Interesting discussion about working with black thread. I have worked many, many hours with black silk thread while reconstructing the Ipswich, Massachusetts laces from 1789-1790. I do not find it hard to work with when using light grey pricking stock. The preserved Ipswich lace samples from the late 1700s were made with black silk thread, not dyed later. Possibly imported black sewing silk. One of the many areas still needing more research. The Japanese companies YLI and Clover make nice black silk threads for this lace. It is also sometimes sold as Tiger. In regard to the laces made in Ipswich, MA in the late 1700s, some were made with white or ecru linen. Regretfully we don't have those samples available to study. Only the black silk samples from 1789 have been located with correspondence to Alexander Hamilton.
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