Snowflake Bowl (Battenburg Lace)

Bring a cool look to your winter decor with stunning freestanding Battenburg lace snowflake bowls! The intricate embroidery designs combine the elegance of lace with winter's natural beauty.

Battenburg lace designs are embroidered onto water-soluble stabilizer.

When the stabilizer is soaked away, beautiful lace remains behind.

When you download the design, you will find a total of two files.

The file marked with the letter A is the side piece of the bowl, and the file marked with the letter B is the bottom piece.

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.

Battenburg lace is digitized for 30-35 weight cotton thread.

This thread brings a classic, hearty, and traditional look to the lace pieces.

30-35 weight cotton thread is found under different names, such as mercerized cotton or all-purpose cotton.

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

Hoop the stabilizer firmly.

Make sure it is nice and tight with no wrinkles.

Attach the hoop to the machine and embroider the design.

First, the cotton portion of the design will sew.

Then, change the bobbin for the second color.

In this example, 40 weight rayon thread was used in the second color to add extra shine to the flourish.

This color can also be sewn using 30-35 weight cotton thread or 40 weight rayon thread.

The first color, however, must always be sewn using 30-35 weight cotton thread.

Continue embroidering 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 other five sides of the bowl as well as the bottom center piece.

In the end, you should have a total of one center piece and six identical side pieces.

Using the same thread you used to embroider the outer border of the lace, zigzag stitch the bottoms of the side pieces to the bottom center piece.

Make sure the right side of the embroidered lace pieces are facing down, and continue until you have sewn on all six sides.

Finally, use the same thread to zigzag stitch the adjacent sides together.

Sew the seam from the edge to the inner corner along the inside of the lace bowl.

In the end, the right side of the lace should be the outside of the bowl.

Place battery-operated candles inside these lace bowls to add winter flair to your home decor.

Or, fill the stunning snowflake bowl with treats to share the sweetness of the season with friends and family.