The Edge

The past couple of weeks I've been experimenting with different edge finishes for the bridal gown. The great thing about a bridal veil is that you can do almost anything, simple or elaborate and it looks like a veil. Whitney had toyed with several options. We thought we were going to make an alencon lace-trimmed mantilla. As the clock ticked, I opted not to do it. Did I really need a project with more lace to stitch down? If the gown required it, certainly I would have placed an order for more lace. Whitney finally decided that with all the lace on the gown, she wanted to keep the veil simple.

So the experimenting began. I took scraps of veiling to both the sewing machine and the serger. I used different threads and different sewing techniques. I tried gold and silver metallics, plain thread, thread over rattail, thread over gimp. I tried a zig zag stitch, 3 thread overlock, 4 thread overlock, a rolled edge. I tried an the overlock stitches with zigzagging on top. I even tried a double row of serging. That was a neat effect but didn't think Whitney would like it.

The use of the gimp made the edge stiff plus it really didn't show up very well, even with a metallic thread. The rat tail was way too thick. Not the look we wanted. It certainly would work for some brides. I really, really wanted to get the silver metallic on the veil but it was not to be. My serger did not like the thread. Too bad, I spent $15.00 for that one spool of thread. There will be other projects for that though.

The winner was using a rolled edge on the serger with white polyester embroidery thread. I felt the embroidery thread gave the edge a little more umphhh than plain serger thread. Whitney loves it. I'll show pictures of the veil later.