The Crocheted Blue Heirloom Dress

I believe it was my mother who crocheted a blue dress which I acquired from my parent's house when they had both gone on to the other side. I can't begin to guess who the blue dress was originally made for. Perhaps, it was one of the proverbial unfinished Relief Society projects which are so common among busy homemakers.

Jenny and Laura


and Kay

The treasure was in a wad of blue crocheted pieces including a decorative table cover, a smaller unfinished piece, a smallish woman's overshirt and the blue dress. It had round orange buttons and pieces of orange grosgrain ribbon around the waist and sleeves which was not in good shape. I replaced the ribbon with new ribbon and cold water rinsed the dress. The dress is not in optimal shape with a couple of holes in the crochet yarn and a stain on the back. Overlooking these flaws, the dress is a lovely heirloom with the pieces of its unknowns.

I was on top of things when my three daughters were 2-ish. The idea didn't occur to me to do with my granddaughters until a couple of years ago and this later group of granddaughters to be able to preserve for interest sake, the legacy of the blue dress. Digital photography also made it possible for the kinds of comic and thoughtful poses that give the blue dress its personality on each wearer of it, as well as their cyber-identity names.

Posed and posing in the blue dress are Jenny's daughters - Rhiannon who is almost 10 and Kristen who will be 5 soon.

Laura's two girls, Juju who is now 5 and Lucille who is 3 each had their own ways of enduring the posing in the chair and blue dress.

--Stephanie's daughter, Bedelia is 2 1/2 and has a baby sister who will fit into the blue dress in about a year and a half. She started out looking not entirely comfortable, but then warmed up to mischievous.

Kay's daughter, Boo is also --

2 1/2 and was amused and amusing from start to finish.