The guild I first joined had "loaner" kits which newbies could take home
with them and keep for two or three months, which gave them enough time
to decide whether they wanted to continue making lace. I had only had
my loaner kit a couple of weeks before I started looking at suppliers so
I could get my own. I bought several dozen "plain" bobbins and spangled
them myself, and the guild held a "pillow-making" session where we
brought our wooden circles pre-cut, along with a piece of upholstery
foam and some muslin (calico to those in UK), and while I stood on the
upside-down pillow (rotating around the edge as needed), the fabric was
stapled to the backside of the wood until it was nice and tight. I
later covered the pillow with velveteen - seemed so elegant at the
time. It was 18" in diameter. But I soon longed for something
larger... and so began the endless quest for the perfect pillow!
So, except for the fact that you *might* have decided not to continue to
make lace, your initial investment was very wise! No money spent on
pillows that were too small, too flimsy, poorly made, etc.
I have one of those lovely straw-stuffed Belgian cookie pillows. It is
in need of more straw, and I have no idea how to tackle that project!!
Clay
On 4/16/2011 8:48 AM, Sister Claire wrote:
My first lace pillow was a 60cm straw-stuffed Belgian cookie pillow. It was
*far* more pillow than I needed and in the years since I have only rarely
used much of its surface.
I had never done bobbin lace, never seen it done in person, but dearly
wanted to try it. So I contacted an online dealer (now out of business) and
naively asked them to put together what I needed to get started. Huge
pillow, dozens of bobbins, threads, a book. It cost me a small fortune. They
made a lot of money off this naive beginner.
Even so, all turned out well. That's not how I would recommend kitting out a
newbie, but none of it's gone to waste!
Sr. Claire
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