Ember Dress with In-Seam Lace

Since the Ember Dress already has a view with lace that’s set right alongside the seam, when I saw this awesome bobble lace, I immediately planned a hack with the lace set into the seam. The fabric had been waiting since we first started talking about this design, and I’m so happy that I waited to use it! This is such an ideal fabric-trim combo. 

While the stable portion of my lace is quite narrow, you can apply these same principles with wider lace! Make sure the lace is soft and flexible, and not wider than 1/2” (1.3 cm). (If the lace is too wide, it will pull over the curves.) Some lace is gathered, and has a shorter fixed-length edge, and this tutorial would especially work for that type of lace! The bonus of that type of lace trim is that you can use a wider trim, so if you want bold, this is the option for you!

Why try this hack?

The big idea for this hack is to secure the lace on the seam allowance before sewing the seams, so the amount of lace that you want to see will peek out of the seam. The lace needs to be offset from the raw edge strategically, so one thing I did before I even cut my fabric was to make up a sample with a few inches of lace and some fabric. It’s not fancy! Here’s how it looks: 

I used this sample to figure out my presser foot, stitch, and needle setting. Because the lace is narrow, it needs to be offset from the cut edge, and it makes a ridge on the fabric, so I had to figure out which foot would hold the fabric and the lace in place and still let me get the needle close enough to the lace to secure it within the seam allowance. 

I landed on using my zipper foot (foot E on my Janome), but you may have another foot that works better! Check out your accessories and manuals to see. With the zipper foot, I moved the needle all the way to the left, so the lace edge went under the foot in the groove for the zipper, and the stitching line was 3.5mm from the center. 

Before going to the machine, I hand basted the lace in place. I found it easier to measure and hand baste, and then secure by machine, since the rayon challis that I used is a little slinky! Hand basting was a more stable choice than pins. 

How to sew in-seam lace

That’s some of my journey, now let me break down the steps:

1. Make a sample of your lace in the seam, to find out your best stitch settings and presser foot. 

2. Follow Steps 1 – 3 of the instructions. Begin these steps before step 4. 

3. Find the offset the lace needs from the cut edge of the seam allowance. Measure how much of the lace should be set into the seam (for me that was 1/8” (3 mm)), and subtract that from the seam allowance. My offset was 1/2” (1.3 cm).

4. Hand baste the lace in place, using a seam gauge to make sure it’s even. Apply the lace to the Side Front pieces, Side Back pieces, and Side Skirt pieces.

5. Pin and sew the princess seams as in steps 4, 5, and 7, making sure the raw edges align and the lace is in between the layers. The one big difference is using the correct foot to sew your seam, so that you can sew your 5/8” (1.3 cm) seam allowance easily.

6. Continue sewing as the instructions direct, until you get to Step 17, hemming. When you are turning your hem, you may need to trim your lace back a little to avoid a lump in the hemline. I had to trim a bobble off so the hem would turn neatly. You may just have to trim away a bit of lace on the edge that gets turned under.

Done! I am delighted with how this lace worked out inset in the seams, and I hope you enjoy this hack, too!