Sew: Lace Back Sweater Refashion {Inserting Lace into a Sweater DIY Tutorial}

This is definitely a case of Pinterest made me do it! All those lacy tops! So much pretty! You can look at my sweater inspo board but below are some of my inspiration pics…

The hardest part of this refashion for me was finding a sweater! Finally, the gods of thrift smiled upon me in my local Red Cross op shop. I had quite the haul that day and I picked up this crossover style sweater.  My sweater was quite stretchy, so I used lace with a similar amount of stretch, I suggest you do the same.

As the front is sort of vee neck, I wanted a deepish scoop for the back. I pressed Mr Ask into service and asked him to measure from the back neck of the top to the top edge of my bra strap. I also asked him to measure from the neck edge of the shoulder seam to my bra strap. That way I could ensure my bra stayed well hidden! I laid my sweater on a table, right side up, so I was looking at the back. I threw a couple of pins the shoulder seam to ensure they stayed flat. Of course, the second you lay any fabric or garment on any surface in this house, this happens!

Cute but somehow not helping…..After I removed Mr Pyjamas, I found centre back and drew a line down from the neck, stopping  about 4cm or 1.5″ short of where my bra band would be. I then used a French curve to mark out my scoop. If you don’t have a French curve, you can use a dinner plate or use an existing pattern or draft a pattern from an existing garment onto paper and trace it onto the sweater.

I cut a piece of stretch lace a few inches bigger than my scoop would be and lined it up (right side up) over the marked lines. The centre line will help you align the pattern of your lace the way you want it. I used a few pins to anchor the lace and checked if I could easily see my markings. My lace had some quite dense embroidered sections that obscured the markings, so I carefully chalked the markings onto the lace. I pinned the lace along the makings, across the shoulder and around the back neck.

Now to the sewing! As stretchiness was involved, I used a stretch needle. I set my machine to a fairly tight narrow zig zag. I didn’t want it too close,  in case it tore the fabric but close enough to keep fray at bay.   I stitched along the scoop line first, following my chalk line and removing pins as I went. I then stitched the shoulder sections, between scoop and neckline. Then around the back neck.

Time for scissors! I recommend duck bill appliqué scissors because they make it harder for you to snip the wrong thing accidentally. First cut away the excess lace, cutting close to the stitch line. Then the mildly scary bit, cutting away the sweater! Snip away carefully, leaving the shoulder seam and back neck edge intact. And……you’re done! You should have something that looks like this….

I love how this turned out! I rarely wear black these days because I feel it’s a bit boring (apologies to the monochromatic fashionistas). I love a bright skirt with black tights & a black top and I can see this working in that combo. The lace detail adds that bit of interest to make this a perfect no brainer outfit of black top with jeans. I know this will be a fave during the coming cold weather.  I would love to see your versions, if you make this, be sure to post pics on my Facebook wall xxxx