How to Sew Lace onto Fabric

Lace is a very exquisite and delicate material that was formerly reserved for the royalties. Fortunately, it has become quite common, although still expensive, but you can now decide to adorn yourself with it. Lace or lace accents immediately give any garment a sophisticated look and should be worn elegantly.

This fabric has an exceptional place in any girl’s world, and it would be really hard for any other fabric to outshine it.

Sewing lace with any fabric can be a bit intimidating, but we would be giving you some sewing tips and tweak that would make it easier for you to work with lace fabrics.

When sewing lace together with any fabric of your choice, there are few things to know;

• Avoid Backstitching When Starting and Stopping Seams

When you backstitch, it puts your fabric at risk of being pushed into the needle plate. Be sure that you have enough thread at the start and end of the seam, to enable you hand-knot. Before you start the seam, carefully pull the machine thread to guide the lace fabric, so you can prevent machine eating.

• Go Slow When Sewing Lace Onto Fabric

When you sew at a fast pace while working with lace, it gets tangled in the pressure feet, and of course, ruins your lace. Going slowly would give you more control over your machine, but be sure to use the right presser feet as well.

You can also use a roller presser foot, as this would go gently over the lace without causing any tangling to the edges, or tugging of the lace’s meshes.

How To Incorporate Scalloped Selvedges Into Your Sewing

Pattern pieces can for clothes can be a bit boring if they follow a straight line, and you would rarely see a fashion designer opting for such style. There should be curves that compliment the body; for instance, the A-line skirt is a very common and beautiful style for lace fabrics and comes with hemlines as well. There are quite a number of laces in the market that have scalloped borders on both selvedges.

Here Is How You Can Incorporate It Into Your Sewing.

Step 1: Cut the border of the lace where you can see the threshold and a bit of thickness. This is so that you won’t experience much difficulty when topstitching.  

Step 2: Pin the border together with the lace, so the scallops can lay on the hemline.

Step 3: Make use of zig-zag stitch to topstitch the length of the border edge, so you can firmly secure it to the fabric piece.

Step 4: Turn it over to trim out excess fabric, so you can accentuate the magnificence of the lace and selvedge.

Step 5: Press it using a light cloth and low iron level so that you can smoothen out the fabric.

And it’s a wrap, you have created your fabric’s scalloped selvedges, and this would give your hemline a professional look and finish.

How To Sew Lace Overlay On A Dress

This is going to be a very easy sewing technique, and it’s more applicable to knit dresses. Adding of lace to any project gives it a pretty touch, and can transform the most casual of apparel into a dressier one.

What you’ll need:

• Knit fabric for the dress
• Sewing machine
• Lace fabric –stretch
• Scissors
• Thread
• Any shoulder stabilizer

Step 1: Cut the bodice pieces in line with your sewing pattern, together with a stretch lace bodice for the front and back.

Step 2: Take the front and back of the bodice and lay it to face you. Put one stretch lace piece on the top of both bodice pieces. Be sure that the right sides are in your direction.

Step 3: Use a long basting stitch to sew around the bodice, and be sure to use a ¼ inch seam allowance. While sewing, the lace might move a bit, so it’s best to use a pin and secure it in place before sewing.

Step 4: Sew the top together at the shoulder seams for the bodice and lining. Be sure to stabilize the shoulder seams with bias, or any method of your choice, so the fabric doesn’t stretch after wearing/washing.

Step 5: Complete the sewing of your dress with your sewing pattern.

How to Sew Lace Sleeves On a Dress

We would be explaining how to add lace sleeves to a sleeveless dress in very simple but detailed steps.

Step 1: Sew your dress to the point where you would be rounding up the armhole seams.

Step 2: Choose a sleeve pattern, preferably one from an existing dress, and be sure the sleeve would properly fit into the armhole.

Step 3: Cut the sleeves singly, so you can understand how the lace aligns with your pattern. You can use the selvage of the lace to form the cuff of the sleeves so that you can create a perfect finish. Or you can cut around the motifs on the lace to achieve a sculptural line.

Step 4: Use fabric chalk to mark the notches because it can be a bit hard to cut notches on lace.

Step 5: You can join the sleeves together according to the pattern by hand. But you have to be careful and observant when doing this so that you can achieve an invisible join.

Step 6: After pressing open, insert the sleeve into the dress and line the bodice. Carefully tuck the seam allowances of the armhole inside the lining so that you can have a professional finish.

How to Sew Beaded Lace Fabric

It can be a bit difficult trying to sew with beaded lace, but the beauty of this lace cannot be rivaled as well. For instance, there is the “Alencon lace,” which is a trendy embellished lace mostly used for sewing wedding gowns.

When sewing with this lace, you have to cut the pattern pieces 1 inch longer along the edges and place one edge over another. After this, then you hand sew, this is exactly how you sew beaded lace. After you are done, trim off the edges close to the stitching, so it doesn’t look bulky.

However, you can also use a sewing machine to sew the layers of beaded lace fabric. You have to remove all the beads from the edge of the lace, so it doesn’t interfere while sewing.

10 Lace Ideas You Should Try Out To Spice up Your Outfit

There are so many other ways to use lace fabric, than just casually sewing it as a garment. Although it would look really amazing, but why not create a new look?

• Add lace motifs as appliqués.
• Use a lace bodice for your dress
• Use it to make patches on clothes
• Add a piece of lace to your denim and create a contrasting beauty
• Create lace trims on a lining cloth
• Lace can be used for elbow-length gloves
• Lace trims would make fantastic ruffles
• Use lace to hem the yoke of your off-shoulder top
• Stitch lace at the edge of a collar
• Use it to sew shoulder straps