I took a needlelace class a couple years ago. As I remember it, we made a stack of two layers of cotton fabric, topped with a cloth that had the pattern traced on it, and that was topped with a piece of thin soft clear plastic. The heavy outline threads could be easily basted through the sandwich with a pointed needle yet the plastic top layer made a smooth barrier for the non-pointed needle to slide across. Thus, your architects' linen was replaced with ordinary cotton fabric and plastic.
Thinking back, it's possible we had only one layer of fabric under the pattern. It think it depends on the sturdiness of the fabric. Pattern and one more would be minimum, but extra layers would make the working pad a bit firmer. Most of the people in my class just held the 'sandwich' in their hands but I did use a small firm pillow part of the time. The teacher said a pillow was optional. Alice in Oregon .. facing one more night below freezing before weather warms up ----- Original Message ----- HI everyone I was taught to make needle lace using architects' linen on which to draw the pattern. I understand that this is now in scarce supple. I have enough for my own personal needs at present, but there is the chance that I will be asked to teach a class on beginning needle lace at a fibre arts guild. I don't have enough architects' linen to spare for pupils. So I was wondering what you all use, and if there is a good substitute? Sue [email protected] - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
