Susan wrote...
> but not one picot will
remain in that imaginarily permanent position of two little tennis
rackets. if you look at the thread while it is finished there is
nothing holding the picot in the position of the little brackets.
there is thread holding the picot where it is made and there is thread
pulled outward where the two picots go, but no way is that little thing
going to stay twisted in that shape without some other kind of help.
it is something that maybe some one will fix each time they wash it and
starch it to remain there? it must be. <
Hi Susan !
I may have misunderstood you, but from your description, it sounds as though
you're looking for picots in which there are two visible little loops for each
picot. If this is correct, then you're not looking for the same "ideal" picot
that I look for.
In most lace, (and there are exceptions to every rule...) a picot is worked
around a pin in one of several methods and when the pin is eventually removed,
the picot should look as though the pin were still there, only invisible!! In
other words, a perfect little "o" on top of a tiny, almost invisible "stem".
And ideally, it should lie flat on the same plane that the rest of the lace
lies on. So if you're unable to get the "crossed tennis racket" look, then
you've probably got ideal picots and didn't even know it!!
Clay
-----Original Message-----
From: susan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Jul 28, 2005 12:57 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: [lace] waxing thread for bobbin lace - Jeri's experience
your help and your knowledge is appreciated, and i mean no disrespect
towards your studies, but bobbin lace is meant to be experimented with
for each new beginner until they find the results they are looking for.
i can also definitley tell you are correct that the lace won't budge by
the plaits i made on this small strip of lace, but not one picot will
remain in that imaginarily permanent position of two little tennis
rackets. if you look at the thread while it is finished there is
nothing holding the picot in the position of the little brackets.
there is thread holding the picot where it is made and there is thread
pulled outward where the two picots go, but no way is that little thing
going to stay twisted in that shape without some other kind of help.
it is something that maybe some one will fix each time they wash it and
starch it to remain there? it must be.
i'm not arguing the history of lace. it has been around longer than
any lacemaker i'll ever see or know, but to keep those little hoops in
place there must be another way. i think i'll buy some bedfordlace from
someone who makes beautiful picots, so i will have a good example of
how it was made.
thank you for your help.
sincerely,
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> In a message dated 7/27/05 6:38:45 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>
>
> > it isn't the problem with it slipping
> > out of stitch while the piece is still being worked. it is the
> > loosening of the stitches once the wax has faded that i am worried
> > about. once the lace is washed a few times and the thread becomes
> > thinner, it will slip a little. this would defintely mess up a
> picot.
> >
> >
>
> Dear Lacemakers,
>
> As many know, I have washed a lot of lace. It is not noticible that
> "it will
> slip a little" if it is a standard lace, and not an experiment.
> Experienced
> lacemakers allow for shrinkage, sometimes by making a small sample to
> test, if
> it is a new thread to them. If it is a weak lace, as suztq fears, it
> may
> fall apart for many reasons. My observation is that a weak lace
> (either through
> poor techniques or poor threads) would not have been "saved" by
> waxed threads
> for any length of time!
>
> Lace has been made for 5+ centuries by thousands and thousands
> (surely over a
> million) lacemakers who have refined the process through the
> centuries. It
> was known from the beginning, I am sure, that picots would close up
> in water
> and that if one wanted to restore them to original shape it was
> necessary to
> make lace of a scale that they could be pinned out when the lace was
> drying. In
> antique laces, closed picots is one way I can tell if a lace has been
> washed -
> an advantage, because then I automatically know it can be washed
> again (other
> conditions being considered), without having to "test" it!! And
> then, it is
> up to me whether to pin it out.
>
> Part of the instructions to new lacemakers is to leave a new bobbin
> lace on
> the pillow overnight so the last few inches of crosses and twists
> will "set"
> and keep their definition. This is probably because the teachers
> know that many
> new lacemakers have not established the correct tension yet.
> Hopefully, a
> teacher will have specified an appropriate thread.
>
> The professional lacemakers of Europe would have put their pillows
> right to
> work on a new lace. Once a piece of lace was complete, it was quite
> necessary
> to start another. They depended on the lace made each day for their
> daily
> bread, while we have time to "play" with it.
>
> While it is nice to be inventive, it is wise to first learn what has
> been
> done successfully. I recommend reading more of the history of laces,
> which is
> quite affordable on the Professor's web site, before coming up with
> something
> that lacemakers before us have surely tried and discarded as being
> unnecessary
> or impractical.
>
> The subject of wax reminds me of the story Angela Thompson told us
> about a
> carefully stored beaded gown of probably the early 20th C. Mice got
> into the
> box in her storage closet, and they chewed on the waxed threads
> (usually used
> for beading because of strength and less possibility of beads cutting
> the
> thread) for nourishment. The beaded dress became a pile of beads and
> tiny pieces of
> waxless thread!
>
> Waxed lace, applied to some delicate fabrics, could mean staining of
> the
> fabrics, because you have not considered storage conditions and
> climate
> differences in different nations -- Arachne is an *International*
> list! Consider that
> wax is quite hard to remove. If you've ever tried to get candle wax
> out of
> table cloths, you can understand (one reason why I always recommend
> white candles
> - not brightly-colored ones)!
>
> By the way (for people who have never taken home economics classes)
> thread is
> wound on spools so that the cut end will be inserted into the needle
> on a
> sewing machine. You should also insert that cut end into a sewing
> needle eye to
> keep the thread from twisting and knotting up when you hand-sew.
> Otherwise,
> you are hand sewing against the grain of the thread. If you are
> using up
> sewing machine bobbin threads, reverse the end you put in your hand
> sewing needle.
>
> If any of this information I keep putting on Arachne is of value,
> once in a
> while I'd love to hear from some one or two of the 1,200(?) lurkers
> on the
> Arachne list. Same goes for the other responders who keep trying to
> be of help -
> if they hear from you, they know their time is of value.
>
> Jeri Ames in Maine USA
> Lace & Embroidery Resource Center
>
> -
> To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the
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> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
from susan in tennessee,u.s.a.
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