How to Sew Beautiful Free Standing Lace (FSL) Ornaments like a Pro

Free standing lace ornaments (commonly known as FSL ornaments) are a beautiful and traditional style of ornaments that work in not only traditional but modern styles of holiday decorating.  You may be asking how can one style work across so many different decors?  The simple answer is how they are embellished.

What is Free Standing Lace?

Free standing lace is a specially digitized embroidered design (like a snowflake) that is sewn out on wash-away stabilizer.  All the stitches are connected in a way that when the water-soluble stabilizer is removed, the design remains intact and looks like lace.  Most designs use a single color of thread, but some do use two colors.  Most importantly, the finished product must resemble traditionally created lace.

Butterfly design I used to create floral picks for a bridal shower.

What types of Stabilizers should be used with Free Standing Lace?

For the best results, use a water-soluble stabilizer like OESD’s “Aqua Mesh” or Sulky’s “Ultra Solvy.”  I’ve used both products and found that if I use 2 layers of the OESD “Aqua Mesh”, I had outstanding results.  The product dissolves quickly when wet and I needed less layers of the product . It didn’t leave the product as stiff as other water-soluble stabilizers.  Sometimes, you do need a stiff FSL depending on your project, and it’s easy to achieve—just wet your stabilizer until it ‘disappears.’  DO NOT submerge your design in a bowl of water.  This way, you leave a lot of the stabilizer without removing too much.  If you discover that you washed out too much of the stabilizer, you can re-stiffen your design by spritzing it with a solution of dissolved water-soluble stabilizer and water.  For a more precise recipe, look on your water-soluble stabilizer packaging or check the manufacturer’s website.

FSL is NEVER sewn on traditional woven fabrics or sheers so make sure you select the correct stabilizer before starting a FSL project.

Can you embellish a Free Standing Lace Ornament?

Yes!  This is the secret to creating a beautiful, designer style ornament.  Since free standing lace ornaments have a lot of open space, they look beautiful when embellished with crystals.  Light hits crystals from all angles when they are seated in the open spaces and gives the ornament a beautiful glittering effect. They can also be seen from both sides. Crystals are available in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and colors.  For my white snowflakes, I decided to use light sapphire blue. For the most transparent effect, use a soft monofilament thread to sew the crystals in place.

If you want to save time, you can strategically glue rhinestones at key design intersection points to create interest. Use a fabric glue that dries clear and remember to glue rhinestones on the back of the design in the same places, so it looks beautiful from both sides.

If you don’t like the look of crystals or rhinestones, consider using a colored embroidery thread or metallic embroidery thread.  This simple change can create amazing results!

Another fun project is to use free standing lace designs to create a “jacket” for a traditional ball ornament.

Other embellishment ideas include using small flowers and charms that can be sewn or glued directly to your free standing lace design.  The most thoughtful and treasured ornaments are ones that are personalized for the recipient.

Instead of hanging your ornament with monofilament thread, consider making a ribbon hanger or wired ornament hanger.  I really liked this idea for making wire hangers and can’t wait to try it!

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