Re: [lace] Magnifying glasses

[Marianne Gallant]

These are the ones I use: 
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0011WYMKK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8=1
 
They come in different strength, though for the really fine stuff like 
Binche lace I also use a small magnifier specially made for lace 
pillows. You can see it on the vansciverbobbinlace website.

*Marianne*

Marianne Gallant
Vernon, BC Canada
m...@shaw.ca
http://threadsnminis.blogspot.ca, https://www.facebook.com/GallantCreation/

On 2018-03-27 5:05 PM, Sue Babbs wrote:
> Janice - you wrote " Poor eyesight is not a handicap these days as I 
> have magnifier glasses that clip onto my regular glasses to help me to 
> see what I am doing. "  What are your preferred glasses?
>
> Any one else got magnifying preferences?
>
>
>
> Sue
>
> suebabbs...@gmail.com
>
> -
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>

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Re: [lace] Magnifying glasses

[Bev Walker]

Hi Sue and everyone

I asked my optometrist about more magnification than my prescription
reading glasses offer, for lacemaking. I was prepared to explain what
lacemaking was, but she already knew :)  The technician helped me pick out
clip-ons; there isn't a trade name on them but they are the sort that can
be flipped down or up.
Hope this helps.


On Tue, Mar 27, 2018 at 5:05 PM, Sue Babbs  wrote:


> Any one else got magnifying preferences?
>

-- 
Bev in spring-rainy Shirley BC, near Sooke on beautiful Vancouver Island,
west coast of Canada

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[lace] Magnifying glasses

[Sue Babbs]

Janice - you wrote " Poor eyesight is not a handicap these days as I have 
magnifier glasses that clip onto my regular glasses to help me to see what I 
am doing. "  What are your preferred glasses?


Any one else got magnifying preferences?



Sue

suebabbs...@gmail.com

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[lace] Needle Lace Revival

[Janice Blair]

Devon wrote


Carolyn had a full class at the Winter Lace Conference in Costa Mesa, CA in 
February and she is one of the teachers at the IOLI convention in San Antonio 
in July.  Her classes are listed on the IOLI website.  Please consider signing 
up for needlelace if there is space available. I have been disappointed in the 
past when a needlelace class is cancelled because it needed a few more 
students, and I signed up again so I hope the class is successful.  The 
advantage of needlelace is that transportation of equipment is easy, unlike 
flying with lace pillows these days. Poor eyesight is not a handicap these days 
as I have magnifier glasses that clip onto my regular glasses to help me to see 
what I am doing. Come and join the fun.
Janice

 Janice Blair Murrieta, CA, 
jblace.com

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RE: [lace] Needle Lace revival

[Laurie Waters]

  Also, don't forget Brigitte Delesques Dépalle, who wrote by far the best 
manual on needlelace and still teaches. She and I were students together at 
Alençon.

-Original Message-
From: Devon Thein  
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2018 4:55 PM
To: Laurie Waters 
Cc: lace@arachne.com
Subject: Re: [lace] Needle Lace revival

Oops.
Sorry, Madame Laurie. Can’t wait to see your articles. Everyone save your 
lobster claws.
Needle lace lives!

Devon

Sent from my iPad

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RE: [lace] Needle Lace revival

[DevonThein]

Oops.
Sorry, Madame Laurie. Can’t wait to see your articles. Everyone save our
lobster claws.
Needle lace lives!

Devon

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Re: [lace] Needle Lace revival

[Devon Thein]

Oops.
Sorry, Madame Laurie. Can’t wait to see your articles. Everyone save your 
lobster claws.
Needle lace lives!

Devon

Sent from my iPad

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Re: [lace] Needle Lace Revival

[Anna Binnie]

Margaret Stephens, here in Australia, is very much an expert and teacher 
in needle lcae. her classes at both the Embroiders' Guild and the Lace 
guild are booked out. She has even written 2 how to books one on 
Retecella and one on Amelia Ars. Both show the traditional and modern 
colour.


Anna from a warm Sydney Autumn morning

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[lace] Needle Lace revival

[Laurie Waters]

OK Devon, you left my name off the list of traditional needlelace teachers…
is the 2012 Alençon class already forgotten? The one where we used all the
traditional equipment and threads – all the stuff I learned as a student in
Alençon?  And the subsequent Needlelace Practicum?  Unfortunately I had to
cancel the Belgian needlelace class last year, but we would have been
studying 18th c techniques.

I’m writing write my first article for the IOLI bulletin as the new
Needlelace Editor, and I’m going very hard at the traditional techniques.
The subject of the first article will be hand position. I’m taking no
quarter here, this will be a very rigorous series of articles.  I have so
much I want to say – the field of modern needlelace has forgotten so much of
what made this lace a viable commercial product, in its very finest form.
I’ve been studying the subject for well over 30 years, so don’t be surprised
at what you will read!

Laurie



___

Laurie Waters

505-412-2873

lswaters...@comcast.net  ,
lacen...@gmail.com 

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[lace] Lace and Getting Started

[mary carey]

Hi All,


My paternal grandmother taught me to crochet when I was 9 and has been a
passion ever since.  Became interested in Ecclesiastical work and have done a
few large pieces (No 40 thread mostly) for Altar cloths.


In my early 'looking for books' journey I ordered from England Margaret Jeans'
book "Ecclesiastical and Ceremonial Embroidery" and went looking for
lacemaking from there. Have a copy of the book Margaret compiled on
Ecclesiastical bobbin lace of several styles. Joined the Australian Lace
Guild, NSW Branch in late 1983, kept the receipt, in order to do the
Correspondence Course.  The text of the Course was refined and published,
republished several times, as "Introduction to Lacemaing" by Rosemary
Shepherd.


Another of our Guild members, Barbara Ballantyne, has published several books
on the life and work of Mary Card, an early designer of Filet Lace, would be
interesting to the lacemaker enquiring about crochet tablecloths.


Mary Carey

Campbelltown, NSW, Australia

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[lace] Needle Lace Revival

[DevonThein]

Catherine writes:  Is there no one out there who  makes beautiful fine white
needlelace and who can pass on these techniques for the benefit of future
generations?  I have done my level best over several decades, travelling many
thousands of miles both here in the UK and overseas to pass on my skills, but
all I hear is "I couldn't possibly see to do such fine work" but I see
beautiful fine white Honiton lace still being made, along with gorgeous
Binche, Bucks etc so why is it so difficult to find a tutor to teach
'Traditional Needlelace" I wonder?

