The
Ultimate
Get a seamless look
Lace Jacket
with well-chosen
materials and techniques
BY K E N N E T H D. K I N G
G
uipure lace is an openwork fabric that offers depth,
pattern, and sheen to any design. It’s used in gar-
ments from special-occasion gowns to pencil skirts,
and is usually supported with an opaque fabric.
But you can fashion an elegant, filigree-effect jacket by backing
the lace with sheer tulle. The resulting garment is surprisingly
versatile. It can be worn over a formal dress, or with jeans and a
blouse or camisole.
The guipure lace shown falls in the category of embroidered,
or Schiffli, laces. It was machine-embroidered onto a backing
that was dissolved away, leaving just the embroidery stitches as
the lace. In guipure lace, the stitching is often made with silk or
rayon threads over thicker foundation threads, so the motifs are
dense and raised, with a slight sheen. Guipure comes in a wide
range of colors and is well-suited to garments with simple lines:
Kenneth D. King is a Threads contributing editor and adjunct instructor at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.
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The lace itself makes the statement.
While beautiful, this lace can be troublesome to work with.
Its construction results in a fabric that has give in all directions
and sizable holes. This presents challenges in construction
and wearing. I’ll show you how to cut, mark, stabilize, and sew
guipure lace with an appliqué seam. If you plan to bind the outer
edges, you’ll find instructions online for staying them first.
Guipure works best with a fabric backing to stabilize it. This
backing also makes it easier to wear as you are less likely to
catch fingers or jewelry in the lace fabric. My preferred method
uses a fine tulle, sold as bridal illusion veiling, as an interlining
(you might call it an underlining) to stabilize the lace, while
ensuring it remains transparent. Although there are many steps
to follow when sewing a guipure jacket, the finished garment
will be a classic piece you’ll keep in your wardrobe forever.
3/23/22 5:19 PM
 Heavy lace like guipure benefits
from a sheer but stable backing.
Pattern: author’s original design. Fabrics: lace
and tulle, GorgeousFabrics.com.

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 Select fabrics
Study the lace before cutting and experiment with different colored tulle backing fabrics to find a pairing that enhances the lace’s
appearance. You may want to layer two different colors of tulle to achieve the desired effect.

JACKET DESIGNS TULLE

Because the jacket is sheer, it’s best to select a design that
doesn’t have elements requiring multiple fabric layers, such as
lapels, collars, cuffs, and pocket flaps. Avoid gathers, tucks, and
pleats. Shaped seams and panels are fine. A bound edge provides
a durable finish that looks neat, without distracting from the lace.
With the open fabric structure, it’s best to avoid closures other
than small hooks and eyes or snaps.
Use a fine tulle to interline the lace, and purchase the softest
tulle you can find; I find that this makes the garment more
comfortable. Because this fabric stretches on the crosswise
grain, you’ll use two layers, cut on opposite grains, to control
the stretch.

LACE
Guipure has a regular repeat and typically includes decorative
borders. Familiarize yourself with the fabric’s repeat and decide
whether you’d like to use the selvages as a hem or cuff finish.
A close look at the lace reveals that there are definite right and
wrong sides. From the right side, the motifs’ elements are more Cross-grain
satiny. The wrong side looks less finished and the stitches that
Straight grain
wrap the motifs generally roll to the wrong side.

Take the lace with you when you shop for tulle so you can
WS test color combinations. When I tried two layers of white tulle,
the backing looked too dense. By layering white and pale gray
tulle, I created a combination that recedes visually so the lace
is the star.

Two layers of
white tulle
produce a milky
background.

A combination
of pale gray and
white results in
an unobtrusive
background.

The right side of guipure lace has satiny, dense stitching.

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 Cut and mark the lace
Begin with a pattern that you’ve fitted correctly, as you can’t fit the garment during construction. Copy it with no seam allowances, and
cut it along the seamlines.

Lay the lace on the cutting

1 surface. You can lay out the
pattern on the lengthwise or
RS

crosswise grain, depending on

whether you plan to place key
edges along the borders. Place
a long ruler along a repeat so FRONT BACK
you can align the lower edges
of the pieces evenly. Leave
3 inches to 4 inches between
the pieces; you’ll need this
space to follow the motif
edges when you cut around SIDE SIDE
the patterns. FRONT BACK

A long ruler helps you

align hem edges evenly
on a chosen motif repeat.

Thread-trace the seamlines. With contrasting thread, hand- Cut the lace. Cut
2 sew around each pattern with long stitches. Stitch essential
directional or matching marks, as well. For example, stitch an
3 around the motifs
outside each seamline,
arrow pointing toward center front, so you can distinguish in a meandering line. RS
similar-looking pieces later. When the marking is complete, Avoid cutting through
remove the patterns. motifs when possible.
Each piece now has an
RS irregular outer edge;
these extensions
give you freedom
when you create
lapped, appliquéd
Thread-traced seams later. Along
Thread-traced
seamlines any edges that seamline
will be bound or
finished without a
seam, cut straight,
leaving a seam FRONT
allowance
of at least
3 inches.

Edge to
be bound

Directional
arrow

Cut around the

motifs, outside
the seamlines.

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 Attach the interlinings
The two interlinings are applied by hand in separate processes for the greatest control. On the sample jacket, the first layer, which is
white, is attached to the lace’s wrong side. The gray layer is added next.

Trim around the lace. Cut the tulle to separate the lace pieces,
FIRST LAYER
Lay the lace atop the tulle. Place the garment sections with
3 leaving a wide margin around each lace section.

