Lace insertion is a timeless and beautiful way to elevate your sewing projects, adding a delicate, feminine touch to dresses, blouses, and skirts. If you've ever admired the intricate detailing in Edwardian or Victorian blouses and dresses, this is the post for you; adding lace to your garments is a fun way to practice your sewing skills and create something truly special.
And if you're a video learner, we have a full video tutorial at the end of this post!
Table of contents
What Are Lace Insertions?
Lace insertions are exactly what they sound like: lace trim that is carefully inserted into a seam or between layers of fabric. This technique is used to add texture, colour, and a hint of vintage-inspired elegance to blouses and dresses. Unlike lace edging, which simply decorates the edge of a garment, lace insertions can be placed anywhere along the body of a garment – they are literally inserted into the fabric of the pattern piece, and there are no limits to how the designs you can create. They also play nicely with pintucks if you'd like to combine details!
Here are just a few ideas, with many more posted to our Lace Insertion Pinterest board!
What You’ll Need:
- Lace trim: Choose a lace tape or ribbon that complements your fabric, ensuring it’s soft and pliable for easy insertion. You can find lace trims in various widths and designs, from delicate floral to modern geometric. Look for a lace that has a flat edge rather than scallops or curves, as it's much easier to sew. We suggest working with 100% cotton lace.
- Fabric: The garment you're working on, whether it's cotton, linen, silk, or even viscose. Cotton is easiest to work with since its stable and tightly woven (ie. voile, batiste, lawn and poplin) but any fabric can be used if you stabilize it first with starch.
- Fabric Starch: Optional but nice to have, fabric starch crisps up your fabric so it has more structure and stability, making it easier to pin and sew your lace in place. You can buy commercial starch, or make your own (check out our video below for recipes for light and dark fabrics!)
- Thread: Match the thread to your fabric or lace colour for a seamless look.
- Needles: Ensure you have the right weight needle for your fabric, and use a nice sharp new needle. A universal needle works well, but a micro text needle works well if you're struggling with your fabric.
- Pins: These will help keep the lace in place as you sew.
- Small scissors: You'll be trimming your fabric around the lace insertion, so scissors with short blades works best. We love applique or duckbill scissors for trimming.
- Ruler or Measuring Tape: For perfect placement and even spacing, a ruler is helpful to mark where you’ll be inserting the lace.
Ideas for Fabrics:
We love voile for lace insertion and used it for our teal blouse. You can also experiment with embroidered fabrics like eyelet for a lace on lace effect. Here are some fabric and trim suggestions from Core Fabrics:
Step 1: Plan Your Lace Placement
The first step in adding lace insertions to your garment is planning where you want the lace to go. Lace insertions can be placed in several ways, depending on the look you want to achieve.
- Along Seams: Lace can be inserted directly into the seam between two fabric pieces, such as at the center front of a blouse or along the side seams of a dress.
- Vertically: Parallel to the grainline to emphasize the length of a garment or pattern piece, i.e. along a yoke or parallel to a button placket.
- Horizontally: Wrapping around the hem, garment body or a sleeve, perpendicular to the grainline. Sleeves, in particular, look lovely with repeating bands of lace wrapping around the circumference.
- On an Angle: Either mirroring an angled seam line or sewn on the bias to add movement and visual interest to a design.
- Right angles: Lace can be placed vertically or horizontally and then turned at an angle. These can also overlap with other pieces.
Once your pattern pieces are cut out, experiment with different layouts, or draw ideas on the tech flat of the pattern. Here are some ideas Heather experimented with with her Emmeline blouse:
Once you've decided on placement, use a ruler or measuring tape to mark where the lace will go. If you're inserting lace along seams, this can be as simple as marking where the seam line is. Otherwise, mark where you want the lace to be placed, making sure it’s evenly spaced and symmetrical.
Step 2: Prepare the Lace and Fabric
Before you start sewing, preparing your fabric and lace is crucial.