 In the US, Carolyn Wetzel is investing a tremendous amount of time, effort
and money to become a needle lace teacher with expertise in Aemelia Ars,
Alencon and Frisado de Valladolid. She is a real asset in perpetuating needle
lace.

I think it is imperative to give some recognition to, and to exhibit, youngish
needle lace artists. With no encouragement, they will stop doing needle lace
art and go on to do something that is better understood and appreciated.

My exhibit Lace, not Lace: Contemporary Fiber Art from Lacemaking Techniques
has several young(ish) needle lacemakers in it.
One is Penny Nickels. She has a blogspot called Donkeywolf
http://donkeywolf.blogspot.com/ where you can see two works that will be in
the show. One is The Jersey Devil, the other is Just Girly Things. She
employed some gros point techniques in Just Girly Things. If you continue to
scroll down, and go to another page with older posts you will see The
Endurance, about the Shackleton Expedition. I love the way that she varies the
stitch densities in the snow. While Catherine does not know about Penny, Penny
knows about Catherine because we have discussed Catherine’s snow oriented
work. Penny is not afraid to spend a lot of time working on her art. She is
largely self-taught, which is amazing.

Maggie Hensel-Brown will also be shown. She is an Australian who works in
Punto in Aria technique.

Also, E.J. Parkes, who has made a life size arm in very fine needle lace
stitches, showing the musculature and bones, etc.

I think I see the signs of an upcoming lace revival.

Devon


Sent from Mail for Windows 10

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[lace] Re: Lace Revival of the 1970s

[Jane Partridge]

I started studying for City & Guilds at Lichfield College in September 1994, 
Janice, so lace was definitely going strong in Lichfield then, as I joined a 
well established class. Lesley Doram, my tutor, had been one of the C 
'guineapigs' when the course was first devised. Both her mother and another 
tutor, Joyce Jones' mother, made lace and attended the Friday afternoon leisure 
class - both attained their 100th birthday during my time at the college. Had 
your query come up a fortnight ago I might have been able to find out, as I saw 
one of the Lichfield Lacemakers whilst demonstrating on The Lace Guild's stand 
at the NEC the weekend before last, but I suspect that group has been in 
existence for a good number of years, possibly well back into the 1970s. 
Lichfield Library was one where you did have a very good choice of lace book to 
borrow - I doubt that is the case now, though, as many were sold off cheaply in 
the library cast-off sales.

The 1970s in the UK saw revival of many crafts - I have several general craft 
books on my shelves published then. Teneriffe was all the rage in the early 
70's, I was one of my cousin's bridesmaids and we had pillbox hats decorated 
with Teneriffe style daisies. 

As for me, I first saw lace being made in Brugges, Belgium, in 1977, on a day 
trip out whilst taking part in an International Hospital Christian Fellowship 
Conference at Ghent University. This was a year after seeing a framed piece 
that a friend's sister had made, and wondering "how on earth???"...  I never 
thought I would end up making lace myself, Then, in March 1984, one of the 
options on a Guiders' Training Day was lacemaking, and I came home all 
enthusiastic... "can I have a pillow for my birthday?" (I've still got the 
rectangular, straw pillow my husband bought me). Unfortunately by the time my 
birthday came around (August), I was seven months' pregnant with my eldest 
daughter, and even the cat had difficulty getting on my lap, let alone a lace 
pillow! I had money from my Mother-in-Law, which was spent on  lace books - Amy 
Dawson's book (which I later discovered was based on Cluny lace, which was why 
I found it very confusing following on from the day course); Hank Har!
 deman's book of torchon patterns (I bought that because it contained the 
prickings); I think that was when I bought Pamela Nottingham's Technique of 
Bobbin Lace and there was another, but now I have quite a few books I can't 
remember which it was. So, struggling to understand Amy Dawson, and not being 
able to comfortably work on my pillow (Jenny was born that October, 8lb 15oz), 
my pillow got put aside for five years, until 1989 - Hannah, my younger 
daughter, was 2 and wanting to know why she couldn't go to playgroup with her 
big sister. At the same time, the local college advertised a bobbin lace class 
for absolute beginners on a Tuesday morning, with a creche that could take two 
year olds I started learning bobbin lace and Hannah went to what she fondly 
called "sand and water".  Of course, practicing at home, Hannah wanted a go, so 
I let her - I've had no problem letting very young children have a go on my 
pillow at demonstrations since. (She made lace on and off unti!
 l she was about 9 - she was more likely to get her pillow out if she w
asn't feeling well). The class lasted a year, the college lost the pre-summer 
holiday renewals list and in September declared they hadn't got enough takers 
for it to run, so four of the twelve of us transferred to Jennifer Ford's 
Monday evening class (the others wanted a daytime class). I continued with 
torchon for a few weeks, but Jennifer quickly moved me onto Bucks, which has 
remained my love ever since. In 1992 a few of us not wanting to waste paid for 
class time chatting, started the local lace group. A year or so later Kay, who 
ran our local craft and needlework shop (a sad casualty of Hobbycraft opening 
in the town, it killed both of the two excellent craft shops we had), asked me 
if I could help those who bought the Dryad kit from her (it was all she could 
get from her suppliers) get off the ground and so I started teaching - the 
second lady to join my class had been in Sue Hodgson's class with me back in 
1989! So, to make sure I could stay one step ahead, I started !
 as a student on the C course at Lichfield, gaining Parts 1 and 2, (and a 
couple of other textile qualifications along the way, and later a teaching 
qualification). I stopped teaching in 2010, when other commitments took over, 
but have been organising regular lacemaking events at the preserved railway 
where I volunteer since 2011 - if anyone is going to be in Porthmadog at the 
end of April, beginning of August and/or mid October this year, and would like 
details, let me know. 

What's on my travel pillow at the moment? A growing length of navy blue tape, 
to be formed into a Branscombe-style portrait of Gelert, one of my favourite 
locos at the railway, who is soon to be 

[lace] Handcraft movement in England

[Jeri Ames]

I first began to travel at age 40, 40 years ago.  After Switzerland (everyone
should go there at least once), I took embroidery tours of the UK.  What
impressed me in the small villages, especially in the Cotswolds, was the
community buildings available to residents.  These usually resembled 19th and
early 20th C. one-room schoolhouses in the U.S.  About the same size,
vestibule, windows on both sides that let in plenty of light, and a stage up
at center front.  I suppose the stage was for performances and meetings.  
 
