Lace is a year-round fashion favorite fabric. Delicate and feminine, lace or lace accents add sophistication to any garment! Sewing with lace can be a bit intimidating, so today we are sharing some of our favorite lace fabrics to work with and sewing tips and tricks from our resident fabric.com experts.
Our Favorite Lace Fabrics This Season
Telio has some of our favorite lace fabrics right now, and you can browse their entire selection of lace here.
Pictured above:
Ornamental Lace in Navy
Telio Amelia Stretch Lace in Black
Telio Kala Lace in Black/Gold
Telio Veronica Lace in Dusty Rose
Lace has a net or mesh background, so it doesn’t ravel, making it easy to sew. To illustrate a few preferred seam and hem demonstrations, we used Telio Mara Lace Black.
Skip the backstitching when starting and stopping seams
Backstitching risks your fabric being shoved into the needle plate. Make sure there’s enough thread at the start and end of the seam to hand-knot. When starting the seam, gently tug the machine threads to guide the lace fabric through to avoid machine eating as well.
Plain Seam
A straight stitch set to 2.5mm length and a 3/8” seam allowance.
Double Stitch Seam
A second straight stitch close to the seam stitch to stabilize the seam allowance.
Lapped Seam
Continuing after creating a plain seam, grade the seam allowance (cut one seam allowance fabric down), finger press the graded seam, and top stitch the seam. This secures the seam allowance and makes the seam lay nice and flat.
Overlock Seam
If you have a serger, you are in luck, a 4-thread overlock seam will beautifully join and finish most lace fabrics seams.
Self–Hem Border
Pattern pieces for apparel doesn’t always follow straight lines, there’s curves meant to compliment the body. A-line skirts, a popular style for lace fabric, have curved hemlines, as does ruffle sleeves. Many laces have scalloped borders along one or both selvedges. Here’s a tip for incorporating those beautifully scalloped selvedges into your sewing.
Step 1: Cut the border of the lace where there’s a noticeable threshold, and there’s a bit of thickness in the lace motif, so it can be topstitched easily.
Step 2: Pin the border to the lace so that the scallops cover the hemline.
Step 3: Use a Zig Zag to topstitch along the border edge, securing it to the fabric piece.
Step 4: Turn over, and trim any excess fabric to create a continual sheer effect, accentuating the beauty of the selvedge and the lace.
Step 5: Press with a presscloth and a low iron setting to smooth out any warping during sewing.
Using the fabric’s own scalloped selvedges gives a professional look and adds beauty to any hemline.
Happy Sewing!