Hello Mermaids! Cynthia here and I’m super excited to share my first tutorial on the Made For Mermaids blog! This is a great way to add a special touch to the Mama Blair Raglan. I love a raglan and the neckline on the Mama Blair gives an incredibly flattering and gorgeously finished look with an easy to wear feel. In this tutorial I’ll take you one step further with these elegant accent lace seams.

You will need:
–Mama Blair Pattern
-All materials required for the pattern
-Lace scrap about 10″X7″ OR 20 Inches of 1.5″-wide Crochet Lace
-Tracing Paper

For my first Mama Blair I used stretch lace yardage and jersey knit.

I purchased both from Knitpop. You could also use lace with no stretch and be fine. (Note: I also extended the pattern by a few inches to make it into a dress and used the pocket piece/instructions from the Mama Lilly pattern to add inseam pockets.)

 

1. Decide how wide you want your lace. I made mine 2″ wide.
2. Working on the sleeve line use your sewing gauge to mark exactly 2″ (or however wide you want your lace) away from the edge of the pattern piece. Connect the dots to make a line.

3. Make two more dotted lines 3/8″ away from, and on either side of, the first line. I’ve labeled these lines in the next image, S(Shirt) and L(Lace).

4. Create your Lace Insert pattern piece by tracing line L and up along the edge of the pattern onto another piece of tracing paper. I’ve marked in red where you should trace. Cut it out and you’ll have a Lace Insert pattern piece like the one shown here.

5. Cut along the S line and discard the strip you cut off. (Or save it and tape it back on later to make a Mama Blair without lace seams.) Now you have your new Shirt Front pattern piece and your Lace insert piece.

6. Cut out your fabric along the fold as per the pattern instructions. Cut two mirror image lace pieces

7. Sew your Lace to the Shirt Right Sides together, using a 3/8″ seam allowance.
8. Iron the seam toward the shirt.

9. Topstitch that seam down to give the lace some extra support.

Now you have a lace-tactic shirt Front piece and can follow the instructions in the pattern. The only other thing I would add is a topstitch on the other side of the lace after you attach it to the sleeves.

For the next lace insert I again used jersey knit but this time used a 1.5″ wide crochet lace.

This one is a little easier as we won’t be changing the pattern.

1. Cut out the shirt Front and lay the crochet lace along the edge of the sleeve line. The crochet lace is a straight piece that you’re laying along a curved line so you’ll see bubbling along the edge.

2. Using starch, iron those bubbles down. Try to disperse them along the length, if you can. My crochet lace is all cotton and pretty sturdy so I had no problems using starch and the iron. You may need to use an ironing cloth to protect yours, though, so test your lace before you begin.

3. Pin that baby like there’s no tomorrow.
4. Using a thread that matches your lace and a narrow zig-zag stitch with short stitch length, stitch all along the bottom edge of the lace (indicated by the red line in the photo).

5. Flip it over and, cutting about 1/8″ from your stitches, trim off the shirt fabric that’s under the lace. There’s no need to finish the edge of the fabric since it’s knit and won’t fray. The picture below shows the wrong side of the shirt after the extra fabric has been trimmed away.
6. Repeat for the other side.

Flip it back over to the front and Voila! You now have a shirt front with crochet lace at the seams. Follow the pattern instructions as written using this as your shirt Front piece.

I can’t wait to see your Mama Blair with lace seams! Please remember to share your creations in the Made for Mermaids Pattern group on Facebook!
Cynthia is a stay-at-home mom who loves sewing for herself and two daughters. Testing PDF patterns is a particular hobby, along with vegetable gardening, cooking, and working-out.