Cutting out the Lace

Okay, the time has come to cut the lace. I need to take a deep breath, relax and make the first cut. Hmmmmm, maybe a glass of wine would help. No, No, can't do that - probably make it worse! The lace I'm using is Alencon lace from France. I have no idea how it's made although I was told the loom for this can only make 5 yards at a time. It does run quite wide - 72" wide so you're getting 2 yards for the price of one, but it is $275. a yard (or 2 yards) so guess I have cause to be nervous. This is one beautiful piece of fabric.
There are borders that run along both sides of the lace. First step is to remove the borders and put aside for later use - that's the easy part. The little threads along the bottom are called "whiskers". Some people want to remove them but it is a signature of Alencon lace and cutting them off weakens the lace. I really like them.

Oops - a furry intruder, Molly is our youngest cat and still very kitten-like. She wants to be in the middle of everything. I'm always feeling that cats think everything we do is for their benefit, or happiness, or pleasure. I'm sure she thought I set this up as a hideout for her - she loves the crinkle sound of the pattern.

I've used a lot of "post-it-notes"; they make this part so much easier. Every piece is marked with a note, several notes, actually. Once the pattern is removed and the piece marked with thread, it's hard to know which is the side seam and other areas I need to identify - can't have too many markings.

As I cut out the pieces, I allow a lot on the side seams for an "over-underlapping" technique to avoid the appearance of seams in the lace. The first time I saw this on the gown my daughter tried on, I lost sleep over it, I couldn't imagine how this was done. After reading and talking to my friend who makes wedding gowns, it makes sense - will explain later on.

Stay tuned for the next step - marking the seams and the overlapping. Thanks for joining me on this journey - it's fun to share and also to vent.