Teaching people to make lace can be daunting but demonstrating lace making is fun for me. I love the lightbulb moment when the beginner 'gets it'
My lace making journey started in 2005 so some of you will remember my first cry for help on Arachne in buying a 'teach myself' set of equipment and books. Can you remember the gentle way it had to be explained that I wanted/needed a pillow, not a cushion as I was saying? LOL Since then I have been showing people how I make lace. There are no structured classes here in Kununurra, just a small group of adults getting together once a week to make lace and help each other. There is also a larger group of kids that come to my home to make craft each Saturday afternoon - my only stipulation is that they must learn bobbin lace if they want to join. The past few years I have been demonstrating lacemaking for a few hours on a Saturday morning at the Kununurra Markets here in Australia. Next year I will have business cards and postcards available for a donation (see here for samples <http://www.brandis.com.au/craft/Lace/201312.html> ). The demonstration pillow is set up with a simple pattern in perle 16. it is possible to not only show the basic cloth stitch but also move quickly to ground, footside, spider and fan- all within moments of each other. There is no have a go pillow as such, if someone is interested they can help me on my pillow. This had meant that the current 2 metres of lace has been worked on by many hands, most of them children. On display is the samples of the first 6 pieces I taught my lace girls - it makes it easier to follow that each piece acts as a foundation lesson towards the next piece. So it follows the sequence, 1. Cloth stitch, (usually in the shape of a fish) 2. Half stitch, 3. Ground and footside, 4. Ground, footside with blocks of cloth and half stitch, 5. Footside, ground and spiders, 6. Frame consisting of footside, ground, spiders (or blocks) and cloth stitch with twist fan. Usually by this stage the child has enough confidence to try most lengths and bookmarks from the have a go box of patterns. Mind you, one girl got as far as cloth stitch and before the next week was making small cloth stitch animals! My most recent efforts for explaining lace making is making videos - not great production wise but not bad for the first efforts. If you want to see them, they are on www.youtube.com so far there is 1. Spangling with tigertail wire and crimps <http://youtu.be/WAMoSDOB1zQ> (for East Midland bobbins) 2. Cane Ground <http://youtu.be/RILsKCUmHmY> (updated slightly today) 3. Roseground <http://youtu.be/iGKje8hmbsk> (basic) All up, we all make an effort to show that lace making is not a dying art. Be it by demonstrating, giving family and friends our work or making lace for the pleasure. Jenny Brandis Kununurra, Western Australia [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> www.brandis.com.au <http://www.brandis.com.au/> - 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/
