Hello Angela
I agree with you, this needle lace is hand made in sweated workshops
and the tension is so regular because they are doing it all day, every
day.
From what I've read in Pat Earnshaw's books, the handstitch machine is
based on a pantograph; there are lots of double ended needles each with
a pincer at either end to alternately hold the needle. The master
needle is guided and all the others follow mechanically. Yes it can do
in and out embroidery stitches, and even buttonhole scallops at the
edge of fabric but it's not accurate enough to work buttonhole stitches
through buttonhole stitches without piercing the threads sometimes.
It's not used for Limerick type embroidered net for the same reason,
it's not accurate enough to go in and out of the holes of the net
without splitting the threads of the net.
Brenda
On 8 Jan 2006, at 12:43, A Thompson wrote:
I do not know of any machine that can produce
'real' needlelace stitches. A Chinese KNITTING machine cannot
produce real
button-hole stitches. The Handstitch machine, Joshua Heilman 1826 - I
think
the date is right - can make a very good copy. However, on close
inspection
with a magnifying glass, the stitches are all based on an in-and-out
weaving
stitch, but in various combinations. I have a Handstich machine copy
of
Venitian Gros Point, that from a distance would fool anyone. I will
write
more about the Handstich machine when I have time - I am busy
proof-reading
the final colour proofs of my new book on Central and South American
Textiles
- very exciting.
I believe that all the Chinese needlelace is made by young girls in
sweated
workshops. They make everything in sweat-shops, shoes, clothing etc -
that is
why their goods are so cheap and swamping the rest of Europe, I do not
know if
they are exported to USA.
I remember seeing a whole pile of lace mats for sale at a Craft Sale
stall,
looking down the pile they all looked identical - but the vendor
assured me
thay were all handmade. I bought two. There is a certain 'stiffness'
to the
design of these pieces, making them immediately identifiable as
Chinese. The
same can be said for their white-work embroidery produced in similar
circumstances.
Brenda
http://paternoster.orpheusweb.co.uk/
-
To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line:
unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
