Tag Archives: smocked bonnet

Coming Home Daygown and Bonnet

Busy, busy, busy! So this post is a re-run featuring Laurel Cade, our first grandchild and her homecoming outfit. I think the topic is still timely.~~~~~~~

my handsome son (newborn at 9 lb.1oz) and his 10 lb.daughter

my handsome son (who was a 9 lb.1oz newborn) and his 10 lb.daughter

My babies each weighed exactly 9 lbs. 1 ounce and were 22″ long. My husband said my uterus had a 9 lb. 1 oz. capacity, just like a gallon milk jug will hold just one gallon. He declared that if we had a dozen children they would all be the same size. After our second child, I chose not to test his hypothesis.

At any rate, neither of our babies wore newborn clothes for more than a few weeks.

When our dearly loved, petite daughter-in-law Shelly was pregnant with our first grandchild, the whole family thought this precious baby would be a tiny little thing, like her mama. After all, Shelly’s own mother is just 4’11” so we expected a small baby. With this in mind, I used a preemie daygown pattern for Laurel’s coming home outfit.

Imagine our shock when this “small” baby girl was born via C-section weighing an even 10 lbs! I had other regular size daygowns smocked and ready to go, so I took those to the hospital the day they were to be released. But they were all too big.

We were surprised that the preemie daygown fit her perfectly. Of course, she was only able to wear it for a short time, but I was glad that she had something that fit so well for that important trip home. Now, whenever I make a coming home daygown for a special baby, I make a preemie size.

coming home gown L

The daygown and bonnet are pale yellow Imperial batiste, smocked in shades of yellow and periwinkle blue. Entredeux and tatted edging trim the angel sleeves bishop and either side of the front. Blue floss is woven into the holes of the entredeux.

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Fagoted Lace Daygown and Bonnet

Posted in freckled laundry‘s “air your laundry friday” textile party.  Check it out!

fagotted lace daygown

 

When I made this daygown, my daughter was certain that her unborn baby would be a girl.  But alas, it was precious baby boy Alastair who arrived to fill her heart with love.   So this daygown and matching bonnet hang in  the closet, as yet unused.

Many years ago, when I bought the lace on this daygown, I knew it would be stitched into something for my Grandmother’s Hope Chest.  Rebecca was a teenager and we often talked about heirloom clothes for her future babies.  My vision was that of a white Swiss batiste daygown with a matching bonnet, all smocked in yellow and all lavishly trimmed with this gorgeous lace.

But times change and long before I began stitching, I realized my vision had to include an easy-care component.  So I edited my vision, without PhotoShop, to show polycotton blend, Imperial batiste.  It is of such high quality that the compromise was small.  So in at least that respect, this is a modern project for an old fashioned Nana.

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