The buildings I visited in England were used for craft and flower shows.  I
got the impression these sites were used by many women who had lost
sweethearts and husbands in the two World Wars and needed a social life with
others, and also by war veterans.  I thought them quite wonderful, and wished
every town in America had similar.  (In the 19th and early 20th centuries in
America there were Grange halls in many rural communities.  One still
standing - about 4 miles from my home - is still being used for craft fairs,
antique shows, and local performances.)
 
I think that after WWII people had few resources and had to be highly taxed so
war debts could be repaid and their nations rebuilt.  What is being written
makes a lot of sense to me.  Women who could marry and raise a family after
1945 probably had too much to do as home makers.  Gawthorpe opened to the
public about  twenty years after the end of WWII, at a time when women would
finally have time to make lace.  Dianne Derbyshire, an Arachne member, works
there as a volunteer.  She can probably comment on what I've written, if
there are questions.
 
Gawthorpe, in England at
 
http://www.gawthorpetextiles.org.uk/
 
became what it is after 2 generations of men in Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth's
family lost their lives in the two wars.   Two died in 1917; two died in
1940.   Kay-Shuttleworth, 1949 MBE, lived from 1886-1967.  She was the last
family member to live at Gawthorpe; she never married.  War losses are very
apparent in the family tree published in a book about Shuttleworth's sister,
Angela James.  The family tree is a form of validation of the problem of more
women than men in some countries that were at war in the 20th C.   Today,
Gawthorpe is a National Trust property, used for the study of material arts -
lace, embroidery, ceramics, etc.  


Devon, you will learn much at the web site given.  It is a great place to get
ideas for museum activities and guild programs.
 
Jeri Ames in Maine USA
Lace and Embroidery Resource Center

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Fwd: [lace] Lace revival

[Catherine Barley]

Catherine Barley Needlelace
www.catherinebarley.com

Original message
>From : catherinebar...@btinternet.com
Date : 27/03/2018 - 18:14 (GMTDT)
To : ec...@cix.co.uk, lace@arachne.com
Subject : Fwd: [lace] Lace revival

Original message
>From : catherinebar...@btinternet.com
Date : 27/03/2018 - 17:36 (GMTDT)
To : ec...@cix.co.uk, lace@arachne.com
Subject : Re: [lace] Lace revival

I was also taught bobbin lace by Nenia Lovesey in the late 60's early 70's 
after having seen her demonstrating in a church hall in Crowthorne, Berks where 
I lived.  I was fascinated and asked where I could learn, to which she replied 
"at the Berkshire craft Centre in Wokingam in what was the old Brewery".  I 
enrolled and took to bobbin lace like a duck to water, just couldn't get enough 
of it!  Nenia always told us to be beware as once we had caught the Lace Fever, 
there was no cure, and how right she was! I also learnt from the Swedish 
Knippling book with the accompany brown cards printed with the Torchon patterns 
and still have both book and patterns today.

Nenia was invited to be Craft Co-ordinator at South Hill Park Arts Centre in 
Bracknell and asked me to take over the bobbin lace classes at the Wokingham 
Craft Centre.  I said I couldn't possibly as I felt I had insufficient 
knowledge, but she insisted and said I would be okay, so I agreed.   Once she 
had got South Hill Park Arts Centre up and running she asked me to teach bobbin 
lace there too, which once again I did.  However, there were no qualifications 
that one could study for in those days and Nenia had also been asked to teach a 
City & Guilds Creative Textiles course at Windsor & Maidenhead College, which 
covered everything that made a textile, including both bobbin and needlelace.  
This was my chance to gain some sort of qualification, so jumped at the 
opportunity!

When I signed up for the bobbin lace class in the late 60's my youngest child 
Suzanne had just started school, so with both of them at school I was able to 
have a couple of hours to myself to indulge in my new found hobby, but by the 
time I enrolled on the C & G course at Windsor, they were both teenagers, so 
some years had passed before I got to this stage!

I knew nothing whatsoever about needlelace and had probably looked at many 
examples, assuming in my ignorance that they were bobbin lace - wrong!  I 
excelled at needlework at school in the late 40's/early 50's and would have 
loved to have earned a living at it, but my teacher at school told my parents 
that it was hard work and poorly paid, so I had to drop the needlelwork and 
take the shorthand/typing class.  Britain was still recovering from the war in 
the early 50's and no way would I have been able to earn a decent living by 
needlelwork!  How I would have love to had been an apprentice at The Royal 
school of Needlelwork, so you can imagine how honoured felt when several 
decades later I was invited asked to teach needlelace the apprentices at the 
RSN which was then based at Princes Gate, London.  I taught them one whole day 
a week for six weeks.

Nenia was an incredible woman, a member of the World Crafts Council and there 
was nothing that she couldn't do.  She taught us to spin, weave, card a fleece, 
work Irish crochet, knit, work Sans Blas, bobbin lace, needllace, 
Carrickmacross and so many other things, too many to mention!  Today she would 
have been awarded an OBE for services to lacemaking but sadly she was never 
honoured with such a prestigious award, although more than well deserved.  Most 
of us who make needlelace today, would not know how, had it not been for Nenia, 
as to the best of my knowledge she was the only person who knew how to make it! 
 None of the other guilds in 1980 were remotely interested in needlelace, 
largely due to the fact that they knew nothing about it!  As a result, Nenia 
and a small group of her students at the publication party for the launch of 
her first book 'Needlepoint Lace' published by B T Batsford in 1980, decided to 
form our own Guild, which ran until October 2017.  However, as!
  not one single member came forward to join our committee at the AGM last 
year, the Guild of Needleace had no option but to fold!  What a sad state of 
affairs and we really do owe it Nenia to continue the legacy she has left to 
us.  Is there no one out there who  makes beautiful fine white needlelace and 
who can pass on these techniques for the benefit of future generations?  I have 
done my level best over several decades, travelling many thousands of miles 
both here in the UK and overseas to pass on my skills, but all I hear is "I 
couldn't possibly see to do such fine work" but I see beautiful fine white 
Honiton lace still being made, along with gorgeous Binche, Bucks etc so why is 
it so difficult to find a tutor to teach 'Traditional Needlelce" I wonder?

Nenia wrote a book 'Reflections on Lace' for her grandchildren, published again 
by B T Batsford in 1988 (now 

Re: [lace] Lace revival - bobbins

[Catherine Barley]

If  you have received my response to Kathleen's email more than once, please 
accept my sincere apologies.  As a subscriber to Arachne myself. it as come 
through in my Spam
folder rather than my mailbox  P!ease would someone email me to acknowledge 
receipt if you have received it in your mailbox.

