How to Sew Lace Sleeves onto a Shirt

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One of my favorite ways to hack a sewing pattern is to substitute lace for other fabric in the design. This has been a really fun way to totally change the look of the finished garment without doing anything that complicated. You can add or substitute lace for fabric in several different parts of a sewing pattern. However, my favorite way to add lace to a shirt is using lace fabric for the sleeves.

If you’re looking for a fun way to add lace to your wardrobe, follow along as I show you how to sew lace sleeves!

Types of Lace to Use for Shirt Sleeves

There are tons of different kinds of lace, but they fall into two broad categories: Stretch lace and non-stretch lace. If you want to sew a shirt with lace sleeves, you’ll get the best results by choosing a lace that’s similar to the fabric used for the rest of the garment. In other words, if you’re sewing a shirt with woven (non-stretch) fabric, you will probably have the easiest time using non-stretch lace fabric for the sleeves.

I’ve been sewing with a lot of knit fabrics to make my own t-shirts. Because I’m using stretchy fabric, I’ve opted for stretch galloon lace for my sleeves. It adds a nice feminine touch to what would otherwise be a basic shirt. And as an added benefit, galloon lace has a scalloped edge that doesn’t require hemming. So it’s really pretty and lets you skip a step!

If using stretch lace trim, it should ideally be at least 6″ wide. This allows you enough room to cut out the pattern piece and assemble the shirt correctly. We’ll cover some pattern layout tips later on.

Tip: If using non-stretch lace, you can sometimes find fabrics with a scalloped edge as well. These are really fun to work with and look equally pretty with woven fabrics.

Can you add lace sleeves to any sewing pattern?

When I make shirts with lace sleeves, I like to use a basic t-shirt sewing pattern. My current favorite pattern is Butterick 6214. However, any pattern for a short-sleeve t-shirt should work fine. Other patterns that might work well include:

• Kwik Sew 3766
• Simplicity 9229
• McCall’s 7322 (view B)
• McCall’s 7600 (view C)
• Grainline Studio Scout Tee
• Sew Liberated Stasia Tee

Supplies and Materials

To sew a shirt with lace sleeves, you will need a few basic items. Here are the tools and materials I use:

• Stretch galloon lace or other lace with a scalloped edge (see lace fabric notes above)
• Sewing pattern of your choice (suggestions above)
• Straight pins or quilt clips (I use these quilt clips)
• Rotary cutter (I love my new Fiskars rotary cutter)
• Cutting mat

The length of lace you need will depend on your pattern and size. I recommend getting 1 yard so you have plenty of lace to work with.

Steps for Sewing a Shirt with Lace Sleeves

For the most part, you will follow the cutting and sewing directions included with your pattern. The main difference when sewing a pattern with lace sleeves is simply that you will cut the sleeve portion out of lace fabric instead of your regular fabric. The assembly of the shirt will be exactly the same as it would be with any other fabric.

Pattern Layout & Cutting

I recommend laying the pattern piece over the lace to check if it’s wide enough As long as the lace is long enough to be sewn together at the underarm seam, you are good to go (see circled area below).

The pattern I’m using (Butterick 6214) has quite long sleeves so I wasn’t worried about the lace extending all the way to the bottom of the pattern piece (see arrow above).

If using lace with scalloped edges, make sure you don’t position the pattern piece too high. You want it within the deepest indent of the scallop so that you don’t have a hole or gap after sewing the sleeve to the shirt (see below).

Once your pattern is aligned, pin it to the lace and cut it out. It’s somewhat difficult to include pattern notches and other markings when cutting out lace. What I do instead is attach a quilting clip to the fabric where the notch would be. I always use red clips to indicate the back of the piece (usually indicated by double notches).

Before cutting the second sleeve, be sure to flip the pattern piece so that everything lines up properly on your shirt during assembly. Otherwise you will have two identical sleeve pieces. See how the pattern is flipped below.

Pinning & Sewing

After cutting out your lace sleeves, simply follow your pattern directions for pinning the sleeve to the shirt. A lot of t-shirt sewing patterns will have you start by sewing the shoulder seams, then attaching the sleeve, and finally sewing the side seam and underarm seam all at once. However, your pattern may tell you to sew the sleeve seam and attach it inside of the shirt.

When “pinning” I actually like to use quilt clips instead. These work really well for lace because they clamp your fabric securely in place. Because of how open the lace design is, pins can slide around quite a bit and make it more difficult to sew. As you can see, one of my kitties is helping me with this step!