[lace] Bucks corners (was Lassen)
Dear Nancy I suspect there is a misunderstanding. In her 'The Technique of Bucks Point Lace' p.75 Pam Nottingham states that: 'In the past very few patterns had corners as lace was worked by the length round a pillow. most of the corners for the narrow, traditional edgings have been designed within the last 30 years [writing in 1981] to satisfy the demands of the modern lacemaker.' She is referring just to those narrow edgings which would have been bought by the yard and mounted round a handkerchief with a gathered frill to get round the corner. The method devised to make worked corners on them is the familiar methods of using a mirror and hoping for the best, using a mirror and adjusting to be workable, using a mirror and adjusting to look good, or the asymmetrical corner, which when successful works well and looks good, but is far harder to do! this makes more sense for the modern lacemaker who does not in general make yard after yard but would make just sufficient and make it to measure the handkerchief. P. 136 of the book has a superb 19 century made handkerchief, but a much wider border. Anne Buck's 'Thomas Lester, his Lace and the East Midlands Industry 1820-1905' has many show handkerchiefs with wide borders and elaborate corners, mainly Beds, but some Bucks, including on p.26 a partly worked draft, showing how designers worked then. It has a central reverse and symmetrical corner. The pattern features are drawn, and look as though a mechanical method was used to produce symmetry - tracing paper no doubt. The designer has written 'Honey Comb' and 'pt' where they are to be used, and has constructed geometrically the honeycomb and point ground on one side only, leaving the other for later, presumably, but put the markings for tallies in the ground, and for mayflowers (cloth stitch squares) in the honeycomb - not always in the right places for the latter! leonard...@yahoo.com In London, less said about the weather the better Date: Sun, 16 Jun 2019 15:25:32 -0400 From: "N.A. Neff" Subject: Re: [lace] Lassen question I guess I have to confess that I believed a source and shouldn't have, or I totally misunderstood her: Pam Nottingham was emphatic that she and her students were the first to design flat corners for edging handkerchiefs, in the mid-twentieth C. She must have meant only Bucks because I've just surveyed handkerchiefs in the Met's on-line catalog, and there are lots of flat corners from the 19th C but in other types of lace. I saw only a couple of joins, but the pictures aren't detailed enough to tell whether there are joins hidden in the gathered part around a corner. - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Working with black thread
Dear All Don't forget the further problem - even if you have decided that a piece of black lace started off white, you don't know if it was dyed before or after sale. I have been given to understand that lace was dyed ecru with coffee or tea by owners not sellers, and I suspect most of us have met lace that has been over bleached after being bought second hand purely by using a modern detergent on it. It seems likely that if black lace became fashionable, or you went into mourning. out would come the dye. leonard...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] UK lace museums
Could I add a couple to Jeri's list: Honiton, which of course shows Honiton lace - but most of it of much higher quality than the Honiton in other collections. It's not that far from Bath. The Bowes Museum has an excellent collection of high quality lace in the Blackborne collection. Its website is not that useful, so personal contact advised before a visit. thebowesmuseum.org.uk You have to go to collections then collections search to get anywhere. Kind regards leonard...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Printing out patterns
Dear All Brenda has noted what can be a problem. Could I ask those producing patterns to be printed out somehow or other to include a scale, just a line marked with a cm or inch (or both) so that we can check if all is well, or adjust if necessary. I attended a workshop given by Cathy Barley, the pattern being sent by e mail attachment, which I duly printed out, and thought - I know she produces beautiful fine work, but surely not this fine, so had another copy sent, with a scale...she does!! But there seriously can be problems with this, and I have seen people caught out by the 95 or 100 pc being considered full size by Adobe and others. leonard...@yahoo.com Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2015 10:13:45 +0100 From: Brenda Paternoster Subject: Re: [lace] out of date books Hi Achim <..> Re the size of .pdf files - it doesnââ¬â¢t matter what size the computer screen shows (an iPad/tablet will never show a full A4 page) itââ¬â¢s the printed size that matters and again not everyone is computer savvy enough to check whether they are printing at 100% or something like 95% to fit onto the paper they are using. Then there is the problem of A4 versus USA letter size. <..> Brenda - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Prickings
