Robe à la Française: Lace Tucker

What I've been learning so far by making this gown is that they loved to decorate as much as they could. A normal sleeve cuff? No, add lace. The front of the dress that I need to pin in place? I reckon we should add some trim and bows. And this is also the case around the neckline. 

I used the same lace as I did on the sleeves. I was worried it might be a bit wide for the neckline but I actually quite like the dramatic look of it.

This project was very easy. You are essentially just sewing lace onto twill tape then sewing that twill tape onto the inside of the dress. The only challenges you might face are making it the correct length or figuring out where to start sewing the lace to the dress. 

I didn't actually measure it like the instructions tell you. I sewed the lace to the twill tape and then just started sewing it to the gown and just saw how I went. I didn't have much lace left and knew if I ran out, I'd have to do some tricky magic, so this let me keep track of the lace amount. 

The part that goes across the stomacher just hangs loose and you tuck it in behind the stomacher once it is pinned to the gown.

When I got to sewing this part, I took the twill tape and measured across the top of the stomacher. I added another inch or two and put a pin to mark the end. I sewed the lace to the twill tape and cut off the excess. 

Then boom, as easy as that!

Honestly, I wasn't expecting it to be that easy. I thought there might be some trick with the part that goes across the stomacher but was pleasantly surprised at how simple it was. Reminds me of something my high school English teacher taught me - Keep it simple, Stupid. I'm pretty sure it was related to essay writing but I think it works pretty well for a lot of other things as well.

Anyway, onto the next thing!

I'll talk to you soon. Have a swell day!

-Maysie