Freestanding lace designs have been specially digitized for watersoluble stabilizer. After the stabilizer is removed, beautiful lace remains behind. When you download the design, you will find a total of 4 files. The file labeled with the letter "a" is the top of the lid of the box, and the file labeled with the letter "b" is the side piece for the lid. The file labeled with the letter "c" is the bottom of the box, and the file labeled with the letter "d" is the side piece for the box.

There are a couple of different kinds of water-soluble stabilizer. One is clear and plastic, and that brand is Sulky Ultra Solvy. The other is soft and fibrous, called Vilene. Both will work very well. Vilene is used in this demonstration. Use a size 11 or 75/11 sharp sewing needle. A sharp sewing needle has a smaller, finer point than an embroidery needle. That means it will make smaller holes in the stabilizer.

Freestanding lace is seen from both sides, so wind a bobbin with the same thread that you're using in the needle.

Hoop the stabilizer firmly. Make sure it is nice and tight with no wrinkles.

Load the first file (piece "a") onto your machine. Use 40 weight rayon or polyester thread. You can also use 30 weight cotton or metallic thread for most freestanding lace designs. Embroider the design.

After embroidering, trim away the excess stabilizer.

The stabilizer's packaging should give instructions for removing the excess. For Vilene, soak the lace pieces for a few moments.

Allow the lace to air dry, then press with a pressing cloth on top.

Repeat the steps above to embroider the rest of the lace pieces. See the special notes above to know how many of each lace piece to embroider to make a jewelry box. Starch the lace pieces flat to make a sturdier jewelry box.

First, make the hinge for the jewelry box. Cut a piece of felt into a rectangle:

- 2 1/8" x 1" for the larger box

- 1 3/8" x 3/4" for the smaller box. 

Take the top of the lid (piece "a"), and lay it on the table with the wrong side of the lace facing up. Lay the piece of felt over the back side of the lace lid, so that is overlaps about half way onto the lace piece.

Using the same thread as used in the embroidery and matching bobbin, zigzag stitch along the satin edge of the piece to attach it to the felt. For best results, take the lace lid and overlapped felt and turn them over before sewing. This way you can see the edge of the piece and sew directly onto the satin border of the lace.

Next, take one side piece for the box (piece "d"), and line up its top edge with the edge of the lid sewn to the felt. Make sure the wrong side of the lace is against the felt, and zigzag stitch along the satin border to connect it to the felt hinge. Make sure that the two lace pieces do not overlap, and that you are sewing them to the felt and not each other for best results.

Once you've sewn the lace piece to the felt, trim along the zigzag stitch to remove the excess felt.

Take the bottom piece (piece "c"), and line it up with the opposite side of the box side piece that is attached to the felt. Zigzag stitch the two adjacent edges together, and make sure they do not overlap.

Take all four lid side pieces (piece "b"), and line them up with the edges of the top lid piece (piece "a"). Make sure the wrong sides of all the lace pieces are facing the same direction, and that the top of each side lid piece is resting against the edge of the lid.

Zigzag stitch the two side pieces onto the lid, and make sure they do not overlap.

Repeat to add the other four side pieces (piece "d") to the bottom of the box. Make sure all the bottoms of the sides (the side with the flower) are resting against the edges of the bottom piece, and that the wrong sides of the lace are facing the same direction.

Fold in and crease all the sewn side bends of the jewelry box.

Bend up two sides of the box, and hand stitch or glue them together. If using glue, hold each seam in place and wait for it to completely dry before moving on to the next.