Dear All One further thought on prickings: I am working on/working out a fairly complex Beds pattern, and am at present on version 3.  I have pricked out, from the paper draft, the pinholes for the pattern features and trails, and foot and headside, but on Mrs Underwood's advice, just marked where the veins in the leaf and plaits would go, pricking the holes for the veins and picots on the plaits, as needed and where needed.  This allows some scope for moving plaits slightly to start or finish in a more convenient place, and again, how a leaf is attacked will affect where the vein's pinholes go; there she said to treat an old pricking's pinholes as suggestions, not orders.  This works best, I should think, on traditional card with permanent ink markings and no covering film.  Using permanent ink means a bottle of white typing correction fluid finds a place in my work box... I think this is similar to the Honiton approach, where of course thick card pre-pricked is traditional, to allow the use of a straight needlepin for sewings: the  fillings are often pricked in on the pillow when the surrounding work is completed, to allow the holes to be shifted slightly for ease of working. I think it depends on whether you make lace like a train, following the tracks, a trolley bus, with some scope for deviation, or a car, with the freedom of the road!  I sometimes imitate the (UK, not Dutch) bicycle - ignore the one way street signs, traffic lights, and use the pavements if it suits! leonard...@yahoo.com, who doesn't ride a bike, but has some unpleasant close encounters with them on the pavements of London - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Wool/felt on polystyrene or similar pillows
I have a cover with a layer of carpet-type felt under it for a standard 18inch cookie/45cm mushroom pillow.  It has the additional advantage of giving a slight amount of "give" which makes sewings using a needlepin much easier - it's not much worse than using a proper Honiton pillow, and useful for making odds and ends when my Honiton pillow is otherwise occupied.  For that, a thickish felt would be necessary, and an old suit probably not, the felt being non-woven fibres felted, rather than a woven material fulled.  Horses for courses/different pillows for different laces. Kind regards leonard...@yahoo.com > On May 20, 2015, at 2:45 PM, Jane Partridge wrote: > > The general purpose of adding material over the foam, as I understand it, is > to make the pillow last longer. Most of the domed polystyrene pillows I've > seen that have a layer of felt under the cover have a fairly thin layer - the > type of felt you buy in squares for craft work, rather than the thick carpet > underlay type. The cover also helps reduce the noise of working on > polystyrene, but I'm not sure if ethafoam is as noisy to work on. > The more layers you use, the greater the amount of fabric you will need to > buy, and probably the finer fabrics are going to be more expensive, so think > about whether cost is an issue. > The only other comment I would make about using wool is that as a fibre, wool > holds moisture, which is useful for warmth in clothing but could cause > corrosion if you use steel pins, live in a damp climate and don't finish > projects reasonably quickly! > > Jane partridgemous...@live.co.uk > >> From: hottl...@neo.rr.com >> >> Hello All! I thought I knew what type of wool to buy to cover my foam > roller but now I'm not so sure. My plan was to use wool felt: 1) because I > have more than one source & 2) because I applied wool felt to my IOLI $5 foam > pillow last year & it worked like a charm. When I say wool felt, I am > referring to "fulled wool" that is typically used for wool embroidery, penny > rugs etc. Not too thick but with some body. While wandering about the > internet today, I found wool flannel & wool challis. > - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Bretonne costume
Dear All The weekend's FT newspaper had a short reference to a book to be published by a French photographer, Charles Freger, of contemporary Bretonne ladies in traditional costume, most with more or less (and the more ones spectacularly so) elaborate lace headdresses. Â His website is charlesfreger.com, and just click on the pic of the Bretonne lady to see several more. Â The most practical seem to be towards the beginning, the really elaborate ones towards the end, but all interesting to see how the ladies have updated and interpreted their traditional costume. leonard...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
Re: [lace] English lace museums - updates
Dear Jill
Thanks for the correction and excellent news - I should take my own advice and
always check at the time because things change... Â I was very interested a
little while ago in reworking one of the more elaborate patterns in Ann Buck's
book on Thomas Lester and his lace, and wanted a proper look at the pricking
and lace, but got stone-walled. Â That project is now back on the list (though
it will be some time before the current would-be masterpiece - mark three and
counting - is off the pillow!)
