Combining a love of antique baby clothes with her heirloom sewing expertise, Martha Pullen’s intricate antique reproduction christening gowns are sure to be cherished by families for generations.

Her fascination began with antique linens – tea towels, she thinks. It wasn’t until she was pregnant with her daughter, Joanna, that Martha Pullen really began to take an interest in antique baby clothes. Suddenly, it seemed she just couldn’t get enough of them.

“My husband always says I have an unnatural attraction to white antique clothes,” Martha laughs. This attraction has led her to spend the past 30 years scouring flea markets and antique shops all over the globe – from Australia and New Zealand to France and England to various locations in the U.S. – and as a result, she has amassed a collection of approximately 600 to 700 pieces, many of which are baby garments.

Martha has loved sewing since she was a young girl, so heirloom sewing seemed like a natural hobby to adopt, allowing her to create garments for her daughter that were inspired by her beautiful antique finds. In 1981, she decided to open a small smocking shop in Huntsville, Alabama, and two months later, she began importing laces and fabrics to sell wholesale and retail.

“There was no place in the South where you could get French lace or Swiss batiste,” she explains. “I had to go to New York to buy everything for my store.”

Today, what started as a tiny shop has grown into an heirloom sewing empire, encompassing 50 books, the bi-monthly Sew Beautiful magazine, the semi-annual Martha Pullen School of Art Fashion, and the PBS television series “Martha’s Sewing Room”. At the center of this empire are the heirloom baby clothes that started it all.

“I call them ‘love clothes’, Martha says. “It’s something someone makes for someone they love very much, with the intention of sending love in that garment and passing it down to the next generation.”

As Martha’s empire has grown, so has a renewed interest in heirloom sewing. The pages of Sew Beautiful magazine are filled with gowns made by readers and designers who share a love for the types of antique clothing Martha collects. In fact, the gowns in her collection have often been the inspiration for designs found in the magazine and her various books.

Most of these items fall into the period between 1870 and 1920. “Before 1920,” she says, “the mother and grandmother made a baby’s entire layette.” Although this is no longer the case, even today, “every mother and grandmother looks forward to buying or making clothes for a new baby.” she says.

Pass It On. According to Martha, christening gowns are one of the most important parts of a family’s heritage. Her 1992 book Grandmother’s Hope Chest” devotes two chapters to antique and reproduction christening gowns.

“Perhaps no other garment is handed down from generation to generation like a christening dress or baptismal robe, as they were called in England before the turn of the century,” she writes. “Often, those who have no interest in antique clothing will cherish the family christening gown for the sentimental value woven into every stitch.”

The garments we recognize today as christening gowns, with their long, full skirts, were originally worn by babies as everyday clothes, Martha says. Because women cooked three meals a day over an open fire, it was often dangerous to have babies running around the house. To solve this dilemma, mothers would pin the long skirts of the babies’ frocks under the legs of the kitchen table to keep them from wandering too close to the fire.

Unlike today’s christening gowns, which a baby only wears on one day, long baby gowns were traditionally worn until a child outgrew them. To facilitate this, they featured scoop necklines tied with ribbon, which could be adjusted as the child grew.

Their purpose may have been elevated to special occasion use only, but when it comes to heirloom christening gowns, Martha says, there’s very little that’s new.

“The dresses that were popular in 1890 or 1900 or 1910 are exactly like the ones we’re creating today,” she says.

Although there are some details (such as the long skirt) that are universal to all christening gowns, those from different parts of the world may feature slight modifications. For example, in Australia, christening gowns are often left open at the back and fastened only at the yoke, allowing the skirt to drape over the pastor or priest’s arm.

Regardless of their country of origin, many christening gowns are made of Swiss batiste, which Martha calls “the ultimate christening gown fabric,” because of its ability to stay pristine throughout generations of wear. Trimmings may vary, but Martha recommends French or English cotton lace, which won’t yellow with age like modern synthetic laces.

Such considerations are paramount when you consider that an heirloom gown sewn for a new baby will likely be passed down through the family for years to come. “Connecting with future generations is really what heirloom sewing is all about,” Martha says. As she writes in Grandmother’s Hope Chest, “Although worn just briefly, these dresses mark one of the most important events in a child’s life – Imagine the pleasure future generations will derive from a picture of their great grandfather in the same christening dress the most recent descendant will wear.

Article from Southern Baby magazine, premier issue 2005