Jen, you wrote: Can't but help playing devil's advocate here <g>
Does every single item of lace have to become a museum piece? Is that the best, ultimate fate for a piece of lace? What is so inherently wrong in handmade lace being used for that which it was originally intended - ie decoration on a special garment or other item? Yes, some precious things should be looked after to the "nth" degree, and kept in a museum (although they may hardly be looked at, and then only by knowledgable specialists). But lace was made to be used/worn and displayed in all its glory. Nothing lasts for ever, no matter how it's cared for. Yes, take proper care with pieces that are to be kept because of thier historic/sentimental value or exquisite working. But I can't see what's so terrible about using handmade lace on a garment, even if it is old and may have been treated/used in a manner which might make some people shudder. Please, I'm not having a go at anyone, just wanted to mention a different viewpoint. Happy New Year's Eve Eve! Jen in Melbourne, Australia (hot and sunny, forecast temp for tomorrow 42 degs celcius (I think that's about 108 deg F) & I don't have aircon!) <snip> Hi, Jen, You're absolutely right. Every last bit we make should /*not*/ be considered precious, heirloom, and/or museum-quality. Some laces are made just for fun. How valuable a piece is supposed to be is one of the decisions we all make when we start a piece of lace, or acquire one (whether we think all that much about it, or glide over it quickly :-D ). There's no reason any lace-maker shouldn't visualize a finite life for his/her work -- gods know, there are plenty of worse ways to "kill" time! The problem I have is that too much heartbreaking-ly misguided cleaning and preservation information is recommended without any real scientific basis for the recommendations. Some of this advice even claims to be up to museum standards. Ordinary people, who have no reason to know what the latest conservation information really is, are being mis-led and cheated into destroying the laces they are trying to conserve (for themselves or their families/heirs). Look at lots of the advice given to non-textile-specialists. These folks without background will follow the advice as stated, believing the writers of the magazine article/book/internet essay are the experts they appear to be. With the best of intentions, and /*thinking they've done their research*/, the owners end up with yellow, brown, or shredded textiles way before they and their families want to, sometimes well within living memory of the days when the lace was new. But the advisers never "scale" the advice they're giving to the value of the objects they're discussing (in terms of worthiness or desirable degree of preservation). It's not surprising, really, when they don't even check the base scientific accuracy of their stated opinions. There is good science out there, why can't these advisers use it? You'd think museum folks kept all their information top-secret or something. (Hi, Devon!) :-D Easier but less-preservative kinds of cleaning and storage are perfectly appropriate for many of the things we make (I think of the Christmas card exchange pieces, which, lovely as they are, usually take little time to make and are probably all stored in and with paper, foil, stickers with plastic and glue, etc. -- feel free to correct me if I've got this one wrong). We're all grown-ups here, we get to decide these things for ourselves, don't we? But then, /*we*/ all know about good, bad, and terrible lace care. Not to mention, where to go to find out more, when we need to. :-D Bottom line is, as you feel it necessary, keep two or three different kinds of storage for your laces, ranging from "keeping it clean and tidy between uses/showings" to "someday a museum (and its huge public) will want to see and acquire this, if I keep it as pristine and intact as I can until they discover it." Decide which degree of persnickety you want to bother yourself with for each piece of lace you own, and store each where and how you think best. Be flexible: you may decide you really should listen to the "expert" who sees your things and cries, "<GASP!!!> That's a piece of early 17th-century Point d'XXXX!! Why are you storing it folded into a piece of pink computer paper?!!!?" and change a treatment now and then. Otherwise, they're your responsibility and your burden, if not your creation: so you decide. /*Very Important Note*/, here: the reason the persnickety-care-to-the-Nth-degree advice is, and should be, given as blanket advice for /*all*/ laces is because it is the ultimate fall-back position for textile carers: it's the one regimen of care that no-one can be faulted on, no matter what happens to the lace in the end. After all, lace, once rotted away, can never really be repaired or re-created. And "never" is a disgustingly long time, as I have discovered in my cranky old age. :-D I don't suppose there are many on this list who'd want to see good, well-made lace stupidly or wantonly destroyed. Me, I "make lace for the ages" whenever I can, and it's worth my time to take care of them that way. It's another hobby, almost -- kind of like spangling bobbins... :-D The other reason for using persnickety-care standards is that the values of laces change over time, and so, if at all possible, lace care should err on the side of caution. You just never know what that crossover point will be, when your down-valued fun-lace becomes your great-grandchild's treasured heirloom, or becomes part of a museum's collection of art, craft, or lovely exemplar objects of a particular time and place. Remember pertinent little things about today's antique laces: like, how fine the finest thread is that you've ever seen, and how it matched up (or couldn't) to those super-fine and now un-reproducible historic lace threads; or how little the lacemakers, lace factors, teachers, and sellers of centuries past thought their utilitarian little sample books were worth at the time, compared to how valuable we think them now. At least /*we*/ can use lists like Arachne, among other reliable resources, to keep double-checking and updating the base scientific accuracy of our own opinions. Look at how happily all of us here jump on bits of new info, share it around, and debate the merits! :-D Happy New Year, everyone! /*Beth Schoenberg*/ -- in oppressively hot-beautiful-downtown Kambah, Canberra, where in two days the weather has switched over to "summer lace making (bobbin lace)" mode, since it's easier to keep my greasy fingers off of bobbin-lace threads than needle-lace threads. Only I can't find the thread for my current piece, and it's too hot to go hunting.... - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