Kind regards
Leonard
From: Jill Hawkins
To: Leonard Bazar ; "lace@arachne.com"
Cc: "meghannmccr...@gmail.com" ; "dmt11h...@aol.com"
Sent: Monday, 13 April 2015, 10:53
Subject: Re: [lace] English lace museums - updates
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table.yiv9495896127mceClonedResizable {outline:1px dashed black;} Dear
Leonard  I live close to Bedford and have visited the Higgins several
times since it re-opened after the refurbishment. Although the lace that is
now on display is limited, there IS a lace display of some of the key Thomas
Lester pieces. Â There is also a display of lacemaking equipment featuring a
pillow horse, a bobbin winder, a lace lamp and a piece of Bucks point in
progress on a pillow.  I also recently attended a talk on the Lester
Collection and was fortunate to be able to view and photograph all the other
pieces in the collection. Â The Keeper of Social History is Lydia Saul. She
gave the presentation and is very keen to show the lace to anyone who is
interested - whether in a group or as an individual. Her contact information
is on the Higgins website atÂ
http://www.thehigginsbedford.org.uk/section_5.aspx. Â Jill Milton
Keynes, Bucks
> Bedford Museum and the Cecil Higgins Museum have been combined, and one of
the
> casualties is the lace displayÃÂ - there isn't one, and
individualsÃÂ asking to
> see specified pieces of their marvellous collection have not managed. ÃÂ If
you
> do want to try, make contact first and a firm appointment, good luck, and
let
> us know if you get anywhere with them.
-
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[lace] English lace museums - updates
Dear All As Devon notes, things change! The one firm piece of advice that remains is always check with the museum just before visiting - apart from anything else, they may be happy to open especially for you, and also, if you have any particular interests, they may well get things out for you, whether a specialist lace museum or not. What follows is based on what I understand the position is at present. Bedford Museum and the Cecil Higgins Museum have been combined, and one of the casualties is the lace display - there isn't one, and individuals asking to see specified pieces of their marvellous collection have not managed.  If you do want to try, make contact first and a firm appointment, good luck, and let us know if you get anywhere with them. Luton has less out than it did, but an extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable curator in Victoria Main.  The collection on straw hats and the plait from which it was made (which was the local industry in Victorian times, rather than lace-making which was stronger elsewhere in the county) is better, and may well make the visit more worthwhile.  Again, do make contact if you want to visit, as if you have a particular interest, it may be possible to see things not ordinarily on show, though it is a relatively large concern, and cannot always cope with last minute requests. The Royal Albert in Exeter again is a disappointment, as described.  There is a showcase of Mrs Treadwin's samples and a superb fan elsewhere in the museum, but nothing else.  The officially trained staff will describe Devon trolly as a machine lace, while pointing to Mrs T's sample of handmade Devon trolley lace (not just to me - others had exactly the same experience).  My request for further information/viewings was referred to the marketing department.  Rougemont House is closed, and its lace and any other owned by the city museums is in storage/limbo. Honiton Museum's collection is one of the few that from a very high base is continually improving, with some superb wedding flounces of top quality, well displayed and with plenty to see.  They should be open now for the summer, but do check, if only to get a personal viewing of their treasures not currently on show, in the storeroom upstairs! Other local museums do have the odd bit of lace - Topsham and Sidmouth, I believe, but do check what's available when before visiting, and do be aware that their "treasures" may not be quite top-notch. The Lace Guild's collection, as those who subscribe to the artefact of the month e mail will know, includes a vast quantity of lace and related items of all qualities, form tip-top to pieces which are representative of typical products (hand and machine) if not worse.  While times the Hollies is open are given on the website, of course, the place is staffed during normal office hours, and except in very rare circumstances, you should be able to arrange a viewing, and have specific items brought out to see, at other times.  If that does not quite justify a trip to Stourbridge, there are the three glass museums there, well worth a visit - often joint exhibitions with the Lace Guild, next from 28-31 May, I believe, and that does justify a visit.  Other things in the area to do at other times are the Black Country museum.  Kidderminster, very close, has a carpet museum, and also by the station which connects to Stourbridge and London the old steam age station, with a working line, which offers excursions - the Midlands answer to the Orient Express! - and a fascinating signal box/railway offices/museum. Again, check anything closer to the time before travelling! Kind regards leonard...