In my follow up fitting adjustment of the AMETHYST slip blogged about yesterday, I chose to give a first try at an all lace garment. I had sewn with lace before. However, the lace was only ever a part of the garment in terms of fabric, never the entire garment.

For this version of the slip, I called it ONYX because it was black and onyx was a black gem, in tribute to the free pattern’s original Ruby Slip. name with a gem reference. Thank you to Sheryl of Pattern Scissors Cloth for sharing the garment!

The lace I used in this garment was just a bit rough for what you’d think of as lingerie lace. Maybe it just needs a little washing, I don’t know. However, it looked real nice and held together real well on 1/8 inch seam allowance to minimize the seam visibility. I know about techniques to match lace patterns but there was too much curvature in the pieces, especially the cups, to try and match that given the way the print was laid out. Looking at the garment, I think I did a pretty good job to minimize seam visibility.

I added a wavy trim that, with a little stretch, allowed me to match waves where head and tail of any trim piece joined together. It added a real nice touch to the otherwise plain black lace with a rose motif.

Gold Rating

I got what I wanted out of this version, with my manual cup adjustments being an excellent fit, and the wavy trim managed perfectly. The garment is quite durable on all seams with double stitching 1/8 and 3/16 inches from the fabric edge. In that sense, maybe it just needs a few extra washes to start out with to soften the lace. I’m sure I never washed or soaked it after having brought it home from the store.

Please click here to see more of my garments and writings on fashion.