Laura's yellow dress

It always makes me happy when a designer hands me rick rack.   We recently opened a lovely looking show set in 1938 (ish) for which we made many adorable garments.  This dress, in particular, was one of my favorites.   After many brain melting hours trying to figure out the pattern for the bodice (the sleeve and the front and back yokes are cut as one), I was rewarded with charming trimmings.

Rick racking process...

The collar pattern called for shaped pin tucks trimmed in rack rack.  To be honest, pin tucks on a curve are a pain, but worth it when they come out as darling as these did.  These were achieved by patterning the collar flat, tracing out the first inside tuck line, stitching it with a wide twin needle with the bobbin tension high, pulling the bobbin thread taut, pressing the tuck flat, laying the pattern back on, tracing out the next tuck line and the collar seam lines in between, lather, rinse and repeat.   

Finished bodice

The thing about rick rack -- in my humble opinion -- is that there's a right way and a wrong way to sew it on.  We usually default to a zig zag, and that's fine for theatrical things, but it's not pretty up close.  Neither is a straight stitch down the middle -- especially when the edges curl after a washing.  Don't get me wrong, I use both of those methods all the time as we're generally pressed for deadlines and on certain shows we've had an unbelievable amount to apply.  

If I've got the time and I want it pretty, I use a hand prick back stitch down the center of the tape that catches the top and bottom of the waves.  I prefer it because it's secure, invisible, and tacks the edges down -- but not in a way that it cements the trim to the garment.  This way, it floats gloriously on top.  Love it.  

Design by Kim O'Callaghan