Many thanks

Catherine Barley UK  

Catherine Baey Needlelace
www.catherinebarley.com

Original message
>From : ec...@cix.co.uk
Date : 27/03/2018 - 11:42 (GMTDT)
To : lace@arachne.com
Subject : [lace] Lace revival - bobbins

Strange how this thread has revived so many memories! When I started making 
lace with Nena Lovesey in 1970, with my Belgian bobbins, she not only taught me 
to make lace, she taught me all sorts of things about lace. This continued with 
talks which she gave to emerging lace groups. So I learned about the East 
Midlands lace making area, and its industry, and about Honiton lace. I learned 
about English spangled bobbins.

My husband, on a journey to London, passed through Woburn, and spotted an 
antique shop. He collected antique cameras, so went in to investigate, and 
found, not cameras but lace bobbins. He bought about 70 bobbins, very cheaply 
because there was as yet no demand for them. The owner was delighted that they 
would be used to make lace! On his way back he called into the shop again and 
the owner had dug out more bobbins, which he bought. So I started my collection 
of antique spangled bobbins, with about 120 including a few with inscriptions, 
and some bone ones.  How lucky was I?

Kathleen, in a  brighter Berkshire.



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Re: [lace] Lace revival

[Catherine Barley]

Catherine Barley Needlelace
www.catherinebarley.com

Original message
>From : catherinebar...@btinternet.com
Date : 27/03/2018 - 17:36 (GMTDT)
To : ec...@cix.co.uk, lace@arachne.com
Subject : Re: [lace] Lace revival

I was also taught bobbin lace by Nenia Lovesey in the late 60's early 70's 
after having seen her demonstrating in a church hall in Crowthorne, Berks where 
I lived.  I was fascinated and asked where I could learn, to which she replied 
"at the Berkshire craft Centre in Wokingam in what was the old Brewery".  I 
enrolled and took to bobbin lace like a duck to water, just couldn't get enough 
of it!  Nenia always told us to be beware as once we had caught the Lace Fever, 
there was no cure, and how right she was! I also learnt from the Swedish 
Knippling book with the accompany brown cards printed with the Torchon patterns 
and still have both book and patterns today.

Nenia was invited to be Craft Co-ordinator at South Hill Park Arts Centre in 
Bracknell and asked me to take over the bobbin lace classes at the Wokingham 
Craft Centre.  I said I couldn't possibly as I felt I had insufficient 
knowledge, but she insisted and said I would be okay, so I agreed.   Once she 
had got South Hill Park Arts Centre up and running she asked me to teach bobbin 
lace there too, which once again I did.  However, there were no qualifications 
that one could study for in those days and Nenia had also been asked to teach a 
City & Guilds Creative Textiles course at Windsor & Maidenhead College, which 
covered everything that made a textile, including both bobbin and needlelace.  
This was my chance to gain some sort of qualification, so jumped at the 
opportunity!

When I signed up for the bobbin lace class in the late 60's my youngest child 
Suzanne had just started school, so with both of them at school I was able to 
have a couple of hours to myself to indulge in my new found hobby, but by the 
time I enrolled on the C & G course at Windsor, they were both teenagers, so 
some years had passed before I got to this stage!

I knew nothing whatsoever about needlelace and had probably looked at many 
examples, assuming in my ignorance that they were bobbin lace - wrong!  I 
excelled at needlework at school in the late 40's/early 50's and would have 
loved to have earned a living at it, but my teacher at school told my parents 
that it was hard work and poorly paid, so I had to drop the needlelwork and 
take the shorthand/typing class.  Britain was still recovering from the war in 
the early 50's and no way would I have been able to earn a decent living by 
needlelwork!  How I would have love to had been an apprentice at The Royal 
school of Needlelwork, so you can imagine how honoured felt when several 
decades later I was invited asked to teach needlelace the apprentices at the 
RSN which was then based at Princes Gate, London.  I taught them one whole day 
a week for six weeks.

Nenia was an incredible woman, a member of the World Crafts Council and there 
was nothing that she couldn't do.  She taught us to spin, weave, card a fleece, 
work Irish crochet, knit, work Sans Blas, bobbin lace, needllace, 
Carrickmacross and so many other things, too many to mention!  Today she would 
have been awarded an OBE for services to lacemaking but sadly she was never 
honoured with such a prestigious award, although more than well deserved.  Most 
of us who make needlelace today, would not know how, had it not been for Nenia, 
as to the best of my knowledge she was the only person who knew how to make it! 
 None of the other guilds in 1980 were remotely interested in needlelace, 
largely due to the fact that they knew nothing about it!  As a result, Nenia 
and a small group of her students at the publication party for the launch of 
her first book 'Needlepoint Lace' published by B T Batsford in 1980, decided to 
form our own Guild, which ran until October 2017.  However, as!
  not one single member came forward to join our committee at the AGM last 
year, the Guild of Needleace had no option but to fold!  What a sad state of 
affairs and we really do owe it Nenia to continue the legacy she has left to 
us.  Is there no one out there who  makes beautiful fine white needlelace and 
who can pass on these techniques for the benefit of future generations?  I have 
done my level best over several decades, travelling many thousands of miles 
both here in the UK and overseas to pass on my skills, but all I hear is "I 
couldn't possibly see to do such fine work" but I see beautiful fine white 
Honiton lace still being made, along with gorgeous Binche, Bucks etc so why is 
it so difficult to find a tutor to teach 'Traditional Needlelce" I wonder?

Nenia wrote a book 'Reflections on Lace' for her grandchildren, published again 
by B T Batsford in 1988 (now out of print of course), but f you can get hold of 
a copy or borrow it from your Guild library, I recommend that you read it.  
There are letters of congratulation from 

Fwd: [lace] Lace revival

[Catherine Barley]

Catherine Barley Needlelace
www.catherinebarley.com

Original message
>From : catherinebar...@btinternet.com
Date : 27/03/2018 - 17:36 (GMTDT)
To : ec...@cix.co.uk, lace@arachne.com
Subject : Re: [lace] Lace revival

I was also taught bobbin lace by Nenia Lovesey in the late 60's early 70's 
after having seen her demonstrating in a church hall in Crowthorne, Berks where 
I lived.  I was fascinated and asked where I could learn, to which she replied 
"at the Berkshire craft Centre in Wokingam in what was the old Brewery".  I 
enrolled and took to bobbin lace like a duck to water, just couldn't get enough 
of it!  Nenia always told us to be beware as once we had caught the Lace Fever, 
there was no cure, and how right she was! I also learnt from the Swedish 
Knippling book with the accompany brown cards printed with the Torchon patterns 
and still have both book and patterns today.

