Octavius Blessing 1 The Prudent Homemaker

Since we blessed Octavius in September, I thought short sleeves would be in order.

I used the same pattern as I used to make a blessing outfit for Cyrus and Ezrom.

This time, I used a linen and cotton blend fabric that I bought several years ago (at 40% off).

Octavius Blessing 4 The Prudent Homemaker

For the bodice, I cut a piece of fabric longer and wider than I needed. I then marked and sewed the tucks  and sewed the lines with a wing needle.  I then traced an “O” (from here) on with a wash-out marking pen and embroidered it with pearl cotton. (I love using pearl cotton for white work; it’s easier than using embroidery thread as there are no strands to pull apart. The thread is about the width of 2 strands of embroidery thread, which is perfect for whitework.)

Then I pinned on the bodice pattern piece and cut it out from the prepared fabric.

If you’ve never used a washable embroidery marker before, I highly recommend them; they work especially well for embroidery as you don’t rub off the design when stitching like you would with a chalk pencil. You need to rinse out all of the blue with plain water before the item is washed (any remaining blue will turn brown and become permanent when it is washed with soap). 

I modified the collar to change it to an Eton style.

Octavius Blessing 2 The Prudent Homemaker

The entire outfit, including the buttons and snap tape, cost about $10 to make.

 Octavius Blessing 3 The Prudent Homemaker

 

 

 

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38 Comments

  1. Octavius is such a big, chubby boy! Such a sweet smile. Brandy, your blessing outfit and embroidery is gorgeous, thank you for sharing.

  2. Oh my gosh, I love it! The outfit is soooo cute! (But I have to say, Octavius is cuter! Just look at that smile!) I love the details on the outfit — the embroidery, the fitting, the cuffs, everything. Just adorable! Many blessings to your baby boy!

  3. Beautiful outfit. High quality sewing I would say. If you would buy this it would be very expensive.
    And of course, the most important thing…it looks lovely on your (also lovely) boy.
    Greetings Tanja

  4. That is very sweet. Congratulations on the blessing, it nice that he is old enough to be a bit sturdy. My daughter was so wee at her baptism, I don’t think she had cracked six pounds yet and it was very hard to dress her in something suitable. We actually ended up putting her in palest pink because she swam in everything,

  5. What a beautiful outfit, Brandy! Just a stellar sewing job. The embroidery detail is gorgeous too. Octavius looks so adorable in it. I’m sure he enjoyed all the special attention at the blessing. Thank you so much for sharing this.

  6. Such a sweet boy in a very special outfit. The embroidered “O” is gorgeous. I have saved the info on the pearl cotton and the monograms for a gift for a niece who will be getting married this fall. Thank you for sharing this.

  7. Thank you for posting the photo! I was going to say the outfit was cute as a button, but Fiona beat me to it ;). Really handsome outfit and beautifully done.

  8. Octavius is darling! The blessing outfit is beautiful and special since you took such time and care to make it especially for him. Thanks for sharing with us.

  9. Is he already sitting alone? I have a beautiful boy in my day care that is 6 1/2 months old and he can not sit alone and just learned to turn over. He is not even pushing up on his knees yet like he is trying to crawl. He likes to be held a lot. He is the ‘baby’ of the family and don’t think he is put down very much with Mom and Grandma get home.

  10. So beautiful Brandy! And Octavius is just a beautiful baby boy. Thanks so much for sharing.

    Our church practices infant baptism and we were so blessed to have our daughter wear my Grandfather’s 100 year old handmade baptism “dress”. That gown is now 111 years old and I am feeling so very grateful that our daughter was able to wear it! There was even a large roll of leftover handmade eyelet lace in the box with the gown, made by my Great-Grandmother. My mother took that and made a matching gown for our son. Those are something I’ll treasure forever!

    Thanks for sharing both your handwork and your son with us,
    Lea

  11. I agree on both, cute boy, amazing sewing skills. I love the bodice close ups, so we can truly see the details of your handiwork. How did you learn to sew?

  12. As usual, a very lovely outfit and a smiling happy baby! I don’t think my kids ever sat up -they just started moving when they were able to. He is adorable. The outfit is a real heirloom item and I know it will be treasured for years to come.

  13. Octavius looks delighted with his outfit….”his job is looking cute” …I think is how you put it.

    In our church our babies are dedicated to God and I presume that is similar to your blessing ceremony. Baptism occurs later in life.

  14. Octavius seems so happy and cute in this photo! I think he was enjoying everything 🙂 The outfit is awesome! I only have seen this kind of work when I saw the things my mother and her sisters made in the years 1950 – 1960 (most of them for sale). It is so beautiful, with the embroided monogram, that I think I could cry. Congratulations on the blessing and thanks for sharing such beauty!

  15. We also have a dedication ceremony for infants and we currently have 4 expectant mothers who would swoon over having an outfit like this for their newborn’s dedication ceremony. I have to fight envy really hard sometimes when I look at posts like this. I can sew but nowhere at this level! 🙂

  16. This is just lovely? Do you handmake your button holes? I just finished a tutorial for hand done button holes. It was much easier than I expected.

  17. It is so beautiful! What a special thing for each child to have. I hope you save them for each child to keep when they have their own children. We have a Bris outfit that has been in our family for 120 years. It is very delicate lace and the funny part is I’m guessing children back then were smaller because it doesn’t button on any of my children who were all over 9lbs.

  18. I do handmade buttonholes as that is what I learned first. I never could get the hang later on of the machine attachment.

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