Sewing lace requires a bit more attention than casual fabrics. Just one dress can have a couple of techniques used altogether, which makes a project extra special.

I love sewing with luxurious fabrics. Unfortunately, I tend to postpone these projects all the time because of the more "urgent" and casual pieces I'd love to add to my wardrobe. But I was excited about the idea of a dress with long lace sleeves for a while. So as soon as I saw Bernice Corded Lace Fabric I knew I had to get it.

This fabric should be drycleaned, but I still pre-washed it because I'm not into dry cleaning anything apart from outwearing. It survived the gentle hand-washing, but I'd still recommend following Minerva's recommendations just in case.

This fabric doesn't wrinkle so it's easy to work with it. I transferred the seam allowances of the sleeves with a thread so there are no chalk markings on the unlined details. All the other details were assembled together with a lining - I hand basted them together around all of the edges. For some of the details, I used a special seam (an extra long lining seam allowance that's then wrapped around the lace and encloses it). 

The sleeves are finished with French seams, and some of the other seams are regular ones, finished with bias tape. I finished the neckline with some bias tape too.

The pattern I used is a Burda 7034 dress. It's an easy to work with pattern that's perfect for lace garments. As for the changes, I made the bodice slightly longer and omitted the sleeve darts.

I'm very pleased with how my dress turned out. It's a timeless piece that I'll be able to wear for any special occasion.