It was about 10 years ago that my daughter and I discovered heirloom sewing..so beautiful and classy.  Corrie loved it so much that I made her an heirloom graduation dress, and she made her own heirloom wedding gown. She's been married 3 years now and lives 8 hours away.  I was really missing sewing with her, so jumped on the chance to share this love with Tatum.  Though I plan to put projects and instructions into a couple of  e-books, I thought I'd wet your appetite by sharing some items and techniques you might want to try. 

Traditionally all heirloom projects were created on 100% cotton batiste, a very fine, lightweight fabric, in either white or eggshell.  If I am wanting to make a true heirloom, I purchase this fabric (from Martha Pullen Company).  This is what Corrie used for her wedding dress.  However, today's modern fabrics do have their advantages,  so I found a 50/50 cotton-polyester batiste to make her graduation dress out of.  It was of course, less expensive, but the greatest advantage was the wrinkle factor.  We were constantly pressing the wedding dress throughout the
day.  Ugh!    Sew, I'm not totally sold on traditional fabrics-I don't sew by hand, which would be the traditional way, and I love to use today's threads, shiny sulky's and such to create lovely pieces, which is not the traditional way.  That leaves the fabric decision up to you...as long as you are using a nice lightweight, fine fabric your projects will turn out beautifully.

Corrie's Graduation Dress

Corrie's Wedding Dress

Lace Shaping Block