Antique Baptismal Garment

Last Sunday we met Ms. Connie Coutiere after Mass.  She approached our family offering a gift for William's baptism... an 85-Year-Old baptismal garment.  The garment was hand-stiched and embroidered by the Dominican Nuns in 1926 especially the children of Val & Evelyn Coutiere (Connie's parents).

The Coutiere Children's Baptism's:
Pauline - 1926
Paul - 1928
Constance (Connie) - 1930
Claudette - 1932

The only children in Connie's family were born to her sister and the children were not baptized as infants.  Therefore the garment has been sitting in storage for many years.  Connie thought about having the garments framed but felt that such garments should be "used."  She asked if we would accept it as a gift and baptize William in the garment and continue to pass it on.

We were happy to accept such a special gift from Connie.  I personally love "old-fashion" things and love tradition!  We already have two baptismal garments.  One baby boy suit which was gifted to us by Auntie Em (Ben's sister - Nate's Godmother).  Both Nate and Philip were baptized in the baby boy suit.  My Gramma Jan (Janice Elaine Senior) hand-made a beautiful silk baptismal dress for Janice.  And now William will be baptized in this beautiful and delicate 85-year-old garment.  For our future children we can choose from any of the three garments... and continue to pass all the garments down our family tree.

Restoration Project:
Yesterday I contacted an antique clothing restoration specialist and sent pictures of the garment to her.  She gave me detailed instructions for removing some of the staining and yellow discoloration of the fabric.  I am in process of restoring the garment.  I am going to replace the ribbons as they are tattered and very fragile... Here are some before pictures. I will post pictures of the garment when it's restored and pressed. (Not pictured is a simple receiving blanket - there is minimal yellowing and no stains - excellent condition.)

Baptismal Dress

Baptismal Smock (to be worn under the dress above)

Baptismal Cape (lined with satin/silk)

Up-close of the hood.

A Note on RUST: 

The stains on the baptismal dress are rust stains.  When the restoration specialist suggested rust... I thought to myself - "why would clothing have rust stains?  Who would store such a garment with some kind of metal object?"  After some discussions with Ben and researching - apparently rust spots on clothes is not uncommon.  It has to do with minerals in the water and moisture in the air/storage area...  So it's important to properly store heirlooms - which I will be looking into for all our baptismal garments.