1 their grainlines on the tulle’s lengthwise grain. This orientation Hand-tack the layers together. Turn the work wrong side up
prevents lengthwise stretching when the garment is worn. 4 and thread a needle with thread to match the lace (I used
green thread for contrast). With small running stitches, sew
the lace motifs to the tulle. As you handle the work, be careful
TULLE not to let the layers shift; the object is to anchor the two layers
smoothly. Tack throughout the entire piece, up to about 3⁄4 inch
Tulle from the marked stitching lines. These stitches remain in the
grainline Tailor-basting jacket permanently.
thread

WS
FRONT SIDE FRONT
(RS) (RS)

Tacking
stitches

Tailor-baste the lace pieces to the tulle. I’ve used orange

2 thread for contrast. Place the diagonal basting stitches
11⁄2 inches to 2 inches apart, and about 3⁄4 inch inside the Use running
stitches to
thread-marked stitching lines. join the layers.

RS
WS

Seamline Tailor basting

Tailor
basting
Directional
Tacking arrow
stitches

web extra
If you plan to bind the jacket’s edges, apply a stay to prevent distortion as you
assemble the garment. Learn how at ThreadsMagazine.com.

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 Appliqué the seams
SECOND LAYER
The object of this lapped, appliquéd seam is to create what
Lay the tulle on the worksurface. Arrange the garment looks like a seamless garment. The seamline is never straight;
1 sections atop the tulle, right side up, with the garment’s
grainline perpendicular to the tulle’s grainline. This orientation
instead, it follows the lace fabric’s motifs.

stabilizes the garment’s width.

BASTE THE SEAMS
Begin to align the thread-marked seamlines. Place two

TULLE
1 adjacent garment sections side by side, with right sides up.
Working up from the hem edge, choose which side has the
motif you prefer to place on top; in this case, it is left over right.
Clip the tulle and lace to the thread-marked stitching line on
the overlap side, and lap the motif over the opposite side. Make
sure to align the seamlines.

FRONT SIDE FRONT RS

(RS) (RS)

Clip to the
Thread-traced seamline.
seamline
Tulle grainline

Pin the layers. Then cut around

2 each piece leaving a wide margin
of tulle on all edges. WS
Motif to be
overlapped

Tailor-baste
3 the layers.
Tailor basting
Baste the layers. Pin, then hand-baste each motif as you
Turn the work
over so the WS 2 place it in its lapped position. Use a contrasting thread color
so this seam is easier to see when you add the final stitching
wrong side is
up, then sew later, whether by hand or machine.
with diagonal
stitches, about
3
⁄4 inch from WS RS
the thread-
basted stitching
lines. Use a
different color
of contrasting
thread so you
can distinguish
these stitches.
This tulle layer Pin the layers.
effectively
hides the hand-
tacking stitches
you applied Work with the Overlapped motif edge
through the wrong side up Aligned
first tulle layer. to tailor-baste seamlines
the second
interlining layer.

continued ▸ ▸ ▸

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Continue up the seam, working motif by motif.
3 Depending on the lace structure and your
preference, you may lap all the motifs on one side over
the other, or lap one motif from one side, one from the
other, alternating. (In this example, the sections were
approximately 4 inches). Clip to the seamline, pin, then
baste, and move to the next seam section.
RS
PERMANENTLY STITCH THE SEAMS
Set the machine for free-motion stitching. Install a free-motion,
1 embroidery, or darning foot. Choose one that provides adequate
visibility of the area you are stitching. Drop or cover the feed dogs so
you can freely move the fabric under the presser foot. Set the machine
for a straight stitch.
Sew the seam. Work with the fabric right side up and match the
2 thread to the lace (I used black thread for visibility). Sew along the
outer edges of the lapped motifs in a continuous seam.

RS

Basted motif
Tailor basting

Darning foot

Machine-sewn seam
Hand basting

Photos: (p. 31; p. 37, right) Jack Deutsch; (p. 32, bottom left) Mike Yamin; all others, Kenneth D. King. Styist: Jessica Saal. Hair and makeup: AgataHelena.com.
WS
Hand basting

Styling credits: earrings—Kendra Scott (NordstromRack.com), blouse—Calvin Klein (Macys.com), pants—stylist’s own.
The machine
Tailor basting stitching follows
WS the motifs’ contours.

Clean up the
3 wrong side.
Remove the work
Trim the tulle and
lace close to the
machine stitching.
WS
from the machine,
turn it over, and
trim excess tulle
and lace to 1⁄8 inch
Basting from the seamline.

Neaten the wrong side. When the seam is fully

4 basted, turn the work over and baste the loose tulle
and lace out of the way so they don’t get caught in the
final seam.

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 Trim excess lace from the right side as well. Cut carefully,
4 without cutting through any motifs. Trim just outside the
heavy stitching that defines the motifs.

RS
Cut along the
motifs’ heavy
outline stitches.

Remove the basting. Pull out all the contrasting stitching.

5 The seam is all but invisible on the right side, with only slight
Photos: (p. 31; p. 37, right) Jack Deutsch; (p. 32, bottom left) Mike Yamin; all others, Kenneth D. King. Styist: Jessica Saal. Hair and makeup: AgataHelena.com.

overlapping of motifs. On the wrong side the underlap edge is

more apparent, but it doesn’t show when the jacket is worn.

RS
The appliquéd seam
is imperceptible on
the right side . . .
Styling credits: earrings—Kendra Scott (NordstromRack.com), blouse—Calvin Klein (Macys.com), pants—stylist’s own.

WS

Appliquéd seam

. . . and barely
visible on the
wrong side. The finished
lace jacket
looks seamless.

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