~leather and lace belt~

I love lace and I've been seeing it 

in people's fashion choices a lot lately it seems.

I got a big piece of thick lace a few weeks ago

with the intentions of adding it to a waistband

on a pair of pants of mine. 

Well, that didn't work out and I've been trying

to figure out how I could use it.

I saw this dress on Pinterest a few days ago

and knew immediately what I wanted to do with the lace:

Isn't this beautiful?

Seriously?!

Anyway, keep in mind this was just my inspiration.

Obviously I didn't make a dress like this.....YET :)

This is what I did:

I made a little lace belt to layer with other belts.

I know this shirt isn't the best with it and I didn't realize

 until I looked at the pictures tonight...yowza.

Next time I'm going to try it with a little shift dress.

Here's how I did it.

First off, buy enough lace to fit around your waist

with about 2 extra inches. Next you want to wrap the

lace around your waist where you'll be wearing it and

mark with pins the two meeting points on each end. 

Go ahead and fold the ends under about an inch.

 The pins represent the line I will be sewing my snaps on.

Now you want to take another piece of material that has

some body and stiffness to it. This is what you will be 

attaching the snaps to. I used some weird shiny black

material I've had for years. Cut a piece just big enough to

fit in between the two layers of the lace ends you 

just folded under. You'll want to use a piece

the same color as your lace so it doesn't stick out

like a sore thumb. 

 This is what it will look like:

Next you will be sewing the ends of your lace that you've

just turned under and placed the fabric strip into.

 Sew both ends under and it will look something like this:

Now the tedious part.....sewing on the snaps.

uggghh.

These were the kind I used.

 Make sure you have a "male" and a "female" part for

each snap. Determine where you want to place

them and sew them on. It was a little tricky

sewing a black snap onto a black piece of lace

with a black piece of thread....I poked myself a lot.

 Nice chipped nail polish eh?

So, once you've got them sewn on, it will look 

something like this. Remember, not both ends will

be turned under in the same direction. Since you want

them to meet and lay flat, one end will actually be 

turned up and the other end will be turned down.

Also, be sure to sew your snaps on the underside of

the piece that will laying on the top. On the other end,

you will sewing them on the top. Is this making sense?

Once you lay out the lace and start fitting it to you

I think you will see what I'm talking about.

I should have said that before now shouldn't I?

I learned this the hard way.

yeah...and I thought sewing the snaps was rough?

Try unpicking a black seam on a piece of black lace.

I can't believe I didn't destroy it.

I tried it with a couple different belts and 

it looked cute with all of them.

What a shame I didn't try a different shirt.

I am really loving the "leatha and lace" look.

Can't wait to try it with something else.