How to Add Simple Elegance to a Dress...Pin-tucking

One easy way to add elegance to a solid skirt or a dress is adding pin-tucks. A pin-tuck is a fold or pleat in fabric that is sewn in place. I am making a dress where this pin-tucking technique adds so much character to this solid silk dress. 

Here's a tutorial on how to create pin-tucks with attached lace. 



This is what my pin-tucks look like.

  
For the next pin-tuck I measured 1 1/2" from my stitching on my last pin-tuck. (depending on how far apart you want your pin-tucks will determine that measurement)

Take your straight edge ruler and mark with chalk all along the skirt.

Fold your fabric from your marked line back behind the skirt and press in place.

Leave your fabric folded and bring it to the sewing machine. If you are adding lace or any trim, first determine how much of the lace you want to be shown. Then place your fabric on the 1/4" seam allowance and begin sewing. (remeber your lace should be past the 1/4" seam allowance so you can see it when you are finished.)

Here's how mine looks after I have sewed it. 

 Sew all the way across you skirt. Now press your pin-tuck down and you are finished.

Here's how it should look when it is completed. If you did it without lace then you should just have the fold and stitching line. 

Please feel free to ask me any questions about this tutorial!

Completed Swiss Dot Eyelet Dresses

Last week we completed our dresses we made ourselves with the fabric from San Francisco. We added lace down the front of the bodice from the bag we were given of antique lace. We also added some other trims to give it a vintage dress look. Let me know what you think!

What to do with Antique Lace???

Yesterday a very good customer of ours brought us in a bag full of antique, hand crocheted laces. She found them in an attic of a relatives and thought we would love to have it! (very nice of her) They are all very intricately done and there are lots of them. (she only gave us this bag - she has lots more) Anyways, we need ideas with what to do with it? Do you have any? One thought was Christening gowns.

Here's just a few of the laces

This is the bag we got!

They are all hand crocheted - WOW!!!

I really like the packaging on this one