I have a small stash of French lace that makes its way out of the fabric inventory for the “right” tutu. This pretty dark pink lace was perfect for soft pink velvet.

starting point

French lace is the name of a style of beaded and embroidered fine tulle. It may have originally been made in France but these days it’s mostly made in China. It’s a very fine and pretty lace and it particularly good for decorating tutus as individuals motifs can be cut out without unravelling the beads and sequins.

motif cut from lace

The motifs can then be arranged onto a net plate and also onto the bodice.

lace motifs on net plate

This type of lace has to be hand-sewn in place because of all the beads. The motifs were pinned and then I hand-sewed from the back of the net so the thread wouldn’t get caught around beads. That saved a lot of swearing!

lace plate

The linear edge of the lace was folded and stitched at 16 points to allow it to curve around the skirt. The edge of the skirt was left unclipped.

tutu

I also made some little arm puffs from the velvet and decorated then with a few pieces of lace.

puffs

And also a pink tiara to match.

tiara