@yahoo.com, unwinding in rainy Stockport after a good time at the AGM, preparing for tomorrow in Manchester before returning down south On Fri, Apr 10, 2015 at 7:32 AM, wrote: > Dear Meghann, ... > As you can see, I am presently making inquiries, myself, about a trip to > the lace making region of Devon, England and Ireland. The list is very > helpful as one tries to negotiate the ever changing situation in visiting > lace. Lace seems to be the first thing a museum packs up and the last thing > they unpack whenever they move or renovate. ... > I am not at all sure that going to the Lace Guild in Stourbridge, East > Midlands, is a good use of time in England. According to my google maps, it > is over 2 hours from London by car, and I think it is quite modest when you > get there. I would imagine the Luton Museum and the Cecil Higgins Museum in > Bedford would be more worth the journey. Cecil Higgins has some > fantastic pieces of Thomas Lester Lace which was a mid-19th century bobbin > lace often depicting exotic animals from the London zoo. ... > Lace tourism is very tricky! > > Devon Thein - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] UK laceday
Dear All Just to give lace makers in London (and area) advance notice that Cockfosters laceday will run next year, on Jan 31. The usual hall has closed, but Anne and Christine have found a new location, a few minutes walk from Oakwood tube, but in the other direction - with the added advantage of a car park. Oddly enough, it's Oakwood Baptist Church - the previous location was the Methodist Church! Details and tickets will be available soon, I understand. leonard...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Roseground
Dear Jane In my torchon days, my favourite was the ctct at the corners, but honeycomb stitch (ctt pin ctt) at the centre pins; it seemed to round out the centre. For those who like torchon with as wide a variety of stitches as possible, or just sight of a wide range to make a choice, Maidment's book takes a lot of beating. I think it's now one of those books that everyone at one point had, but was superseded, very briefly by Doreen Wright, then more permanently by Pam Nottingham's beginners' books. However, the torchon section remains unsurpassed for this variety of stitches - working the sampler gives you a marvellous piece which works as a genuine sampler, providing practice, and an opportunity to see what it looks like. The rest is of its time, though still a useful additional resource in some circumstances. Sadly, the libraries of the original owners are now becoming available, but this does mean that if you want one cheaply for reference, eg for the torchon section, they are available again, and I would recommend it. I would not recommend paying fancy ebay prices though, or taking it as your sole or main reference book. I see from the Lace Guild's list that they have a copy (or probably more than one) for GBP 0.50; less than the cost of a postage stamp - at that price, everyone should have one!! leonard...@yahoo.com, at present enjoying the sun at the maternal home in Cheltenham, so away from library, hence no ISBNs. Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 19:55:29 +0100 >From: Jane Partridge >Subject: [lace] Rose Ground > >Just out of interest, what is your favourite combination of stitches for >Rose Ground? > >I tend to stick with the corner intersections (which I label a, b, c, d) >as CTCT and then the centre pins (1, 2, 3, 4) CT, pin, CT. > - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Machine lace tells
Dear Jeri I hope I am proved wrong, but I doubt if anyone working in a machine lace factory bothered singing to be heard - too much noise (of machines, not workers). leonard...@yahoo.com currently attempting the first flower in Mrs Dickson's Bibilla book - finding it rather tricky, and making noises best not preserved for posterity! - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Milanese books - correction
Dear All As Jill noted, the latest copy of Lace has arrived - and I see that the introduction book is reprinting. Worth the wait if you are new to Milanese, or just want the basics (and a bit more) in a convenient form leonard...@yahoo.com - back from Woking lace day, to which Veronica Main had brought some goodies from Luton Museum for us to admire - by chance including the original unit pricking I had used for the length of Bucks on which I was working! - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Re: Milanese books
Just a couple more - Mrs Read's introductory lessons from Lace were republished by the Lace Guild, and have now been joined by her Alphabet, good value at GBP5 and 6 respectively; I assume plus P+P. Kind regards leonard...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Sad News - Dina Lecker
Dina's teacher, Suzanne Jarvis, has asked me to put a note onto âArachneâ that Dina Lecker has died so that her online lace chums will know what happened. She died peacefully in her sleep after a year long illness on Monday 20th Jan. her funeral was held on the 21st at Golder's Green crematorium. leonard...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Re: Leonard's Lace - Jabot or Shirt Frill?
