Dresses

The Great British Sewing Bee Lace Challenge

Hello Sewing Bee fans!

almond rock great british sewing bee lace challenge

In advance of tonight’s episode White Tree Fabrics gave me 2 metres of the lovely teal/aqua coloured leaf lace seen in the show and in the accompanying book, used on this gorgeous pencil skirt.

almond rock great british sewing bee lace challenge

almond rock great british sewing bee lace challenge

The lace has such a pretty scalloped selvedge I wanted to showcase that. So I thought if I made a strapless dress I could include a scalloped neckline and hem.

I used my tried and true Butterick 5351 as a starting point. This is a non-stretch lace and I found a teal rayon to use as a lining. I underlined the lace using tiny hand stitches and then changed the order of the construction to line the bodice and sew-in fabric covered boning. I decided not to line the skirt and just underline it; the skirt pieces are just two gathered rectangles.

almond rock great british sewing bee lace challenge

I don’t personally think this is the type of lace to worry about pattern matching. The leaf design is quite free flowing so seam lines don’t interrupt the print too badly. I bet I’d get marked down on the sewing bee though.

almond rock great british sewing bee lace challenge

Before I started I washed the lace on the cool handwash setting of my washing machine, and because it’s a cotton lace there was a little shrinking but no colour fading. There’s not a massively clear difference between the right and wrong sides either. It was a really nice lace to work with.

almond rock great british sewing bee lace challengeSo there you have it! A sweet new blue dress paired with a black patent belt and shoes.

(32) Comments

  1. Swirlyicing says:

    Looking lovely in your pretty lace dress.

    1. almondrock says:

      Thank you mum!

  2. Gorgeous! Great job.

    1. almondrock says:

      Thanks so much!

  3. The leaf pattern is a wonderful look and teal suits you so well. I agree. Great job.

    1. almondrock says:

      You’re too kind! Thank you

  4. That is so pretty – what a beautiful colour and I love the subtle pattern on the lace!

    1. almondrock says:

      Thank you! It’s a great lace, which can be hard to come by

  5. Such a pretty dress! Love the colour and the belt is perfect with the dress.

    1. almondrock says:

      Cheers! I’m really happy with the belt and dress combo.

  6. Very pretty!

    1. almondrock says:

      Thank you!

  7. Lovely Amy! Good to know white tree stock that lovely lace!

    1. almondrock says:

      Thanks! They stock lots of even prettier lace too. Tempting

  8. Gorgeous Amy!

    1. almondrock says:

      Cheers m’dear

  9. So pretty! I’ve been toying with working with lace for a while now and I think you’ve just given me the inspiration to take the plunge 🙂

    1. almondrock says:

      Yaaay! Do it!!

  10. Gorgeous colour, the dress really suits you

    1. almondrock says:

      Thanks so much! I love the colour

  11. Sandra turner says:

    Very pretty and love the colour ,you are very talented Amy .

    1. almondrock says:

      Thanks so much Sandra

  12. Well done, it looks great. I stitched with lace for the first time for my regency party dress. And actually I think the thought of sewing with it was scarier than actually sewing with it. Great job.

    1. almondrock says:

      Thanks! I loved your regency dress. You’re clearly a lace natural

  13. That’s really beautiful. So elegant. It’s nice to find out where to buy some of the fabrics used in GBSB.

    1. almondrock says:

      Thanks so much!

  14. Eeep! What a pretty dress!!! I love it!

    1. almondrock says:

      Thanks so much! Excellent swishability

  15. […] Amy’s adorable lace dress […]

  16. This dress is stunning, love the shape and colour! Definitely want to have a go at making the lace pencil skirt, thanks for the fabric tip!

    1. almondrock says:

      Ohh thank you! Happy Sewing!

  17. That’s really lovely Amy. You’ve inspired me – I’m definitely going to get back into sewing but it’s been quite difficult until recently to get fabrics etc. All the shops selling wools, fabrics seemed to disappear but lovely to see them returning and the internet is a boon of course. Where is this White Tree that you got the lace from, or is internet too? Well done. Wendy Payne

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