On my first piece of lace the teacher told me to cut the bobbins off after I sewed and knotted each pair about 3 inches from the knots. Then to roll the dangly bits of thread together and over sew them. I'd spent months making a beautiful piece of extremely fine torchon only to completely ruin it in the finish.
It is possible to do a VERY neat, VERY strong and nearly invisible join by this method, but it is nowhere as simplistic as your teacher made it sound. To begin the lace, select a starting along the edge of cloth stitch blocks (half stitch at a pinch) as far as possible, and zig zag the start line if possible so your eye isn't able to focus on a long straight row. The oversewing doesn't work as well in ground, there I'd darn the ends back as you do now. Next I'd make sure I did the sewings into the starting loop of the thread, as distinct from the pinhole next to that loop, it gives a better look anyway even if you're not oversewing, but many people do the latter. When I cut them off, I leave the ends a lot longer than 3" as it makes them easier to handle. Eight or ten inches at the very least. A thread at the start of each block needs to be long enough to do the sewing, so it's easier to leave them all plenty long enough. Now to do the oversewing. You will treat each block as a separate unit. Use as fine a needle as you can thread with the lace thread. A blunt one will pass between/under threads without splitting them. Thread the needle with one of the two threads at the corner of the block where you are starting, and following the dips and curves of the edge as it goes from pin hole to pin hole, oversew the other thread to the back of the lace (only pick up the thread as it passes behind another - put your needle in place and turn the lace over; you shouldn't be ble to see the needle) with just two stitches, under one thread only each time. The first stitch takes it sideways away from the pin, the next up/down to the next pinhole. Now you will add two threads into the bundle. Before you do, cut the first thread in half so you know which one it is. Twist the three threads together, and oversew them with another couple of stitches to the next pinhole. Now, cut out the short thread next to the last stitch, and halve the remaining two threads. Add another two, twist all four together and proceed to the next hole. Continue in this way, each time cutting out the shortened threads and shortening the other two before twisting in the new ones. When you have included the last two, and run out of edge, turn the corner and continue down the next side of the block. Do the next two stitches and cut out the shortened ends, do another two and remove the last two ends, then do another stitch before running the end back up through just a couple of the stitches you made. Although it seems very complicated, once you get started it is not too difficult to do. The thing to understand is that the edges of a shape in lace are not straight lines, but a series of curves from pin to pin; so long as the little cord follows this edge and is hidden by it, it will not show at all from the right side. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
