I don't use silk very often, as it tends to be a little soft for Beds lace, and cotton tends to be my thread of choice for Beds because it is a little more crisp - however, I have 2 qualifications to that rule.
I have worked 3 pieces in silk - 2 dress decorations from Turner's book. 1 is grey silk, the other is a brown silk. Both are lovely, look good, and are soft and drapey, which isn't a traditional look for beds (tends to be more crisp cotton). Both colours are on cones that Mum acquired years ago and are a looser spin. 1 worked a length of a plaited lace edging (possibly of Spanish influence from a very old IOLI Bulletin) in white 140/2 Mulberry silk for my wedding dress. It's a little more crisp than the above pieces and still looks nice after I gently laundered the dress after the wedding. 1 also worked a sample length from a Luton museum pattern many years ago in cream silk, and the leaves came up really nice. I have also used a brown silk for an own design tape lace motif (or doodle) that's from the same source as the other 2 coloured pieces. Again, a looser twist and off an unmarked cone. The coloured silks tend to be fluffier and so un-weaving leaves or retro lacing was a little more laborious because of the clinging fibers. I do have some hanks of raw silk and cream silk (2 different sources) to play with, and they will give leaves/tallies a nice sheen. I am currently working 2 pieces that are in cotton, but have silk gimps. One is using multiple coloured gimps (Guttermans silk on the cream cones) and the other is using a strand or 2 of the mulberry silk with a strand (or 2) of cotton - it's either 1 silk/2 cotton or 2 silk/1 cotton - don't remember off the top of my head. For the silk/cotton combo I wanted a gimp that matched my work, but had just a hint of sheen and subtle shade deeper than the lace. It seems to have worked up nicely. My biggest thing with silk - especially the coloured gimps I'm working with - is that the silk is slippery and so I have to put a 2nd hitch on the bobbins as they tend to come unhitched or lengthen themselves. Helen, in dreary Duvall, WA - no earthquake to wake us up this morning (3.4 one yesterday centered a few miles south of us woke us at 5.20am with a bang and then shaking). - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]
