Stitching the Lace

This lace stitches out in a similar fashion to the Battenburg lace, in that it’s designed to be stitched in 50 weight cotton thread. There are a couple of reasons for this, the primary one being cotton holds the shapes of this kind of delicate lace better. Plus, cotton is dyeable! But we’ll get to that later.

To stitch your lace, you’ll need heavy duty water soluble stabilizer, 50 weight cotton thread, and a wound cotton bobbin. Follow these instructions if you’ve never stitched cotton lace before. When you’re done stitching each separate piece, soak away the stabilizer according to your packet instructions.

Assembling the Pieces

The Mask

Your mask design is going to come in two parts. This is so you combine them to create a bigger lace piece even if your machine has a small embroidery area, and it also means you get three masks in one! What do I mean? Well, you can stitch the mask as intended, with an asymmetrical look, or pick one side of the mask or the other and mirror those pieces for a symmetrical mask. Three in one!

Either way, what you’ll want at this point is two mask pieces, a right and a left.

Grab some matching cotton thread and a hand-sewing needle, and turn your mask over so the “wrong” side is up (it may be kind of hard to tell with lace, but it will be the side that was facing down while stitching.)

Start hand-stitching a nice tight seam between both halves of your mask. Try and keep your stitches from going too far through to the other size, so when viewed from the front, your mask’s seam is invisible.

You may also use patch glue or something similar to keep it bonded.

Once you’re done stitching, flip it over. Done! That was easy. OK, so it’s not fully finished yet, but this is the fully assembled lace piece.

The Choker

This choker design is unique in that unlike the other lace chokers Urban Threads has released thus far, it comes in three separate pieces. The choker was designed to be stitched together with the edge flower pedals and the raven heads touching.

To see the placement of the two halves, see the photo. The two petals on the flower touch along the raven, so that the leaf points down next to his beak.

I would also recommend stitching this one from the back, so your stitches are invisible from the front.

It’s especially important to be using cotton thread if you plan to dye your pieces like I did, as synthetic thread won’t take the dye and will make your stitches more visible.

The Cuff

This bracelet design will come in two or three pieces, depending on which design size you're using. This is the 5"x7" version, with a complete wrist piece.

The 4"x4" version has the wrist piece in two parts that will need to be attached in the middle, so they resemble the 5"x7" version. Use the same hidden stitches on the back like you have on the rest of your lace.

Now for the part of the cuff that goes on your hand. This is designed to fit in the gap on the wrist piece.

Like shown, the curls on the wrist piece should touch the feathers, and the bottom curl on the hand piece should touch near the middle of the wrist piece. I would recommend stitching at both these contact points (on both sides) to keep your pieces more secure on your hand and allow it to keep its shape.

The Butterfly

The split butterfly design comes in two halves. All you need to do to make your complete butterfly is to stitch the two halves together like so. (There's also a one-piece butterfly).

And that’s it! All your lace is either now assembled or was already good to go without assembly. Now, grey is fine and all, but I stitched these in grey cotton so I could do something very special with them...

Dyeing Your Lace

That’s right, cotton can be dyed! It creates truly stunning effects on lace, and it’s very very easy to do. All you need is regular fabric dye. I used RIT black. If you like your fingers as they are, I would also recommend gloves.

You’ll also need a couple of containers. At least one for dye, and one for water. For more specialized dying, you may want different cups of dye mixed at different consistencies.

To get a simple but beautiful gradient effect, first thoroughly soak your lace in water.

You will also need a cup of dye that has been mixed at 2 parts dye to one part water. Do NOT use straight dye, it is too thick and won’t gradient well.

Once it’s fully saturated, quickly dip one end in your dye mix. Remove it quickly.

Dunk your non-dyed end back into the water just up to the line of the dye. This should bleed the two sections so your dye gently soaks up into your feather. You can also use your fingers to spread the dye evenly.

That’s it! Leave your dyed lace to dry on a non-porous surface, like the inside of a clean plastic cup. Don’t put it on something like a paper towel, or it will soak up all the dye and stick to your lace!

You can do this to any of your lace pieces, from feathers to masks. In fact, you can do this with ANY freestanding lace designs that you stitch with cotton thread!

