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19.5.13

Lace

Laces are always so challenging, aren't they?  Part of the fun is trying to utilise the most attractive features of the lace.

I bought this wide, stretch lace from Emma One Sock.  When it arrived, I had to change my plans, as I could not find the notions I wanted in the right colours.  Also, the lace had a very groovy selvedge that I wanted to feature.  This was one of those projects where I started cutting without thinking all the way through at first...so the process and outcome was a little organic.

After playing around with various patterns, I decided to modify my "Elle M" pattern.  I removed the side seams; the back is cut single layer; the leg openings lie along the selvedge; and only the crotch portion of the legs is elasticised. 


Here is a close-up of the selvedge.


I was a bit stumped as to how to finish the top edge, as I did not want to lose any height, but then I found this matching elastic on a trip to Cairns.  I only bought a metre, but I wish I had bought more to use on the top.

The top was originally going to be a bra, made up using Merckwaerdigh BHS10.  The lace was not supportive enough without lining, so I added a panel to the bottom edge, making it into more of a singlet.  I have enough lace left to make a matching bra when I gather the right linings and notions.


I wasn't sure how to finish the edges on this either.  The lace was too soft for my typical elastics, and I didn't have any trips to Cairns planned.  Eventually, I decided to play around with the binders and my coverstitch machine, using the lace itself as the binding.  I wasn't really expecting it to work, which made me more patient than usual, and eventually I got some sort of binding happening.  It is not perfect, but will do.


The two worn together are reminiscent of some of those 50's bathing suits, with low cut legs and wide straps.

6 comments:

  1. Wow - the colour of that lace is stunning, and I can completely see why you wanted to incorporate the selvedge - it's gorgeous! There's nothing much more frustrating that trying to match notions like that> i've been watching Amy (cloth habit) and her dye-ing adventures - could be worthwhile attempting if my sew-to-do list wasn't already so long!

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  2. I love the color, and the way you moved the seams around to incorporate the selvedge.

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  3. Hit Enter too soon...
    the whole set is just lovely.

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  4. I love the way you incorporated the selvage into the undies. It's so pretty!

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  5. Sweet undies! Good job on working out how to incorporate the selvedge.

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  6. What a deep rich turquoise--how pretty! The lace looks almost velvety? And clever finishing touches... I see that kind of sheer edge on panties quite a bit. It's really soft. I'm still having trouble getting matching elastics. Especially for deeper colors like this, which have been hard to match with dye, so I'm looking for new sources of colored types.

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