Nenia was invited to be Craft Co-ordinator at South Hill Park Arts Centre in 
Bracknell and asked me to take over the bobbin lace classes at the Wokingham 
Craft Centre.  I said I couldn't possibly as I felt I had insufficient 
knowledge, but she insisted and said I would be okay, so I agreed.   Once she 
had got South Hill Park Arts Centre up and running she asked me to teach bobbin 
lace there too, which once again I did.  However, there were no qualifications 
that one could study for in those days and Nenia had also been asked to teach a 
City & Guilds Creative Textiles course at Windsor & Maidenhead College, which 
covered everything that made a textile, including both bobbin and needlelace.  
This was my chance to gain some sort of qualification, so jumped at the 
opportunity!

When I signed up for the bobbin lace class in the late 60's my youngest child 
Suzanne had just started school, so with both of them at school I was able to 
have a couple of hours to myself to indulge in my new found hobby, but by the 
time I enrolled on the C & G course at Windsor, they were both teenagers, so 
some years had passed before I got to this stage!

I knew nothing whatsoever about needlelace and had probably looked at many 
examples, assuming in my ignorance that they were bobbin lace - wrong!  I 
excelled at needlework at school in the late 40's/early 50's and would have 
loved to have earned a living at it, but my teacher at school told my parents 
that it was hard work and poorly paid, so I had to drop the needlelwork and 
take the shorthand/typing class.  Britain was still recovering from the war in 
the early 50's and no way would I have been able to earn a decent living by 
needlelwork!  How I would have love to had been an apprentice at The Royal 
school of Needlelwork, so you can imagine how honoured felt when several 
decades later I was invited asked to teach needlelace the apprentices at the 
RSN which was then based at Princes Gate, London.  I taught them one whole day 
a week for six weeks.

Nenia was an incredible woman, a member of the World Crafts Council and there 
was nothing that she couldn't do.  She taught us to spin, weave, card a fleece, 
work Irish crochet, knit, work Sans Blas, bobbin lace, needllace, 
Carrickmacross and so many other things, too many to mention!  Today she would 
have been awarded an OBE for services to lacemaking but sadly she was never 
honoured with such a prestigious award, although more than well deserved.  Most 
of us who make needlelace today, would not know how, had it not been for Nenia, 
as to the best of my knowledge she was the only person who knew how to make it! 
 None of the other guilds in 1980 were remotely interested in needlelace, 
largely due to the fact that they knew nothing about it!  As a result, Nenia 
and a small group of her students at the publication party for the launch of 
her first book 'Needlepoint Lace' published by B T Batsford in 1980, decided to 
form our own Guild, which ran until October 2017.  However, as!
  not one single member came forward to join our committee at the AGM last 
year, the Guild of Needleace had no option but to fold!  What a sad state of 
affairs and we really do owe it Nenia to continue the legacy she has left to 
us.  Is there no one out there who  makes beautiful fine white needlelace and 
who can pass on these techniques for the benefit of future generations?  I have 
done my level best over several decades, travelling many thousands of miles 
both here in the UK and overseas to pass on my skills, but all I hear is "I 
couldn't possibly see to do such fine work" but I see beautiful fine white 
Honiton lace still being made, along with gorgeous Binche, Bucks etc so why is 
it so difficult to find a tutor to teach 'Traditional Needlelce" I wonder?

Nenia wrote a book 'Reflections on Lace' for her grandchildren, published again 
by B T Batsford in 1988 (now out of print of course), but f you can get hold of 
a copy or borrow it from your Guild library, I recommend that you read it.  
There are letters of congratulation from 

RE: [lace] Lace Revival of the 1970s

[DevonThein]

Lyn feels that there was very little official fostering of crafts in the US,
as opposed to England, and I think she may be right. Most of these crafts are
not considered heritage items in the US. (Maybe quilting is.)

One thing that is mentioned in Andrea Plum’s article was that there were a
lot of pretty colored publications. Maybe we were reading these publications
in the US. Several people have mentioned women’s magazines, and Golden
Hands.

Andrea Plum also says that “the 1970s craft revival can also be linked to
changes in fine art ideology at this time. Contemporary art in the twentieth
century was largely defined by the rise of conceptualism, which gave
precedence to ideas over making. The art historian Edward Lucie-Smith provided
a critical context for the craft revival in his text. The Story of Craft
(1980) arguing that the renewed interest in craft was a result of changes in
fine at: “there began to appear a hunger for physical virtuosity in the
handing of materials, something which many artists were no longer happy to
provide.””

This also resonates a bit with what people have been saying, for instance
Adele’s observation that people were sick of the 1960s aesthetic.

Devon


Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: lynrbai...@supernet.com
Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2018 12:08 PM
To: lace@arachne.com
Subject: [lace] Lace Revival of the 1970s

There is a big difference between either side of the Pond. On the Eastern side
there was frequently a relative who made lace.  One knew of its existence,
usually.  It was around.  You might have had to look for it, but it was there.
In the United States, certainly, one didn't know what it was.  No one did it.
That being said, I'm sure someone did it, but so few as to be the exception to
the rule. As travel across the Pond became more common with ordinary people,
exposure increased, and at least two Americans learned the basics in England
and brought the enthusiasm home.  I have heard that Holly would sit on a
corner in downtown Ithaca making lace.
The other difference is that it appears that on the Eastern side, crafts,
especially traditional ones practiced in the area were fostered officially.
There is very, very little of that in the US.
When I'm sitting making lace in America, people ask what I am doing, unless
they are Canadian.  I will never forget working on my travel pillow at
Heathrow and a young woman ask me what kind of lace I was making.  That's the
difference.



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[lace] RE: Nenia Lovesey- the Tebbs's

[DevonThein]

Jeri brings up another example, that of Louisa and Rosa Tebbs, and Nenia
Lovesey, that shows a linkage between the early 20th century lace boom and the
one in the 1970s. My sense is that there were just enough people left over
from the early 20th century lace enterprises to seed the 1970s lace revival.
Earlier someone mentioned the Winslow industries. In Denmark, according to the
book Pomp & Poetry, there was a Weaving Workshop that was established in the
early Twentieth Century, which included lacemaking.