Dye adds beautiful dimension to what was once a simple grey mask. I recommend dyeing pieces after they’re assembled so all the pieces get dyed evenly.

Get creative with how you use the dye! With this butterfly, I just dipped his wings, so he gradually got darker out from the center. You can experiment with different colors or even multiple colors.

If you want bold colors, it’s best to start stitching with a light -colored thread, which will allow your own color to shine through more brightly.

Something as simple as a quick dip into dye can add such an amazing bit of depth and elegance that’s not possible with other techniques like variegated thread. It’s really a simple and beautiful way to bring your lace to life!

Finishing the Pieces

Some of your jewelry pieces are going to need a little extra attention to bring them to their final wearable state. This usually requires simple things like ribbons and chains, but can get as complex and beautiful as you like!

The Cuff

First, you’ll need to attach either a chain or ribbon to either side of the bracelet piece in order to attach it to your hand. I stitched mine on the back and then daubed on some glue.

Finally, I added a small loop of chain at the top of the cuff, to attach to my finger. Then just slip your finger in the loop, and tie the rest around your wrist!

You have a beautiful and elegant new cuff accessory. More bold and beautiful than a simple bracelet, this piece is sure to catch everyone’s eye who sees it. Wear it in multiple colors and styles and accessorize it your way!

The Mask

The mask only needs the simple attachment of a ribbon on either side to make it fully wearable. I stitched mine on the back and then daubed it with glue.

Elegant and light, these delicate swirl shapes with curve gracefully around your face for your next midnight masquerade.

This piece is absolutely stunning on its own, but of course it can be embellished further with crystals, feathers and chains for an even more extravagant look. It’s all up to you.

The Choker

Once your choker is assembled and dyed, it only needs the attachment of a ribbon or a chain at the edges of the feathers in order to be wearable.

However, I found it too irresistible not to add chains using a jewelry pliers and jump rings. Lace offers all kinds of great attachment places for chains and charms!

I attached multiple layers of chains and then one big beautiful charm to bring the choker to life. You can adjust the length of your chain (or ribbon) in order to make it a true choker or a lower necklace.

Combined with everything else, from mask to cuff, it makes a stunning showcase piece.

Going Beyond

Wondering about some of the crazier items you saw in our photos or Evenfall lace video? Well, those show just what you can do with your simple lace pieces if you really use your imagination...

For instance, I took three sizes of hand embroidery hoop, small, medium, and large, and painted them all a matching black.

Then I stitched and dyed dozens of the lace edging pieces, and started by gluing them all around the edges. Once the first were in place, I glued strips of fabric on the inside of my first hoop.

I continued this with the next smallest hoop too, attaching lace and fabric scraps. I then hung it inside the first hoop with some chains. I did this one more time with the smallest hoop.

Can you guess what I’m making?

Yup, it’s a lace chandelier! Elegant and dark, it took a lot of lace but looked just gorgeous when I was done, and is the perfect size for hanging around the house.

A chain and a LED light stuck inside allowed this to be a portable, gorgeous lace creation to light your way in dark places. That’s just one of the many things you could do with these lace edges! Line a dress, add them to a parasol, stitch them on the end of a scarf to make a bold statement.

And what about the feathers?

Oh, so many things can be done with these. The craziest, I think, is stitching dozens and dozens of them, and making a pair of full-size lace wings!

Just because these come out of a small hoop on your machine doesn’t mean they have to make a small statement. Use your new lace collection to create any manner of things! These feathers also made a beautiful earring, and could be used as a necklace charm, woven into hair, anything!

Want to really go over the top? Make a pair of lace shoes. You heard me.

Using the full cuff piece mixed with pieces of the choker, I stitched and glued these lace pieces to create an elegant shoe that looks lighter than air, and nearly entirely made out of lace.

Of course, you don’t have to “make” a shoe out of lace -- just find a strappy design with lots of places you could attach lace on top. Some well placed stitches and a little glue will have you wearing a pair of couture heels like something straight off the runway.

This fall, machine embroidery becomes magic.

No matter your hoop size, all you need are these designs, some thread, dye and a little bit of creativity, and these Evenfall Lace pieces become endless sources of elegant wearables.