Respect the Whimsy

I haven't used rick-rack much until fairly recently. Not that I disliked it or thought there was anything wrong with it. If I thought of it at all it was as a whimsical, old-fashioned trim that my mom used to sew on some of my dresses when I was little. But then I noticed a few people on the Internet hating rick-rack. I'm not talking about people simply saying they don't like it or that it's not for them. That's perfectly fine - different strokes, right? But I mean hate - people seeming to be offended that it even exists. Well, fortunately, I've seen only a few of those but such is the way my brain works, when I see someone hating something that I like my fondness for that thing shoots way up. Suddenly I go from fond memories of my mother sewing rick-rack on my clothes to actually wanting to sew it and wear it now, as an adult.

In this first picture I was about six years old, I think. I don't clearly remember the color of the dress. I think it was some kind of off-red or red-brown. I don't remember the color of the rick-rack at all. It was one of my favorites at the time though.

Here's a dress I already showed off last year. Two rows of white rick-rack around the neckline and one on each pocket. So perfectly summery.

I made this top several years ago and it was the first time I had used rick-rack in a long time - actually only the second time I had ever used it. I just had a sudden epiphany that this print needed a bit of red rick-rack.

This is a very old top. It must be at least 20 years old. This is a nifty thing to do with rick-rack - two different colors wound around each other - a bit tedious but not difficult. My mother got this idea from a tip on a package of rick-rack in the late 60's.

Finally, here is a sneak peak of my latest project, which I will be showing off soon, probably early next week.

This is almost everything I have ever put rick-rack on. The only thing not included is an aqua and pink house-coat with pink rick-rack. So you see I haven't used it a lot. I don't plan to go crazy with it but I will use it again. It's not to everyone's taste but if you haven't used it yet and would like to don't be timid. It's actually very easy to sew. It goes around curves like magic. I would recommend that you do not pin it in place. I tried that and it did not work well for me. I just take it completely off the card it comes on and hold it by hand as I sew, following a seam or a line drawn with a fabric marker, then cut off the excess when I'm done.