How to Sew Lace to a Gathered Edge

A soft, vintage finish that looks fussy but really isn't. All you need is a straight stitch, an iron, and a bit of patience.

Loïse wearing the Leonie dress with a lace yoke over a gathered edge

A gathered edge finished with a little lace is one of those soft, vintage details I come back to again and again. The gathers give you volume and movement, and the lace peeking out along the seam adds that heirloom, Edwardian feeling I love.

It looks fussy, but it really isn't. You need a straight stitch, an iron, and a bit of patience. That is it.

This is the exact lace-yoke finish from my Leonie dress pattern. Here is how I do it, step by step.

Close-up of the finished lace yoke over a gathered edge

The finished floral dress worn, lace yoke over a gathered edge

What you'll need

Your fabric panel, gathered to the length you need
A binding strip (cut on the grain) from the same fabric, about 4 cm / 1½" wide
Flat lace trim, an edging lace with one straight edge works best
Matching thread
Pins and an iron
Your sewing machine, a straight stitch is all you need

Prepare your binding

First, press your binding. Fold the strip in half lengthwise, wrong sides together, and press to set a center crease. Open it back up, then fold both long edges in to meet that crease and press again. You end up with a neat four-fold strip, like bias binding.

Sew the panel to the binding

a. Pin the wrong side of your gathered edge to the right side of the binding, lining up the raw edges.

Pinning the gathered panel to the binding

The gathered edge pinned to the binding, close up

b. Sew along the edge at a 7 mm (¼") seam allowance. I prefer to do this with the gathers facing me to be able to distribute them as I'm sewing. Once it is stitched down, you can gently remove your gathering stitches.

Diagram: sewing the panel to the binding at a 7 mm seam allowance

Press toward the binding

From the right side, press the seam allowance up toward the binding. Then refold the binding's raw edge back to the wrong side, along the crease you pressed earlier. This gets everything ready to wrap around and enclose the seam.

Pressing toward the binding shown in fabric

Add the lace and fold the binding over

Lay your lace so its bottom edge sits just over the seam. Fold the binding over so it overlaps the lace by a couple of millimetres (about ⅛"). Pin it all in place.

Note: you could place the edge of your lace up to the raw edge of your garment, but it will take away more seam allowance (so visible width) from your lace.

Diagram: add the lace and fold the binding over

The lace pinned over the binding, close up

Sew the binding

Edgestitch along the folded edge of the binding, catching the lace underneath as you go. Take it slowly and keep your needle right by the fold so the stitching stays crisp.

Diagram: edgestitching the binding, red stitch line

Edgestitching the binding shown in fabric

Flip the lace up and press

a. Flip the lace up so it stands away from the binding. From the wrong side, press the binding down toward the garment.

Flipping the lace up and pressing, shown in fabric

b. Then press again from the right side, flattening the gathers so everything sits smooth.

Diagram: pressing from the right side to flatten the gathers

Pressing from the right side, shown in fabric

Topstitch to finish

To finish, topstitch the binding in place along the edge of the garment. I set my stitch length to 3 for this. Give it one last press, and your lace-trimmed gathered edge is done.

A few questions

What kind of lace works best?

A flat edging lace with one straight edge is the easiest to sew down cleanly. A soft cotton lace looks lovely on natural fabrics like cotton and linen.

Do I need a special presser foot?

No, a regular presser foot and a straight stitch are all you need.

Try this technique with the Leonie dress

This is the lace-yoke finish from my Leonie dress (it's View B in the pattern). If you love the look, the Leonie walks you through it in full, with every measurement worked out for you.

And if you just love lace, my Rafaela top and dress is another romantic make to try. It uses lace insertions and a lace edging rather than this gathered lace yoke, but it has that same soft, vintage feel.