Prewash Your Lace: Lace, especially vintage or cotton lace, may shrink a bit after washing. It’s a good idea to prewash your lace and fabric so you don’t run into any surprises later. Soak in a sink of lukewarm water for 20 minutes or so. To dry, gently squeeze out as much water as you can before wrapping it in a dry towel - stepping on it will help remove additional water. Hang to dry, or press with a dry iron while its still damp. Before you sew it to your project, press again with lots of steam to return it to its shape and ensure you've removed as much shrinkage as possible
Press Your Fabric: Prewash and press your fabric. Spray with fabric starch if you'd like to make your fabric crisp and stable before you apply the lace.
Step 3: Attach the Lace to Your Fabric
Once your fabric and lace are ready, it’s time to attach the lace to your garment. Use lots of pins to secure it in place before sewing.
Sew the first pass of stitching: Use a small zig-zag stitch to secure the first side of the lace. A small stitch of 2-2.5wide x 2-2.5 long should be wide enough to catch the edge of the tape. The goal of the zig-zag is to really encase the edge of the lace and secure it to your fabric. Adjust your tension if the zig-zag stitch is too tight and puckering your fabric. Repeat for the other side of the tape so both sides are fully secured.
Tip: Always test the stitch on a scrap piece of fabric and lace first to make sure the stitch doesn’t distort the lace.
If your lace extends all the way to the end of the pattern piece, trim the lace so it's even with the edges of the fabric and hem or sew as usual. If you'd like to stop the lace before you get to the end, turn the raw edge of the lace under where you'd like it to stop and zig-zag around the entire perimeter. You can secure the raw seam allowance on teh inside with a line of straight, small stitches which will disappear into the lace.
Turning corners: If you would like to add angled lave to your piece, pin it in place and turn the tape the desired amount. At the corner, pinch out the excess and try to create a 45-degree fold with the excess folded underneath. You can secure this angle in place once the fabric beneath has been trimmed away by sewing a straight line of short stitches along the angled seam.
Press: Once the lace is attached, it’s time to press your work. Gently press the seams and lace with a steamy iron to lock the stitches in place. Press from the right side first and then again from the wrong side.
Step 4: Trim and Press
Trim the fabric: The beauty of lace insertion is the peek of skin below. If you don't want this, you can skip the following step, but it won't have the same textural effect. With a short pair of scissors, clip in between the two lines of zig-zag stitches on the wrong side of the fabric, being very careful not to catch the lace with your blades.
Press the seam allowances: Now press the fabric you clipped along the stitch lines on either side, revealing the lace below. Press well and use a clapper if you have one.
Step 5: Sew the Second Pass and Trim
Sew the second pass of stitches: Now its time to secure the seam allowance you just trimmed into place. Using the same zig-zag settings as before, this time with the wrong side of the garment facing up, secure the seam allowance you pressed in the step above with another row of zig-zag stitches. The zig-zagging will encase the edge of the lace tape and help prevent the trimmed seam from unravelling.
Trim your Seams: Using your short scissors again, trim as close as you can to your zig-zag stitches to remove the excess seam allowance. Trim slowly and carefully to ensure you don't catch the lace with your blades.
Here is what it will look like from the right side:
And from the back:
Once all your pieces have the lace inserted, you can assemble the garment as usual. For a truly heirloom touch, try french seams for a clean finish!
Incorporating lace into your garments isn't just about aesthetics — it's about honing your skills and pushing yourself creatively. We always love a thoughtful, intentional detail, and lace is one of the easiest ways to add that personal flair to your handmade wardrobe. Whether you're sewing a casual blouse or a more formal dress, lace is a timeless detail that will never go out of style.
Wow, SO HELPFUL! I bought some beautiful lace ages ago but never found a comprehensive enough tutorial to feel comfortable using it. Now I can dig it out and give it a try, thank you!!
What a wonderful and clear post. Thank you so much. I’m inspired! Now I have watched the video as well, brilliant!
Wow! Thanks for the great explanation!