Baby shower gift Question

[Mrs. M.]

My SIL is expecting DDs first cousin this fall.

I sewed a christening gown for the new baby from SILs wedding gown... she had mentioned she would love to get one made but has no sewing skills and I offered to make it.

We just got the invitation for their shower which we will probably not attend, since they live on another continent and we want to use our travel time to see the baby after it arrives. (They totally agree.)

Would it be cheesy to send this gown as our shower gift or should we get them an additional gift? We will of course also give a gift when the baby arrives.

[jennylou]

Perhaps send the gown as well as a smaller gift?

[ann2002]

Since you plan on giving a gift when the baby arrives I don't think that it is cheesy at all to give the christening gown as the shower gift... I am sure that hours of work went into it! That is such a great gift!!

[lml41981]

I'd definitely send the gown for the shower. My mom makes baby afghans and will give that as a shower gift...it is always the most raved about gift (handmade gifts are the best gifts). She wraps it up in a box and uses pretty ribbon to tie bottles to the box and voila. Maybe you could package it in a similar way so you've got the really nice handmade gift and the useful item, too.

[med12]

I agree that if you plan on giving a gift when the baby arrives that it would be fine to give the christening gown. Maybe make up a nice note that says something about where the gown came from and who made it and whatnot that your SIL can keep for the baby for when the baby gets older. I would also include another small gift, though such as a small picture frame.

[happy1nuv]

I think that is a wonderful gift! it has meaning and sentimentality, and will probably be the hit of the shower!

:)

[linda_loo]

Knowing how much time and love you have to put into it, to sew a gown... I say it would be a lovely shower gift all by itself, nothing else needed.

[hub1176]

I'm sure you worked very hard on the gown and I bet it's beautiful - I would send it and honestly don't think you would need to get another gift unless you chose to.

[dana b]

i would definitely send it to the shower so everyone can 'ooh' and 'ahh' over it. you certainly don't need to send anything else with it, but if it were me, i would.

[jenn0911]

I would definately send the gown, I would be touched with such a thougtful gift.

[alienhost]

I don't think anything else is necessary, what a wonderful and thoughtful thing to do. If it were me though I would probably bring the Christening gown when I first saw them in person since it is such a personal gift. That's something that I'd love to see the reaction of the person receiving it, but that is just me.

So if it is an option, you might want to send a different gift to the shower and give the gown in person. Plus it would be horrible if the package got lost in the mail after all of your hard work. :eek:

[BooeyJ2]

I think that's a great idea! You could always add something small as well :)

[Mrs. M.]

Thanks for all the replies! I really like the idea of giving a picture frame with it!

I sewed a pouch for the gown today, out of the left-over fabric... I was thinking of embroidering the baby's name on it (once we know it), and then they could later add the future names of future wearers. It also makes for nice "gift-wrap". :)

[Twylla]

Oh wow, what a cool thing to do. I'm going to have to do that myself one day! thanks... and how thoughtful, i'm sure she'll love it!

[Katy]

I'm putting a copy of this over in the new Gift Ideas (http://www.constantchatter.com/forumdisplay.php?f=95) thread. You might want to pop over from time to time to update it with the sort of things you might want to receive as gifts :cool:

Katy

[usafwife]

I definitely think that the christening gown would be an awesome shower gift. I love getting handmade gifts. My DD got several handmade gifts at my baby shower (including blankets). I still have all of my handmade baby blankets from when I was a baby and cherish them all. In fact I plan on getting them out and using them with DD as well.

I don't think anything else needs to be given at the shower. After all you said you would be giving a gift when the baby is born.

[SlvrPhenx]

I'm going to be the weird one out here but if you plan on visiting before the christening then I would wait and present the gown in person. But thats just me. I think it would have more feeling to present it in person. But if you know you wont visit before the christening then of course that doesnt work :)

[Mrs. M.]

We will not get to visit until after the baby is born, and will most likely not attend the christening. I asked the mom to meet me while I had a layover at a not-too-far-away city, but she declined. So I just decided to mail the dress on to the shower address.

Apparently, she will have multiple showers, if I get any other invitations, I will mail another gift to the other shower.