5 Tips for Crochet Lace

I love crochet lace that is stitched right into the fabric. It’s beautiful! But making it is also challenging. Today I’m excited to share five tips that make the process easier!

It started with some beautiful napkins my grandma gave me years ago. They had pretty lace scallops all around the edge. The way the lace was made right on the fabric made it unlike any other lace I’d ever seen before.

I always kind of wanted to learn how to make lace like that.

I know how to crochet, but I had never made lace or crocheted directly into fabric or worked with yarn so fine.

It was pretty intimidating.

So learning to make crochet lace stayed on my bucket list for a long while.

In fact, I hadn’t thought about it in a long time… until I saw those napkins again about a month ago. I decided it was time to finally start learning.

I looked up tutorials and saw lots of fancy patterns. The problem I found was that no one told me how to get the hook into the fabric. (Well, except I did see one video where the hook went through a kitchen towel, but that looked a lot easier to get a crochet hook through.) A lot of tutorials started with a needle and blanket stitch. I kept going back to those napkins from my grandma. The lace wasn’t made on a blanket stitch. It looked like the crochet hook had gone right into the fabric.

So I tried it.

Guess what?? I used a scrap of woven cotton fabric, and IT WORKED.

I found there’s definitely a knack to it though.

I’m excited to share five tips with you today that I’ve learned while practicing during the last month. These five things were the difference between frustration and success with crochet lace for me. I hope they help you too!

Here’s a quick list of the materials I used for reference:

• Crochet hook 1.0mm. I got this set.
• Size 10 crochet thread. I got Red Heart Classic Crochet Thread in white from Walmart.
• Fabric marking pen
• Something to practice on, like a scrap of cotton fabric

Tip 1: Use a 1.0mm hook

At first, I struggled to get the hook through the fabric, so I could make the first row. The hook went in fine, but it was hard to get the hook to come back through the fabric without catching a few threads and snagging the fabric.

I was using a 1.25mm hook. My crochet thread actually recommended a 1.5mm crochet hook, which is a size larger than I was using.

I decided to try an even smaller hook: a 1.0mm. It worked so much better! I had less snagged threads with that size, and it made my stitches look neater because they were a little tighter.

If you were using a pattern where gauge mattered, you could swap to a tiny hook when you went into the fabric but use the correct size on all other stitches.

I made the right half of these stitches with the larger hook. See the tiny run in the fabric between the two hooks? That happened before I switched to the pink hook!

Tip 2: Don’t be afraid to widen your hole by pushing your crochet hook in further

The shaft gets bigger on my crochet hook as it gets closer to the handle. I discovered that pushing the hook into the fabric a bit farther to where the shaft is larger made the hole bigger. With that little change, the hook was less likely to snag the cloth on the way out. This was much less of a problem with a smaller crochet hook, but it still helped make the process easier.

And yes, it does take some firm pressure to push the hook through, so don’t be afraid of the fabric. You’ll get the feel for it.

Tip 3: Mark where the stitches should go

At first, I skipped marking where the hook should go into the fabric. I wing a lot of things and get away with it. But in this case, my lace turned out noticeably uneven.

I thought I had it the next time. I marked every 1/2″ with a sewing pin. This leads to my forth tip.

Tip 4: Mark with a wash out or air erasable fabric marking pen, not sewing pins

I quickly learned that sewing pins fall out while you are working. It also takes longer than you would think to put in sewing pins exactly every 1/2″ around a pillowcase. Sure putting in each pin only took a moment, but I would have had to put in 78 pins if I hadn’t stopped and looked for a better method.

Once I got a fabric marking pen, I marked half my project in two minutes. I didn’t time the difference, but I’d guess that little change saved me a half hour or more of marking time… not to mention I no longer had to struggle with pins falling out.

Tip 5: Start with a scrap piece of fabric

I can’t recommend this enough. It makes learning to crochet lace so much less scary. No way would I have been brave enough to plunge my crochet hook into a nicely finished fabric napkin or pillowcase during my first attempt.

I am just about finished with my first crochet lace project. I hope to share that with you next week!

Have you ever crocheted lace? I know it looks scary, but it’s more doable than I would have thought! And if you have tips for me, pretty please let me know!

Blessings,