Family heirlooms are often a piece of jewellery or a treasured recipe, but a handmade christening dress crafted from a 108-year-old wedding gown has been handed down through four generations.
The two-layered dress has been worn for 28 christenings in multiple countries.
"If that little dress could talk, it would have lots of stories to tell about its travels around the world," said Gisela Hansson of her late grandmother's creation.
Ms Hansson's late grandmother Maria Metzkes (nee Eich) married Johannes (Hans) Metzkes in Namibia in 1913.
She used the fabric from her wedding gown to make her daughter's christening dress the following year.
Using her gown's cotton petticoat, she created a full-length, sleeveless underdress and transformed her lace veil into a three-tiered dress with puff sleeves, frills, a round neck and bodice.
"I think times were a little bit tough and she didn't have much material around as the First World War was hanging around," Ms Hansson said.
"They needed to christen their daughter Helga before Hans took off with the Imperial Army."
Shipped around the world
The dress was first sent overseas in 1949 to Germany after Ms Metzkes's first grandchild was born and she was unable to attend the christening.
"My grandmother would have carefully wrapped this beautiful dress and, being a woman of faith, she would have said a little prayer before sending it," Ms Hansson said.
Over the last 70 years, the gown has travelled to Namibia, Germany, South Africa, Botswana, Sweden and Australia, carefully transported by various postal services and occasionally via the hand luggage of family members.
But the dress is not just of sentimental value to the family.
"My grandmother had the wonderful idea that every child who wore the dress should have their name embroidered around the bottom part of the petticoat," Ms Hansson said.
"It has the name and the date of each christening and we all have to use the same script each time we add another name to the petticoat."
The family's 'golden thread'
Ms Hansson now lives in Ravenshoe in Far North Queensland. She was the eighth family member to wear the dress when she was christened near Cape Town in 1952.
Her children and grandchildren were also christened in the dress.
"It was very emotional and sentimental for me to have our children wear that same dress when they were christened [in Botswana and Sweden]," she said.
"It kept that wonderful golden thread going that has been running through our family for all these years."
And when twins were born into the family for the first time in more than 100 years, the family ensured a little tweaking would allow both children to wear the heirloom.
"We wanted both our granddaughters to wear the dress so we had to separate the two layers of the dress," Ms Hansson said.
"Margo wore the sleeveless cotton underdress and Jean wore the lace dress with tulle."
The heirloom today
The dress was last worn in Namibia in June, 2021 for its 28th christening.
At 108 years old, the precious, handmade treasure shows little sign of deterioration.
Ms Hansson said its longevity was because everyone had followed her grandmother's very specific care instructions.
"It had to be carefully handwashed in pure natural soap and a sugar solution used for starching before ironing," she said.
"And under no circumstances was it ever to be put in a washing machine."
The dress is currently stored in Namibia where the family is contemplating whether to continue passing it through new generations or to preserve it for display in Namibia's Swakopmund Museum.
"Some of the family want to leave it hanging in the cupboard for the fifth generation of the family to wear," Ms Hansson said.
"Others want to see it displayed alongside some of my grandmother's other work that is already on display in the museum."