The article by Andrea Plum, which is very short and not oriented toward lace,
does not mention this as a factor. But, it has come out in a number of these
personal reminiscences. That there actually was a large pool of people who had
learned lacemaking as part of largely unsuccessful profit making enterprises
in the early 20th century is an interesting thing.
When the Burano lace industry was started after the bad winter of 1872, they
had to locate an old woman who had made lace earlier in her life when it was
still a viable craft. This was the elderly, illiterate Cencia Scarpariola.

Is it a pattern? Just when it looks like it is dying out it is rediscovered?


Devon

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Re: [lace] Lace revival

[Catherine Barley]

I was also taught bobbin lace by Nenia Lovesey in the late 60's early 70's 
after having seen her demonstrating in a church hall in Crowthorne, Berks where 
I lived.  I was fascinated and asked where I could learn, to which she replied 
"at the Berkshire craft Centre in Wokingam in what was the old Brewery".  I 
enrolled and took to bobbin lace like a duck to water, just couldn't get enough 
of it!  Nenia always told us to be beware as once we had caught the Lace Fever, 
there was no cure, and how right she was! I also learnt from the Swedish 
Knippling book with the accompany brown cards printed with the Torchon patterns 
and still have both book and patterns today.

Nenia was invited to be Craft Co-ordinator at South Hill Park Arts Centre in 
Bracknell and asked me to take over the bobbin lace classes at the Wokingham 
Craft Centre.  I said I couldn't possibly as I felt I had insufficient 
knowledge, but she insisted and said I would be okay, so I agreed.   Once she 
had got South Hill Park Arts Centre up and running she asked me to teach bobbin 
lace there too, which once again I did.  However, there were no qualifications 
that one could study for in those days and Nenia had also been asked to teach a 
City & Guilds Creative Textiles course at Windsor & Maidenhead College, which 
covered everything that made a textile, including both bobbin and needlelace.  
This was my chance to gain some sort of qualification, so jumped at the 
opportunity!

When I signed up for the bobbin lace class in the late 60's my youngest child 
Suzanne had just started school, so with both of them at school I was able to 
have a couple of hours to myself to indulge in my new found hobby, but by the 
time I enrolled on the C & G course at Windsor, they were both teenagers, so 
some years had passed before I got to this stage!

I knew nothing whatsoever about needlelace and had probably looked at many 
examples, assuming in my ignorance that they were bobbin lace - wrong!  I 
excelled at needlework at school in the late 40's/early 50's and would have 
loved to have earned a living at it, but my teacher at school told my parents 
that it was hard work and poorly paid, so I had to drop the needlelwork and 
take the shorthand/typing class.  Britain was still recovering from the war in 
the early 50's and no way would I have been able to earn a decent living by 
needlelwork!  How I would have love to had been an apprentice at The Royal 
school of Needlelwork, so you can imagine how honoured felt when several 
decades later I was invited asked to teach needlelace the apprentices at the 
RSN which was then based at Princes Gate, London.  I taught them one whole day 
a week for six weeks.

Nenia was an incredible woman, a member of the World Crafts Council and there 
was nothing that she couldn't do.  She taught us to spin, weave, card a fleece, 
work Irish crochet, knit, work Sans Blas, bobbin lace, needllace, 
Carrickmacross and so many other things, too many to mention!  Today she would 
have been awarded an OBE for services to lacemaking but sadly she was never 
honoured with such a prestigious award, although more than well deserved.  Most 
of us who make needlelace today, would not know how, had it not been for Nenia, 
as to the best of my knowledge she was the only person who knew how to make it! 
 None of the other guilds in 1980 were remotely interested in needlelace, 
largely due to the fact that they knew nothing about it!  As a result, Nenia 
and a small group of her students at the publication party for the launch of 
her first book 'Needlepoint Lace' published by B T Batsford in 1980, decided to 
form our own Guild, which ran until October 2017.  However, as!
  not one single member came forward to join our committee at the AGM last 
year, the Guild of Needleace had no option but to fold!  What a sad state of 
affairs and we really do owe it Nenia to continue the legacy she has left to 
us.  Is there no one out there who  makes beautiful fine white needlelace and 
who can pass on these techniques for the benefit of future generations?  I have 
done my level best over several decades, travelling many thousands of miles 
both here in the UK and overseas to pass on my skills, but all I hear is "I 
couldn't possibly see to do such fine work" but I see beautiful fine white 
Honiton lace still being made, along with gorgeous Binche, Bucks etc so why is 
it so difficult to find a tutor to teach 'Traditional Needlelce" I wonder?

Nenia wrote a book 'Reflections on Lace' for her grandchildren, published again 
by B T Batsford in 1988 (now out of print of course), but f you can get hold of 
a copy or borrow it from your Guild library, I recommend that you read it.  
There are letters of congratulation from The Crafts Council of Great Britain 
Ltd (page 132), Royal County of Berkshire Department of Education (page 134) 
and an article about Nenia and her amazing achievements (page 130/131) all 
praising her for her hard work and 

[lace] Travel

[Jeri Ames]

In January, I wrote inviting Arachne members who will be attending the
Congress in BELGIUM to correspond with me.  I have collected replies which
will not be made public.  Our travelers need protection from unauthorized
people reading Arachne mail, and much of our mail seems to be going to
Ge.


A letter from Australia was from someone who learned - from gumlace - that I
was collecting names.  She is not subscribed to Arachne.
 
Please remember that if you share a computer in a library, the office, with
your spouse and/or children, etc. that what we discuss about travel dates and
plans is confidential.  It is also not the business of local lace guild
members, or something to be put in newsletters - until after the fact.  Your
security and that of your home is necessary at this time in human history.
 It is against the law to maintain member address lists in some countries,
but not in others.
 
I will be writing privately to all who responded to me - using the bcc (blind
carbon copy) feature for my first letter.  Those participating will decide
whether they want their name to be known to others attending, or not.  I'd
like to think we can write openly, because my intent was to aid friendships -
in advance of the event.
 
Jeri Ames in Maine USA
Lace and Embroidery Resource Center

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[lace] Lace Revival of the 1970s

[lynrbailey]

There is a big difference between either side of the Pond. On the Eastern side 
there was frequently a relative who made lace.  One knew of its existence, 
usually.  It was around.  You might have had to look for it, but it was there.  
In the United States, certainly, one didn't know what it was.  No one did it.  
That being said, I'm sure someone did it, but so few as to be the exception to 
the rule. As travel across the Pond became more common with ordinary people, 
exposure increased, and at least two Americans learned the basics in England 
and brought the enthusiasm home.  I have heard that Holly would sit on a corner 
in downtown Ithaca making lace.  
The other difference is that it appears that on the Eastern side, crafts, 
especially traditional ones practiced in the area were fostered officially.  
There is very, very little of that in the US.  
When I'm sitting making lace in America, people ask what I am doing, unless 
they are Canadian.  I will never forget working on my travel pillow at Heathrow 
and a young woman ask me what kind of lace I was making.  That's the difference.
 


