Doily Lace

When browsing the internet for lace projects I found a Rose Lace Doily. I had thought about making doilies when I started making lace.  This rose doily looks fairly simple. 

I received a new roll of Vilene wash-away stabilizer and today I would use it with 100% cotton thread in the bobbin as well as the upper thread.

As I started stitching the lace I didn’t like it.  I can’t pinpoint why, it just isn’t as nice as I was hoping for.  I’ll make two more lace panels and then see how I like it.

 

Next I looked for something to embroider on the center of the doily I would put the lace on.   I found a cross stitch flower pattern.  I hooped up broadcloth and started the machine.

The more I stitched the more I liked it.

The only issue I had was with all the jump stitch threads.  I ended up cutting as many as I could in between each color change.  For those of you who don’t know what jump stitches are, look at the first cross stitch picture.  You can see threads that are carried across the cloth to the next spot where the cross stitching begins again.  If I don’t cut the threads they mess up the look of the finished cross stitch.

Once done I ironed the center piece and then pinned the lace on and began to stitch.

After stitching the lace on I trimmed the material under the lace as close as possible to the edge of my stitching.

Three of the four lace panels still had the wash-away on it.  I understood it would be easier to pin to the material and stitch down.  When the outer stitching was done I put the finished doily into a warm bowl of water to melt the wash-away stabilizer.

I changed the water twice just to get the wash-away out of the bowl and away from the material.  If it isn’t washed out enough the material will be stiff when it is dry.

I patted it dry and then let it dry on its own.

 

The only lesson I learned with this project is:  Cotton lace shrinks.  I had washed one lace panel before making the center of the doily.  When I stitched the other three panels onto the doily they had not been washed.  Once it was soaked in warm water to melt away the Vilene the panels all shrunk.  The area where I had stitched them to the center cloth pulled away from each other.  Its not too noticeable, except to me.  Oh well, live and learn.

The lace looks beautiful and the entire doily worked up so nicely.  You can click on the photo to enlarge it and see it better.

 

That’s enough for today.

Thanks for listening ~