Hello Jeri and All,
perhaps I miss some mails and didn't know exactly why mixing threads
is a certain problem but my thaughts to this subject are those.
I don't think that anybody who make traditional laces has the idea to
mix threads of different sources, f. e. linnen with cotton. On the
other hand modern textiles are often mixed still for being better
washable.
But there is today a broad part of lacemaking in a contemporary way
where the effect often comes from mixing materials. Still collars,
which should be washable.
So it depends what one want to make. I personally never had prioblems
to work with different tread quality on the same bobbin but I prefer
to have only one thread on one bobbin. It is still possible to work
with several bobbins taken as only one. There are a few synthetic
threads on the market which are awful to work with because they became
longer and longer.
Best wishes for the courage to experiments
Ilske
Am 08.09.2008 um 02:01 schrieb [EMAIL PROTECTED]:
It is quiet today, so maybe a good time to comment on all the
correspondence
the past two weeks about "mixing threads".
Firstly, I've had some very useful correspondence about this subject
with
Francis in Belgium, who has tried to explain the structure of
threads to our
Arachne list. Please respect what he has said. He knows a great
deal about
threads and their manufacture. His comments have value.
For some reason, we have members who wish to
experiment-experiment-experiment, without a foundation of the tried-
and-true lessons learned and practiced
by generations of lacemakers before us. They learned the basics at
the knees
of experts. Some entrepreneurs must have attempted such
experiments. If
they could stretch their investment-in-threads money, they would
have. You
don't see illogical experiments in quality laces of great beauty.
You do
sometimes see flimsy laces that will snag easily, and probably they
are in such poor
condition that you will not invest in them for your lace collections.
Lesson learned.
We all have to agree, I hope, that the old laces are very
beautiful. They
did not make an emotional "statement". They strove for beauty and
some degree
of usefulness, and we respond with an emotional appreciation.
As I read about mixing two threads of different materials or twists
on the
same bobbin, I could not but wonder what will happen the first time
someone
washes or attempts to have such a lace item cleaned. Modern dry
cleaners just
cannot keep up with all the challenges of combined fibers and
attachments.
Home cleaning by the experimenters or even conservators can lead to
complete
disaster when the threads tighten up at different rates.
It is puzzling that with so little time for making lace, today's
lacemakers
would abandon all consideration of making lace somewhat permanent
and easy to
care for!
After the first 30 years of my life, embroidering and other
needlework since
age 7, I found and joined an Embroiderers' Guild of America chapter
40 years
ago (OK, add it up, as it speaks of experience) and began learning
about
techniques of many lands and about threads/fabrics and their
properties. This
is good basic training that in time saves the needle worker time.
I would,
for example, not mix threads on a bobbin or needle. This is
because I know
what may happen, but more because I think one fiber (creatively
used) is enough
to fill the need for "self-expression".
With years of looking at needlework of the past and (then) present,
and
sometimes trying to repair it, I know what we can learn from these
items
(especially the experiments of the 1970's!) Fortunately, there
was the great
teacher - *really great* - who taught classes a course about
Chinese embroidery
restoration. Now, anyone who has looked at silk embroidery and
gold couched
down with silk thread must know that these two (silk/metal) do not
marry any
better than weighted silk (a woven mixture of silk and a tin bath)
did in the
19th Century.
Through expansion/contraction in everyday environments, the silk
"moves" and
the metal "cuts" the silk. A lot of this work ends up requiring very
expensive restoration (putting in new stitches to hold metal, and
usually adding a
stronger backing than the silk could provide to hold all together).
If
restoration is required, the item is no longer a collectible or
antique in
original condition. It may look good to the eye, but it has lost
value by becoming
"restored". One of the most impressive restoration facilities is
the Royal
School of Needlework at Hampton Court Palace, and each of the 4
times I've
been there, they have been restoring mostly silk embroideries.
In modern embroidery, especially cross-stitch kits, many instructions
encourage the use of embroidery floss and synthetic metallics in
the same needle.
They do not have the same properties! There is some stretch in the
cotton
and the two (cotton/metallic) twist around each other in the
needle. Then,
stitches cannot be laid flat (did you know that if more than one
strand of floss
is used, they are supposed to be laid side-by-side for better
coverage and
to make the embroidery look like smooth and untwisted?) If
threads are
twisted (when not intended), it is not quality embroidery. This is
information
not given in stitching kits, so do-it-yourself (and learn-it-
yourself)
stitchers wonder why their time-consuming efforts do not "look like
the picture".
With lessons, I learned to stitch completely with floss, then thread a
needle with metallic and stitch over or around to get sparkle that
did not disturb
the floss. The result is more pleasing and worth the effort --
years later,
it is nice not to be critical of it. Remember, if you use
metallic, the
item needs to have a hanging tag or label warning not to press with
a hot iron.
This prohibition renders many items unsuitable for such embroidery,
of
course.
Since most lace teachers do not teach about thread and how it
behaves, may I
recommend that you consider these lessons learned from embroidery
technique
experts. Think, before you experiment. Test all threads for
durability and
color fastness, washability, and other qualities. Wash your
hands! Don't
combine threads going in both directions -- some with the grain and
some
against on the same bobbin or needle.
At 40, I began to take special embroidery and lace tour vacations.
This has
greatly helped with understanding threads and fabrics.
Among others, there have been the trips to the Belfast (Ireland)
Linen Mill
during the fighting (fascinating weaving machinery) and another
very old mill
and museum facility where we saw a 1938 film on how linen was woven
70 years
ago; DMC's factory for a day of tours (there are many buildings on
one
industrial property in Mulhouse, France), where the morning started
with the
arrival of bales of Egyptian cotton; the linen thread factory in
Sweden (on OIDFA
tour) where I seem to remember the threads were pre-prepared in
Italy(!); any
lace place in Belgium, but especially the linen and lace exhibit
buildings
in Courtrai where you learn how flax was processed into linen
thread and the
thread into breathtaking lace; the first trip to the tiny lace
workroom at
Kiskunhalas Hungary 17 years ago, before the facility was expanded
into a lovely
lace destination; the weeks of hardship touring in China 26 years
ago to
learn about the complete range of silk manufacture in different
cities
(including Suzhow Embroidery Institute on a frigid heatless March
morning - the
stitchers wore 4 layers of sweaters, and had hot water bottles on
laps to warm
fingers.) And more.
Each trip, and what is learned and seen, is layered on top of the
experiences before. My advice to all is, if you get an opportunity
to pursue knowledge
of this sort, do! If not, Google!
Jeri Ames
Lace and Embroidery Resource Center
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