Freestanding Battenberg Ribbon Lace Set

These are instructions to how embroider the Freestanding Battenberg Ribbon Lace Set.

There are 3 designs in the set - a square insert, a corner and edge lace. The set gives you a lot of creative possibilities.

Insert: Size: 149mm x 149mm Stitches: 24150 Colors: 2 Edge lace: Size: 40mm x 149mm Stitches: 8678 Colors: 2 Corner: Size: 129mm x 129mm Stitches: 12036 Colors: 1

Stabilizers: We recommend to use water-soluble mesh, such as Vilene. Vilene D0102 is a non woven dissolvable stabilizer which is imported into the US, is sold in large rolls and is sometimes repackaged under different brand names. Two of these brand names are Wash-Away and Aqua Magic.

Film-like water soluble stabilizers, such as Solvy, are not suitable for the project.

Threads: The thinner the thread, the finer the final product will be. That is why we recommend that at least one of the threads, either in the bobbin or in the needle, should be cotton, which gives bulk to the lace and makes it look hand-made. Embroidery polyester thread will make very fine web-like lace.

Embroidery rayon thread is too soft, it does not keep its shape and very often its color fades under the influence of chemicals from the water-soluble mesh.

If you are using 50- or 60-weight cotton, you can use it both in the bobbin and in the needle. If you use 40-weight cotton thread for the needle, you can use regular polyester bobbin thread.

We used Signature machine quilting cotton thread, but similar threads from other companies should work just as well.

Needles: We use size 80/12 embroidery needles and 80/12 metallic needles. Our experience shows that cotton thread used with metallic needles gives less lint. The needles should be sharp, so it's advisable to change them after every project.

Most Importantly: ALWAYS make a test stitch-out of the design and wash away the stabilizer. This helps you to select the threads, needles, stabilizers and settings of your machine correctly.

Making Table Linen

This set gives you many decorative possibilities. We used both the insert and corner designs as inserts to embellish a blank tablerunner.

We embroidered the corner design twice and the insert once, then rinsed the stabilizer and left it to air dry. Then, we pressed all parts with steam, placed the patterns on the blank table runner, and pinned them in place.

Make two parallel seams with a straight stitch along the inner outline of the lace (shown in red below), to attach the lace to the fabric. Work from the right side of the doily.

Make two more parallel seams straight stitch, this time along the outer outline of the lace (shown in red), to attach the lace to the fabric. Work from the right side of the doily.

Turn the work to the wrong side and cut away the fabric from under the lace.

We attached the corner files in the same way and they also work as inserts on our tablerunner.

If you need an edge lace, embroider as many sections as you need. Manually, join the parts in the places marked in red. Use the same thread with which you made the embroidery.

Attach the edge lace and corners to the fabric either with 2 straight stitch parallel seams, or with a zig-zag.

Happy Embroidering!

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