DIY: Lovely Lace

There has always been something about lace that feels so romantic and feminine--despite the fact that Kings and gentry of yore donned it too. The bib necklaces are actually quite an ingenious way of adding a dash of femininity to a plain, boring top, especially V-neck ones (actually, this also depends on the shape of the collar of your top).

But as you can probably see from the above picture, I'm actually wearing a round-neck tank top--and it doesn't look so bad together now, does it? When I first saw the lace bib necklaces in Diva, I knew I wanted one--but didn't want to pay that much for it!

Picture from Diva

Of course, I knew these necklaces were also incredibly easy to make--provided of course you knew where to look and what to do. While black lace is more gothic and relatively safe from, oh, say curry mee splatters or escaped coffee droplets, white is just so much more girly, and well, me!

All you need to make one is simply a lace collar (available in any sewing/arts shops--I maintain the one in PJ Old Town, called Carrots (or something) that's the same row as Watsons is the best), needle and thread, and ribbons. Easy peasy lemon squeezy!

On the other hand, I managed to come into this lace collar courtesy of my grandma, who has all sorts of wonderful bits and pieces lying around her sewing area. It was apparently given to her by one of her nieces, and the price tag, which was still on it, said RM16.90. So see, it's not really that expensive after all!

What I basically did was sew the ends of the lace collar at the front together right at the edge so I could maneuver it with some ease. Because it couldn't really connect like a bib without looking weird and clumpy, I measured out some ribbon I had lying around and stitched the back ends of the collar to it. This simply means that instead of tying the ribbon to a desired length, I can just slip it over my head--it's long enough for it!

If you have a shorter lace bib however, and don't want to be fiddly with your neck-lace (ooh, how apt!), I recommend the use of press-studs.

As alternatives, you can even glue-gun on diamante pieces or sew on sequins on your bib--anything goes, really! Me, I like it simple, so I'm keeping mine clean.