Thank you Clay and Joepie for the advice on wire lace. I'll have to be brave and just start trying I think.
As for attendance at lace days and online shopping, two books purchased from roseground just arrived with a pile of fair brochures attached to the invoice. I'd love to attend but flying to England is a bit much when I have difficulty making it to lace days out of my city in new Zealand! But as a "young one" I do know I need to make more of an effort to meet other pacemakers and get to know the community. Sent from my Windows Phone From: J D Hammett Sent: 18/04/2013 5:52 PM To: Ayla Middleton; Sue Harvey Cc: Lorelei Halley; [email protected] Subject: Re: [lace] lace photos Hi Arachnids, Firstly my thanks to Lorelei for the inspiring lace webpages. They are lovely. Secondly, There seem to be fewer Lace days and fairs in the UK as Sue said. The reason for that is probably not just the fact that people are using the net, but also that the people who used to organise them (and note here that it often has been the same few people taking up the work of putting these things on) tend to be getting a little older. Younger ones may not have the time nor the inclination (No time? Shy? Not feeling 'up to it'?, etc.) to take up the mantle. Thirdly, I have used to the stiffen the edges of lace; spangle wire (24 and 26 gauge), different sizes fuse wire and millinery wire. Spangle wire and fuse wire don't rust. Millinery wire which is cotton covered steel will rust if in damp surroundings; spangling and fuse wire are brass/copper based and cause fewer problems. They look pretty in the edge but they will tarnish and may discolour the lace on the edges in the long run. Stainless steel wire, difficult to get hold of and a nightmare to handle as it is very springy, discolours less. Sterling silver wire is expensive. I tend to use short pieces (enough for a section such as a petal or a butterfly wing) with only the ends wound onto a stout bobbin. These curled up ends will be discarded. Put as few bends, windings and kinks in the wire between the bobbins at the end as possible, any unnecessary bends etc. can cause kinking which is particularly difficult to remove. So handle gently and bend gently to the shape needed as you work the wire into the lace. Hope that helps. Happy lace making, Joepie, East Sussex, UK -----Original Message----- From: Ayla Middleton I've been thinking of trying something like the brooches with wire gimps at the edges. Does anyone have any advice on what type and gauge of wire to use? Can you just wind them on bobbins as you would thread? wouldn't the half-hitch cause problems? thanks Ayla Wellington, NZ - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
