If you are sewing a lace garment, you may feel a bit perplexed by how to finish the hem.  Luckily, there are two completely different techniques you can used based on the desired style as well as the type of lace fabric you are working with.

Trim-finishing is a technique used when the lace pattern has a defined, repetitive motif. The beauty of lace fabrics is that they are resistant ti fraying when cut- you can use this to your advantage in the garment construction process. To trim-finish a lace hemline, cut around a defined pattern along the garment's bottom edge. 

The newly formed edge will not only provide an easy and fast way to efficiently finish the garment's hem it will also provide and interesting design element along the garment's bottom edge. ​

If the lace does not have a defined pattern you can use for the final hem edge, a trim can be used to cover the hem's cut edge. This lace finishing technique is considered a conventional way to finish lace hemlines especially in evening wear and bridal. Unless designed to be machine stitched, lace trims are attached by hand using a blind stitch (like slipstitching) or a surface prick stitch. In the example shown above the trim has be prick stitches using matching color thread (white)- thus the thread lends into the texture of the lace trim disappearing along its surface. 

Many trims are designed specifically to be used along the hemline, featuring an intentional design difference between the two lengthwise edges. It is up to you and your design eye how the trim is aligned as long it fully encloses /covers the garment's cut edge. ​