This morning, I was looking at Joan Masterson's "Ethnic Sampler" book, and came across something some of our lacemakers may not know: Scoring fabric. When you have a piece of linen and want to square it up and fold the edges under, it helps to score the reverse side of the fabric. This is also useful when hemstitching: 1. Practice on a scrap of linen fabric before doing it on your finished work. 2. You need a hard surface, such as the waterproof cutting boards quilters use. These usually are printed with grids, and are handy to have for several purposes. (I sometimes hand-block newly-washed delicate laces on one, because the grids help to align the lace. Pressing the lace into place with warm fingers is sometimes all that is needed.) 3. Lay the front of the linen down, place a medium size Tapestry (blunt) needle in the channel where you want the fold. Hold a steady, gentle pressure with the needle (keep it in one position - tilted toward you) and pull the fabric away from the needle in a straight line. A sharp crease should result. Joan was a teacher of many needle techniques, and even taught Norwegian Hardanger at the 1991 IOLI lace convention in New Jersey. That is about as close as she came to making lace. I hope you have seen Hardanger taken down/down/down along an edge, and then cut so the edge is very much like lace, held with but a few remaining woven threads. Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center
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