velosews

Satin ‘n lace

Here’s lace overlay dress I’ve been working on using White Tree Fabrics duchess satin and lace. McCalls 6028 seemed the best fit for the lace dress idea on my Pinterest board.
I do like this dress.
I enjoy working with lace and it seems to be everywhere these days. The duchess satin is firm enough and creates a defined shape without clinging to your body.

So the key to making this dress look great was to mirror the lace edges evenly, after getting a great dress fit.
This really shows how lovely lace is.
Balancing the curves is a key of this dress. The lace I used had a flower just inside the curve that I decided to use as the balance.

I’ve used blue lace on blue satin so it’s hard to see but it’s there.

Waistband and neckline
The waist band wasn’t my initial plan but I added the waistband so you can’t see the lace join. 
Before the waistband.
The waistband make the lace look consistent and continuous, especially for someone my height.
After adding the waistband and hand stitching the lace to the satin.
The neckline on the pattern is round so I’ve drafted it to a high v-neckline and adjusted the lining to suit is.

Sleeves
The sleeves were a small challenge too. A small change because I placed the lace flower on the same spot on both sleeves. 



I’ve used bias binding for the sleeve seams and then whip stitched them to the dress facing so from the outside you see more sleeve and less seam allowance.
Cutting the sleeve so the lace flowers mirror each other.
This lace is so impressive in real life. I think it deserves a light colour satin to really show the lace detailing. I’ll keep that in mind for the lace remnant I have.


I placed a sparkly buttons at the top of each sleeve, just for the effect.

Hand stitching
While this satin seams only needs overlocking, I did under stitch and hand stitch the neckline facing.


The sleeve seam is hand stitched to the bodice so you see more lace that seam allowance. The hems and sleeve seam allowances are bias bound.


I enjoyed the slow hand stitching of the skirt lace overlay to the skirt satin.
Basically I have a few formal dinners coming up and I now have a lovely dress I can wear and know it fits well.

Thank you White Tree Fabrics.

19 comments

  4. This is just stunning! All of the attention you paid to the details is so evident in your final dress…great job!

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  13. All that hand stitching must have taken ages! It has resulted in a beautiful dress – you can certainly see all the hard work that has gone into it.

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  16. Thanks HC. I used to practice on handsewing on old lace kitchen curtains so I wouldn't stress out on good lace.

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  17. Lovely, it will be perfect for your cocktail events. The blue on blue is more subtle than your inspiration pic, especially in photos I imagine, but the effect is gorgeous.

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