I've judged at our State Fair, and in that venue there is no requirement for things to be hand finished. And yes, it is sad to see a beautiful piece of lace badly mounted (regardless of *how* it's mounted). Most competitions are specific in their requirements, and this is the time to consider whether or not to use hand finishing. I still say that it is up to the individual, and have no quarrel with Devon's point.
On the other hand, I am personally committed to learning to attach lace by hand (that's my obsessive choice. ;)). It seems absurd to have spent ten years learning to make exquisite lace as it was made in the 17th - 18th centuries, and then blow off the finishing. It takes me the better part of a year to complete Binche lace for a handkerchief, and to spend a week getting the mounting right is not too much to expect. I'm not worried about the problem of picking it apart again after the handkerchief disentegrates - I don't plan to use this on a daily basis!! Part of the appeal to me is to hold the finished object and know that 300 - 400 years ago, someone once held a handkerchief very much like this and it was considered as valuable as a gem. The thread and the handkerchief fabric aren't linen because we can't get fine linen today. But otherwise, it is a faithful reproduction. Clay -- Clay Blackwell Lynchburg, VA USA -------------- Original message -------------- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Clay speaks of doing laborious hand mounting only of things to be judged. > > Speaking from the perspective of a person who has been called in to judge > lace on occasion, I find the hand-finishing issue troubling. Some pieces are > very beautifully hand finished, representing a huge amount of time spent on > that > aspect. These pieces don't always have the best lace on them. Sometimes > there is a piece that has been nicely machine finished, or even not so nicely > finished, but is a much better piece of lace. What is a judge to do? How much > credit should be accorded on finishing? Even on a point system divided > between > different aspects, a nicely hand finished piece picks up 10 points over one > that is not. But my emerging feeling is that, since judging impacts the > development of the craft, I would like to encourage more and better > lacemaking, > not laborious French sewing. I almost see spending a lot of time on attaching > a > piece of lace to a piece of fabric as something that poses an obstacle to > the greater goal, if we are to survive as a craft, of making more and better > lace. > > At what point does the lace judge say, "this is the 21st century" and what > would have been extremely important in the mid 19th is becoming irrelevant? > Frankly, I am beginning to notice that most of the things I was raised to > believe are important are now irrelevant. > > Devon > proposing a radical concept > > > > **************************************See AOL's top rated recipes > (http://food.aol.com/top-rated-recipes?NCID=aoltop00030000000004) > > - > 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]
