How to sew lace to the bottom of a dress

Lace is a classic element of clothing that never goes out of style.

Using ribbon with intricate patterns, you can decorate a dress and make it especially elegant. And with its help it will be possible to make changes to the clothing model and lengthen the product. Both natural lace and patterned fabrics made from synthetic fibers are suitable for this. Specialized sewing supply stores offer a large selection of lace fabrics, so clothes can simply be lengthened by a few centimeters. You can also turn a mid-length outfit into a floor-length one.

Important! Lace can be used to work with any type of fabric, except wool. It is difficult to achieve a harmonious combination of woolen and openwork fabric; in most cases, thin finishing fabric looks ridiculous on a woolen dress.

How to properly decorate (sew) the bottom of a dress with lace

To update your clothes, you don’t have to go to a sewing workshop.Once you become familiar with the technology, rules and advice from experienced craftswomen, you can do the work yourself.

Advice! In order for the trim to look beautiful on a suit, the fabrics should match the color as much as possible or be contrasting. For multi-colored fabric, decorative patterns are chosen to match one of the main colors of the dress.

What tools are needed for the job?

To transform the dress, in addition to it and the lace fabric or ribbon selected for the product, you will need to prepare:

• scissors;
• needle and thread or pins for basting;
• sewing machine

Operating procedure

The work procedure consists of several stages.

Basic algorithm for decorating clothes:

• The decor is applied to the base, choosing one of the arrangement options: lace over a dress or a dress over openwork fabric.
• The lace ribbon is tried on and cut so that it is enough to cover the bottom edge of the product. In this case, it is necessary to provide a margin (0.7 - 1.0 cm) for connecting the finishing part.
• Lace is placed on the front side of the dress and the fabrics are joined with a basting stitch.
• Machine stitching is done along the edge of the pattern, and the excess openwork fabric is carefully cut off.
• When using sewing whose edge has been cut, the cut is processed.

Options for doing the job

You can sew an openwork to the bottom edge of a woman's or children's outfit in different ways. The difference will be the type of sewn lace. The finishing fabric can lie flat or form gathers.

The usual method of sewing lace

To ensure that the lace fabric lies flat, without any ruching, it is enough to use the basic algorithm for sewing lace to the product. The openwork is placed on the fabric with an overlap. Carefully baste the details, making sure that the trim does not pull the hem of the clothing.

After basting, machine stitching is done using a regular seam or a zigzag stitch.

Reference! When working with patterned fabric, experts advise using a zigzag stitch, which will carefully and securely connect the openwork to the dress and prevent stretching of the lace trim.

Lace gathers

Lace gathers look beautiful on light dresses made of cotton or silk. This type of clothing decoration requires preliminary work with openwork fabric.

Operating procedure:

• On the finishing material prepared for work, a seam is made with large stitches. It is better to do the work on a machine, so the assemblies will be more accurate.
• When using wide lace, it is better to make two seams at a short distance from each other. In this case, the assembly is formed throughout the entire pattern, and not just in its upper part.
• The edges of the threads are not secured, but slightly pulled in different directions so that gathers appear on the material. The work is done carefully so as not to damage the canvas. If a double seam is made on the openwork, the action is performed simultaneously with two threads.
• The gathered patterns are connected to the edge of the skirt with a basting seam, trying to maintain the uniformity of the gathering.
• Perform machine stitching in a zigzag manner.

Lace folds

Additional pomp can be added to the outfit using folds of patterned fabric.

You can make several types of folds from lace:

• Regular: the material is wrapped in one direction.
• Counter: the fabric is folded on both sides, towards each other.
• Bow type: the canvas is also folded on both sides, but in a different direction: away from each other.

The type of folds will not affect the sequence of actions.

Operating procedure:

• Folds of one of three types are laid on the finishing fabric. They are done evenly, trying not to disturb the elements of the pattern.
• You can first lay the folds on the openwork, and then baste it and sew it to the dress. Experienced needlewomen perform the work simultaneously. Having made the fold, they immediately baste or pin the finishing fabric to the product, and then sew it on a machine.

How to Sew on Lace Sewing

Sewing is one of the varieties of natural lace. It is distinguished by a raw edge on one side of the canvas. The originality of the fabric made changes in the course of work.

Operating procedure:

• The dress is turned inside out.
• The raw edge of the sewing is basted to the hem of the garment, releasing the patterns behind the dress.
• Set up the machine for any decorative seam and use it to connect the main and decorative parts of the product.
• The excess part of the raw fabric is cut off, and the sewing cut is processed.

Useful tips for decorating clothes with lace

• Before working with lace, you need to wet it, dry it and iron it on the wrong side. You can also dampen the fabric using an iron with a steam function. This will help prevent the material from shrinking in the future.
• The color of the threads used for work depends on which fabric is used as the top one. If the lace is on the dress, the threads should match the color of the lace. For the fabric located on top of the lace detail, choose threads that match the color of the dress.
• When working with a knitted product, the lace is sewn not by machine, but by hand.
• Finishing material with a figured edge is also sewn onto the product by hand.

Lace is a sophisticated material for elegantly lengthening a dress.