However, the value could be greatly enhanced in sentimental terms. The gown should have been carefully chronicled and photographed along with the baby's family name, and the dates of the christenings.
First, lets start by washing the gown ever so gently twice. Once before it's worn and again after. I recommend Ivory Flakes or any non-detergent soap. Then squeeze out ever so gently, any excess water. Allow to air dry on a white Turkish towel. Now, here comes the tricky part. Ironing this gown with its tiny sleeves, would have to be done gingerly on a clean white sheet or towel. Please use a medium setting on your iron, so to alleviate any scorching. Now the gown is ready to be worn for all to appreciate.
The late eighteenth century history books mention that special gown-like garments were used for christenings, and before that a greatly decorated mantle was wrapped around the infant. Some of your most valuable and collectable outfits are the little shirts, which were decorated with shoulder inserts of Hollie Point lace, and were worn under the mantle.
Long white dresses that we know of and recognize today as christenting gowns, came to be in the beginning of the nineteenth century. The most spectacular and valuable is the Ayrshire gowns. These gowns were done in white drawn-work, cutwork and delicate embroidery on fine transparent cotton. Later on, the heavier cottons were introduced.
In Scotland and Ireland, Ayrshire needlework was a thriving industry from its inception in 1815 through the middle years of the nineteenth century. Credit was given to Mrs. Jamieson, the wife of an Ayr cotton textile agent for her invention of this type of needlework.
"Flowerin" is the name given to the lacy embroidery developed in the town of Ayr along Scotland's Firth of Clyde. The white needlework consists of embroidered daffodils, shamrocks, roses and thistles along with daisies and combined with leaves and sprigs. This is also known as "Spriggin."
Around the peak of production, hundreds of thousands worked at this art form. In 1856, more than 200,000 are estimated to have worked at it in Ireland and about 25,000 in Scotland. Within ten years or so, the numbers dropped by more than half to probably 75,000 in Ireland and 9,000 in Scotland. By the late 1870's, the machine-made embroideries almost exclusively replaced this fine handwork.
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