Although I seldom disagree with Tamara, the relatively new "International Square" bobbin is every bit as wonderful as her "custom made". Truth be told, they are a tad longer (no problem), have a double head, and no fiddley turnings to get in the way. I'm sure if these had been around when T was looking for the perfect bobbin for her lace, this would have been her choice. And for the rest of us mortals, who don't have access to custom-made, they're ideal!! Naturally, I had already spent a small fortune on another type bobbin by the time I discovered these (I think they're a fairly new addition to the line-up). And since then, I've moved on to Binche, so it's a moot point now.
Clay Clay Blackwell [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [Original Message] > From: Tamara P. Duvall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: lace Arachne <[email protected]> > Date: 2/24/2005 11:04:53 PM > Subject: [lace] Bobbins for sewings/Swiss stamp raffle reminder > > I'm beginning to pay attention to business as usual again; it's as if > *I* were recovering from a grave illness :) > > On Feb 24, 2005, at 16:47, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (Debbie) wrote: > > > it would be even better to have bobbins without turned > > decorations; just a smooth, smooth finish! > > No kidding... :) > > The smooth *head* is important in all laces, and we all know that - > however coarse it might be, you don't want the thread, passing from the > neck to the lace, to be rubbing against chips in the head. And, as the > thread gets finer, even the pores in the wood may become a problem, so > you want wood that's as dense as possible (if you can't afford ebony, > olive is fantastic <g>). > > But the smooth *tail* is also important to all laces - not just Honiton > - which require frequent sewings... Yes, I know that there are people > who make Milanese with Midlands and don't mind passing the spangle > through the hooked loop. Well, ... > > Obviously, the greatest "danger spot" in sewings is in passing your > tool (whatever it is you're using; I favour a fine crochet hook, but I > don't make either Honiton or Withof, for which no crochet hook is fine > enough) into and under a bar, hooking a thread - without splitting it > into its component plies - and pulling it up far enough to pass the > other bobbin through the resulting loop. > > But there are minor concerns which ought to be considered also. Even if > your bobbin's head is glass-smooth... Even if you grab your entire > thread on your first try, without spliting it... > > When you pull a loop up through a pinhole, there's friction - against > the thread on the sides of the pinhole - on the thread being pulled. To > pass a Midlands spangle in comfort, you need to pull a loop that's > about an inch long. That's about 2 inches of thread that's being > weakened in the process. Unless your thread is very coarse indeed > and/or unless you're not going to use the same pair for a sewing any > time soon, it'll take a long time to get rid of 2 inches of weaker > thread. > > To pass most Continental bobbins (the old Danish bobbins, with a big > and decorated bulb at the bottom are an exception), the loop needs to > be half as long *if* as much; to pass a Honiton bobbin, even smaller > (quarter of an inch?)... Even apart from the time considerations (which > do not apply to us, since we're amateurs and can afford to spend years > perfecting a single bookmark <g>), the wear and tear on the thread (not > to mention the nerves, when your thread breaks and you have to deal > with it) is much less, if you use an undecorated and unassuming > bobbin... > > I use double-headed, square-bodied, tapered-tailed bobbins exclusively > now, for all laces I make, not just the frequent-sewings ones; they're > not to heavy even for organzine or Pipers 2/20 but will accomodate a > decent amount of heavier threads as well. They require a 3/8" loop, ie > 3/4" of thread to pass through. But I had to design them myself (with a > bit of help of the maker, who designed a "precision head" to die for > <g>)... I look at the majority of square bobbins available on the > market and shudder - they're carved to within an inch of their life, > "for pretty". T o me, they look like some Victorian nightmare vision of > Middle Ages design, with lots and lots of traps for the unwary > thread... They may only be 3/8" at their widest point, like mine, but I > sure as sure would not risk putting them through a 3/8 high loop :) > > /////////////////////////////////// > > Re the embroidered Swiss "stamp" raffle: just to remind you that it's > open, and that I'll be collecting entries till Monday Feb 28, > announcing the winner (alas, one only) on Tues, March 1. So far, there > are only 27 entries; I think people were distracted from signing up, by > my panicky messages about Vlad. > > You can see the stamp at: > http://www.t-n-lace.net/Swiss%20stamp.jpg > > Apparently, I *was* able to upload it - though not quite the way I'd > hoped to <g> - and DS found it for me in the puter's guts. I still > don't know where it's at (regarding the 'puter's guts), nor how to get > rid of it, but I'm Scarlett-ish about it (I'll think about it > tomorrow)... :) > > -- > Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/ > Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) > > - > To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: > unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