"My email sends out an automatic  message Arachne members,
please ignore it. I read your emails."

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[lace] Nenia Lovesey

[Jeri Ames]

Many have been writing about Nenia Lovesey's influence as a bobbin lace
teacher.  There are six books by Lovesey (one with co-author Catherine
Barley) in my library.  Five are about needle lace and the sixth about both
bobbin and needle lace.  This sixth is one of my favorites, because she tells
how she taught very young grandchildren to make bobbin lace.  It is
illustrated with pictures.  Were there additional books, perhaps about bobbin
lace?  Here is my list:


Creative Design in Needlepoint Lace - 1983
Introduction to Needlepoint Lace - 1985
Punto Tagliato Lace -1986
Reflections on Lace - 1988 (teaching children)
Technique of Needlepoint Lace - 1980
Venetian Gros Point Lace - 1986 (co-author: Barley) 
 
The Reflections book has a dedication: A letter to my granddaughters (lists
8), and continues - Indeed for any other little girl with love from Nana
Lovesey.  It is a must-have book for lace teachers.  There are pictures of
Kate Marie making bobbin lace in 1981, at age three!  Wonder if she is still
lacing?  Following is a lovely memory paragraph from page 25 of this book:
 
When I was aged about four, the highlight of my year was to travel up from
Devon to stay with Paternal Grandparents while Mother taught for two weeks at
the school of Louisa and Rosa Tebbs.  The school was a tall house that
reached to the sky, in Kensington Church Street in London.  There was a
basement where meals were served, then there were winding stairs that went
right to the top, so high up the windows were turrets, because by the time one
reached the top, the house had become a castle.  One could see for ever and
ever over the roof-tops.  This was where the lace for grand ladies was kept.
 I was sure that one day a Knight in shining armour would climb all these
stairs to choose a laced handkerchief for his Lady.  It seemed a pity he
never arrived while I was there, because I had never seen a Knight before.
 
This makes me (Jeri) think of Mary Poppins, and also of the old headquarters
of the Royal School of Needlework when it was in Kensington (now, it is at
Hampton Court Palace).  Lovesey's following paragraphs are equally amusing.
 Very worth reading, if you can find or borrow the book.
 
Jeri Ames in Maine USA
Lace and Embroidery Resource Center
 
 

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[lace] Safety of Our Members

[Jeri Ames]

In January, I wrote inviting Arachne members who will be attending this
Congress in BELGIUM to correspond with me.  I have collected replies which
will not be made public.  We must protect Arachne members, and much of our
mail seems to be going to Ge.

 
One letter from Australia was from someone who learned I was collecting names
via *gumlace*.  
 
PLEASE remember that if you share a computer with others in a library, office,
your spouse, or children, what we discuss about travel dates and plans is
confidential.  It is also not the business of your local guild members,
because we live in a world where people who seem safe to disclose information
to, really are not.  Someone can overhear gossip between relatives and
friends, and use that information in an unlawful way.  Security of our
members and their homes is of utmost importance.
 
Jeri Ames in Maine USA
Lace and Embroidery Resource Center
 
 

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Re: [lace] Lace Revival

[Kathleen Harris]

Certainly the craft centre which Nena Lovesey ran received advice from the CAC, 
but I don’t think they supplied funding, although they may have done. The 
committee which was formed to oversee the centre was chaired by my husband, and 
I know he was in correspondence with the CAD, but the centre was independent of 
them. The committee did all the manual work involved in getting the premises 
ready!

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Re: [lace] Lace Revival of the 1970s

[Ilske Thomsen]

after my memory it was 1987 the year I spent several months in NY.

Ilske

> Am 26.03.2018 um 20:16 schrieb Cynce Williams :
> 
> There was also the US bobbin lace stamp (well 4 stamps) organized by Mary
> McPeak.
> 
> Bu I can’t remember what year—1980’s sometime.
> 
> Cynthia

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[lace] Mounting lace for display

[Tess Parrish]

Thank to Joepie’s kind efforts, I was finally—after a lot of
searching—able to find the “White Coated Metal Ring For
Crafts—20cm/Metal Wire & Craft Hoops”.  They can be found through
Amazon—but in Britain only!  If you want them in the US, you can find them,
but instead of costing 1.90 you will have to pay over $40 for the same thing.

The suggestion that one might use lampshade rings is unfortunately not a
useful one, as they are made of a lighter wire than is used in these rings.
It is easy to find brass ones of the correct size (3mm thickness of wire) but
Lyn’s idea that they could be painted wouldn’t work for me.

I have no idea where I got my first three rings—in a set of 3”, 5”, and
8” diameters—but it may well have been at one of the congresses where
suppliers display so many delightful treasures.  In any case, perhaps a
supplier on Arachne might be able to check for availability in the US and
perhaps elsewhere.

Thanks again to all who wrote with suggestions.

Best, Tess

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[lace] Lace Revival

[DevonThein]

You would think that someone had written about the Craft revival of the 1970s,
but when I search for this topic, only one article comes up, by Andrea Peach
called Crafting Revivals? An investigation into the craft revival of the
1970s: can contemporary comparisons be drawn? She has made it available to
everyone at this site:
https://openair.rgu.ac.uk/handle/10059/2695
It is a very short article and I encourage everyone to read it.
She writes: Craft in Britain flourished during the 1970s largely due to the
activities of the Crafts Advisory Committee (CAC) now the Crafts Council,
which was established in 1970. The CAC was a state backed, central
organization charged specifically with shaping a new identity for Britain’s
crafts. Its remit included raising the professional status of crafts, and
promoting the craftsman as ‘artist”….
The CAC facilitated and nurtured craft through the allocation of grants and
loans, the commissioning and patronage of work, the organization of
exhibitions, publications and publicity, as well as the running of
conservation projects and training. It was responsible for the creation of
Crafts magazine in 1973, which is still in circulation. Crafts was visually
exciting in comparison to other art magazines of the time, containing large
colour photographs and profiles of makers involved with “the new crafts”.

