Sometimes, your brain comes across an idea that’s just so ridiculous that despite all evidence to the contrary, it might be so crazy it works. Such was it when I discovered that you can use leafing pens to turn lace into “gold,” so to speak. How elegant! How charming. Of course, when I give my brain the next easy task of which elegant think to leaf, it comes up with a mustache. Of course, brain. Nothing more ladylike and delicate than that. Maybe, just maybe though, it’s one of those things that if you make it silly enough... it somehow comes back to being cool.
That’s what I’m hoping anyway. Truthfully, you can use this tutorial to leaf any kind of machine embroidered freestanding lace and turn it into a necklace, and feel free to disagree with me about the trendiness of gold mustaches.
Supplies
So, to make your necklace, you’ll need:
- gold leafing pen
- jewelry tools (small needle nose pliers and cutter)
- jump rings and clasp
- matching chain
- scrap paper
- awesome lace design (I’m using the mustache, perhaps because I’m a little bit hipster. If I am, I was before it was cool.)
- heavy water-soluble stabilizer for stitching out the lace (I use Sulky Ultra Solvy)
- leafing sealant (not pictured, but it can be spray or paint on)
Designs Used
Another handy thing to have around, but is totally optional, is spray starch. If you’re using a larger piece of lace like I am, you might want to use this to make it stiffer and hold up better as a charm piece for your necklace.
Hoop up a piece of heavy water-soluble stabilizer and stitch out your lace mustache design. New to freestanding lace? Check out this tutorial on stitching out freestanding lace designs! Once your lace is stitched out, rinse away the water-soluble stabilizer and let the lace dry completely.
Now let's get to the fun part... leafing! There are actually all kinds of ways of doing this. The easiest is doing what I’m doing, which is just using a leafing pen. While this may just look like it would be the same as gold paint, trust me, this stuff will make your lace look way more realistically metallic than regular paint.
Another way I’ve seen this done is to paint it with metallic paint and then Mod Podge, and then use a brush to apply leafing powder to your lace. A few extra steps, but that makes it look pretty cool too.
Dab the leafing pen all over your lace, even on the open fill areas. You can let the paint seep through those stitches, and it will just stick to the stitches. Go over it enough so that you can’t see any of the original color of your lace. Leafing pens work pretty well, and should cover up your lace no matter what color you stitched it.
If you want, you can cover the back of your lace with gold too, though if you do you’ll want to seal the back extra carefully with a clear coating of sealant to keep it from your skin. You can just skip this step if you don’t care that the back will be a different color.
Set your lace aside to dry. Though this stuff is fine when it’s sealed and dry, you don’t want to wear it while it’s still wet.
When the leaf is dry, you can give it a coating of sealant to finish off the gold. Let that dry, and then if you wish, apply a final layer of spay starch to stiffen everything up.
Let it dry some more as you’re constructing the rest of your necklace.
So, how do we make the rest? Easy, we just need to add a simple chain. Cut a long piece of chain that’s enough to wrap around your neck. I made mine about 18 inches long. Fold this piece of chain in half and cut it in the middle.
On one end, use your needle nose pliers to add a jump ring and a clasp, and on the other, just a jump ring.
This is the clasp of our necklace, so we can take it on an off easily.
To add your now dry gold lace (make sure it is dry!) open up a jump ring and poke one through either end of your lace piece. You should find it easy to do this anywhere through the open fill area. Use your pliers to close it up again after you’ve attached the chain.
And that’s it! Simple, huh?
What was once a lace piece has now transformed into a gilded, elegant charm for a necklace. OK, as elegant as a mustache can be. But when it’s shining like gold on a delicate chain, it can be pretty hilariously elegant.
Need a disguise quick? Your shiny new mustache necklace is always at hand for a quick costume change.
Yup, classy and practical. I’d say that pretty much sums up this project. Plus, leafing lace is often much less of a headache than trying to stitch in metallic thread, and looks even more realistic.
So, boutique or kitschy, hilarious or hipster, it doesn’t matter. It’s fun to make and great to wear for a laugh, and it might just be the coolest thing you’ve ever worn. Or the most ridiculous. Same thing, really.
It’s all about how you wear it.
