About lace

 

1⬆️ 2⬇️

3⬆️ 4⬇️

5⬆️ 6⬇️

Lace can be beautiful, versatile, romantic as well as painful to work with, fussy, cheap-looking, and predictable. I spent years to find love for lace, which in my youth did not align with my esthetics. Even my wedding dress, designed by yours truly, had non of it! In those years, I attributed lace presence in my wardrobe to my undergarments not to be seen by general public.

 As you can tell from the photos on this post, my perception has changed. Today, I embrace the lace! Sometimes, I use it as an accent as on the first photo from top, where a crochet-style cotton lace accentuates my waist on the cotton dress. Its upholstery print is muted by the craftiness of lace. Neither material has stretch which made it easier to layer.

On photo 2  the top has black stretch synthetic lace over stretch beige silk crepe. It’s a comfortable combination for any season.

The shirt on photo 3 is made out of a new tablecloth. Sometimes, it’s cheaper to buy lace (or any fabric) as a tablecloth, just be mindful of your finished garment not looking like one! This lace was a pain to work with: the extremely fine thread unraveled easily, I had to zigzag or connect by hand pieces that were falling apart in my hands as I worked on it! However, the shirt came out nice, and I have worn and machine washed it on gentle cycle many times. The shirt is see-through, so I get creative with what to layer under it.

The top on photo 4 was bought at GAP and embellished by hand. I added the lacy trim to the neckline and sleeve edges, and created a v-shaped application of various types of lace. As you can see, the shades of white are not aligned. I was aware of it choosing the trims from my collection, but it’s good to keep in mind that a contrast will be noticeable, especially on photos. 

Same contrast can be seen on a Victorian top on photo 5, where I combined 3 antique napkins (1 for the front, 1 for the back, and 1 divided for sides) with the leftovers of the aforementioned tablecloth (sleeves), and a cotton lace trim for the collar. However, the contrast is erased by turning the photo into black and white, as photo 6 illustrates. 

Lace designs can be cut out and applied to most facing fabrics, as on a sticker below. I try not to use the invisible thread because it’s plastic, and can irritate the wearer’s  skin on contact. Here, I used blue thread and short running stitches to attach the blue lace from my mother’s wedding gown to a black Thai silk jacket. Not quite Nudie suit, but close. 

Other frequent uses of lace: to lengthen the sleeves or skirt hem; add peplum to a too-short top; cover a spot or tear on jeans; add sleeves to a sleeveless garment; insert a triangle into a too deep of a V-neck; mimic embroidery on any item.