Working with lace

​After visiting the Art of Lace Exibition in the Textielfabriek in Tilburg, The Netherlands,
I came back with so many new ideas and inspiration, I wanted to share with you some backround information about the different types of lace and its use in couture sewing:

Leavers and Chantilly lace.
​Leavers lace comes from Calais and is famous for its refinement, its beautiful motives and its strong weave. The base of the lace is tule.

Chantilly lace comes from the city of Chantilly, France, and is considered to be the most refined lace there is. The lace is often used for bridal gowns and has also a tule base like the Leavers lace.

Bourdon lace.
Bourdon lace is made with Bourdon thread, which is a thicker thread that adds thickness and relief to the motives of the lace. 

Guipure lace.
Gupure lace is lace that is embroided, not weaved. It has no mesh or tule backround, the motived are embroided on a base of fabric that is removed later in the process. The embroided motives remain and are attached to each other by small bars or plaits.

The use of lace is endless, and can be applied in many ways.
​In haute couture there often is a technique used to sew the lace in a way that the seams are made invisible. As you can see in below picture, no visible seams and darts can be spotted. This marks the diffence between a haute couture  dress and a fashion industry dress.

The Techniques.
For sewing these invisible seams guipure or Bourbon lace is used. These laces have motives that can be cut out easily and can be molded in various shapes by cutting them. In the pictures below  you can see how for instant a dart is covered with molding/shaping the lace by cutting it.

First, the lace is draped over the sewn dart of the underskirt, in this picture the green fabric.

sNext, the pathway around the motives is set out with pins. This is where the cut will be made. See the picture below:

The two sides of the area that has been cut are carefully placed over each other and access lace is cut out in way the area of the dart lays flat again. The lace is then pinned and hand sewn back together. 

The end result; a skirt without any visible darts.

Do you wish to learn this technique and much more? Our Couture Lace Skirt online course starts on Sept 15, if you want to join you can sign up here. Also for more information you can click below button.

SIGN UP HERE