandmother, Oma.
Vivian Rose is wearing a vintage Swiss batiste daygown from my little collection of antique and vintage baby garments. Unlike everything I have made her, it fits perfectly.
Some time ago, the gown was featured in an earlier blog post. In case you missed or forgot all about it, here are the details of this pretty little dress.
This sweet antique daygown hangs with its age-appropriate companions on one of the two the twig swags in my upstairs grandbaby nursery.
Our house is old by Florida standards, built in 1926. Several of the daygowns appear to be of approximately that same vintage, but this one is much newer.
As mentioned earlier, my personal definition of the word “antique”  requires that it be older than I am–and this one isn’t even close to making the grade. So that makes this is a “vintage” daygown, not an antique.
It is hand embroidered and hemmed and the lace is attached by hand. The rest is done by machine and the seams have been serged with fine cotton thread. The buttonholes are well made, but also done by machine.
daygowns hanging in Nana’s nursery
A label sewn into the bias binding at the neck reads “Nathan Krauskopf Co. , 100% Cotton, Switzerland.” A google search turned up a vintage clothing company offering an item from this company, dated with a 1960’s time frame. So this could be about 50 years old.
The pink petal embroidery on the front skirt, the gown is relatively plain. Gentle gathers are drawn up under the peter pan collar which, like the sleeves, is edged with baby French Val lace.
This is an unusual design, as the only embellishment draws attention away from baby’s face. Not all babies are born beautiful, like my grandchildren and yours, so perhaps this dress was designed for the others whom I call “sweet” babies.
The shading is relatively intricate for so simple a design. I can almost smell the tiny 5-petal rambling roses, though I have my doubts about their identity. The buds and blossoms fit the bill, but the leaves are all wrong for roses. Then again, it seems unlikely that any embroideress is held to high standards of botanical accuracy.
Another detail that interests me is the number of buttons. None of my front opening vintage/antique daygown patterns have buttons all the way down the front. This one goes to the hem, even including a buttonhole through both layers of fabric.
It’s fun to examine these older garments for inspiration. It’s more fun to put them on a baby, “sweet” or beautiful.
4 responses to “Pink Petal Daygown”