No one has mentioned the Crafts Advisory  Committee, and yet so many of our
descriptions of how we got started include going to some class that someone
had organized. Was it the Crafts Advisory Committee that was funding these? I
am not sure how this applies to what was happening in the US, although clearly
we benefited from a ripple effect.

Devon

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[lace] Lace revival - bobbins

[Kathleen Harris]

Strange how this thread has revived so many memories! When I started making 
lace with Nena Lovesey in 1970, with my Belgian bobbins, she not only taught me 
to make lace, she taught me all sorts of things about lace. This continued with 
talks which she gave to emerging lace groups. So I learned about the East 
Midlands lace making area, and its industry, and about Honiton lace. I learned 
about English spangled bobbins.

My husband, on a journey to London, passed through Woburn, and spotted an 
antique shop. He collected antique cameras, so went in to investigate, and 
found, not cameras but lace bobbins. He bought about 70 bobbins, very cheaply 
because there was as yet no demand for them. The owner was delighted that they 
would be used to make lace! On his way back he called into the shop again and 
the owner had dug out more bobbins, which he bought. So I started my collection 
of antique spangled bobbins, with about 120 including a few with inscriptions, 
and some bone ones.  How lucky was I?

Kathleen, in a  brighter Berkshire.



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[lace] Lace Revival

[Brenda Paternoster]

I first became aware of bobbin lace in 1975.

It had been a bad time for me having had two miscarriages in the first half of
the year and I had a strong urge to do something creative;  if I couldn’t
make another baby then it would have to be something else.  That August, to
commemorate the Battle of Britain, a local department shop had a huge panel of
lace displayed in a window with planes, parachutes etc.  One of a  limited
edition made after WW2 and which Carol Quarini has recently used one in
conjunction with her study of lace curtains - see the Lace Guild page on
Facebook.

I remember standing looking at it for ages - well as long as the 3 year old
would allow.  I knew it wasn’t knitted or crocheted, or a form of regular
weaving but I couldn’t work out how it was made.  I had been going to an
Adult Education class making soft toys, sunglasses case etc and on one
occasion I’d worn a cardigan trimmed with a bit of lace which I now know was
Barmen machine made.  The teacher had looked at it and said “did you make
that?” and my response was "of course not, I bought it in the market!”
“Well it looks the same as what we make in the lace class."

So, I joined the  lacemaking class and by the end of the first year I’d made
a couple of hankie edgings, an edging for my daughter’s dress and a couple
of small mats - and I was very pregnant with the twins which meant lacemaking
went onto the back burner for a year or so.

I went back to classes in the late 1970s and things had really changed.
Instead of using white thread or white thread or if you were really good it
could be black thread, everyone was using a different colour!  So I started
making a dark grey coloured mat with pink gimps (and I used crochet thread for
the gimp!).  The teacher thought that the change had come about because by
then the UK had joined the common market it was easier to get coloured thread,
but I’m sure that that wasn’t the reason.  It’s always been possible to
get coloured Sylko sewing machine thread here, even if she didn’t approve of
using it, ie it wasn’t an “accredited lace thread”.  I think it was much
more to do with the start of the Lace Guild and the sharing of ideas.

The other change that happened in the late 70s was the availability of
bobbins.  During my first year of learning to make lace most of my bobbins had
come via the teacher, mostly whatever old ones she could get hold of or nasty
plastic ones with rough edges.  When I went back I asked if she had *any*
bobbins that I could buy and the reply was “yes, would you like some of
these? or these? or these?”.

My teacher was Vera Rigney, who had learned bobbin lace in the 1950s from a
Mrs Helen Hoppe ,who had in turn learned from her mother Mrs Helen Ainger.
Mrs Ainger  was the teacher for The Cobham Laceworkers Association” founded
in 1910 by the then Countess of Darnley, who’s family seat was Cobham.
Helen Ainger’s mother, Jane Dillow, had moved to Cobham in Kent from
Buckinghamshire where she had been part of the, by then, struggling cottage
lacemaking industry.


Brenda in Allhallows

paternos...@appleshack.com
www.brendapaternoster.co.uk

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[lace] Lace revival

[Alex Stillwell]

Hi Arachnids

The discussion about how lace spread is most interesting.  In England the
handcrafts followed during and immediately after WW2 were knitting and
dressmaking, only those that were useful. Also only products that were useful
were available, know as utility. I remember my parents getting a table and
chairs that were very plain. During the 1950s life was settling down,
increasingly there became time for leisure and my mother returned to crochet
and embroidery, a way of getting a little beauty into a world that had been
strictly utilitarian for so long. During the 1960s there was a flowering of
many crafts, possibly a reaction to the deprivations of war.

My introduction to lace was the little Dryad book by Lacemaking, Bucks point
ground by Channer pub. 1953 that I purchased in a department store in 1963. I
made a pillow, my father bought my first bobbins and pins in the Needlewoman
shop in London and made me a pricker, copying the one in the book shaping a
dark green plastic bell push and a brass dart. Regrettably it was stolen.

Best wishes to all

Alex

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[lace] Lace revival

[Kathleen Harris]

I started to make bobbin lace in 1970. Nena Lovesey started me off with a 
simple pillow, some Belgian bobbins, and excellent basic instruction! I loved 
it! When she thought I was able enough, she introduced me to the Swedish 
Knipplerscan books. There were two paperback books of patterns, starting with 
the simplest and gradually increasing the complexity. As I remember, there were 
few instructions, just the pattern and a picture of the finished lace. 

I had no more formal instruction from Nena, and I just worked these Torchon 
patterns for quite a while. Then I found the Maidment book, Mincoff and 
Marriage, Doreen Wright’s book and then Pam Nottingham’s. And the rest is 
history - for me at least - my favourite occupation.

Nena believed that the two wars had split families up, and moved them apart, so 
that grandparents were no longer able to pass on craft skills to grandchildren. 
So she instigated the opening of a craft centre, and collected as many crafts 
people as she could to pass on their skills to another generation. This 
included “male” crafts as well as “female” ones. I think she had a big 
influence on lace, in this area of the UK at least, where she taught and 
encouraged so many lace makers.

The 1970’s saw lace classes start, and therefore the production of pillows, 
bobbins, pins etc. when there was a market for them - and then of course lace 
days, the Lace Guild, the Lace Society, and the realisation that there was a 
large lacemaking community in the UK as well as in Europe.

Kathleen
In a wet and chilly Berkshire UK

Sent from my iPad

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