Dear Jeri and Susan Thanks for the kind comments; I can assure you I did think very carefully before contradicting Mrs Carter!! I do, however, wear evening dress, with a dress shirt, at least a couple of times a year at non-lace events, and like to wear my lace then, if possible, and a full jabot would be a bit ott. At present I wear an Elizabethan metal lace braid down the front of the shirt, pattern generally adapted from one of Gil Dye's reconstructions, which is suitable for other occasions - though I have left a dinner without the braid, having given it to someone who asked where I bought the shirt! However, it was a charity do, and a donation was made. I suppose I could have given him the pattern and a teacher's contact details. I don't attach the lace at all permanently to the shirt, just tacking it on with invisible thread, and taking it off for separate care, so that is not an issue. I suspect the early braids were valued similarly; much better than having a garment embroidered, where reuse and laundry would be a problem. Ruffs of course grew out of decorating the top of a shift or shirt, with the draw string producing the ruffles; the separate ruff again had the advantage of being usable with other garments, and being cared for separately. Later, lace was sewn to a v narrow strip of lace, the latter being attached to the garment, so that any careless removal could be put right by replacing the narrow edging, rather than the valuable lace. The best image of this sort of jabot I could find in a short search is on a commercial site, of which I have no other knowledge: http://www.civicrobes.com/Pages/Robes/Accessories/Accesories.htm I think it shows how it is constructed, as Jeri described. No herringbone; shortening trousers is a life skill for me unfortunately (5foot 4inch/163cm tall) and I minimise the amount of herringbone I do! As Jeri says, it is a good way for anyone to embellish a blouse as well as a shirt. It needs a fine lace with no wrong side, so Honiton would not be ideal, nor some Beds. However, it would show off a fine Torchon very well, especially if it had a fairly deep fan on the headside - a good project for someone at any level who wanted to make something to wear. leonard...@yahoo.com > >Would a cravat-style jabot be appropriate for banquets at OIDFA Congresses? If yes, it seems to me that you would receive a respectable amount of attention for your efforts. > >A shirt with lace attached would need more laundering, resulting in wear-and-tear, than a jabot that can be removed and cleaned only when absolutely necessary. The smaller accessory (square with lace attached) would be easier to clean, press, and pack in a suitcase. The reason many old lace-trimmed garments have suffered damage is because people have been hurried when pressing; so hurried that the point of an iron was often thrust through a lace opening and ripped the lace. > >In fashions for women, there are blouses that feature jabots, so this is of interest to all. > >You described how the lace yardage is to be attached to a square of fabric. Can someone on Arachne recommend a resource illustrating the zig-zag means of attaching lace edging to a square of cloth? This would be nice for people with a lot of lace yardage to be assigned to a good use. I am reminded of Canadians who belong to the Five Metre Club. For those not familiar with this honor - members receive recognition for this accomplishment in the "Canadian Lacemaker Gazette". > >Jeri Ames in Maine USA >Lace and Embroidery Resource Center - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Lace demonstration piece
Dear All Sue (Babbs) has kindly posted a picture of the demonstration piece I described earlier, as a few people had asked about it; it seems you have to be in the US to post to Flickr for some security reason... However, even in the UK http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/11692789313/ gets me to it. I've tended to give up making new year resolutions which are unlikely to last into February, but do take the opportunity to get something started. I've been occupied for some time on a reworking of Mrs Millar's handkerchief, a floral Beds design, but having completed a side, corner and half the next side, it became clear that the corner really didn't work (looked awful) so last week got it off the pillow and prepared to redraft it yet again, and have started a Bucks edging I have meant to do for some considerable time. I used to attend Mrs Carter's weekends at the Springetts'. She "suggested" I would like to make the lace for a jabot - a yard/metre of narrow edging to be mounted zig-zag up a square of cloth, covering it, for a man's cravat-style jabot. It needed a neat beginning, designed under her guidance, but part way through, I dared to suggest that if I did use it as intended, it might be worn once or twice at lace events, but that is all, while two half yard lengths could be used as frills down the front of a dress shirt, and would get more use. The first half was completed, it must be before 2006, and I have just got round to starting the second side, finishing the top width while listening to the New Year's concert from Vienna. The pattern draft is on p 91 of Pamela Nottingham's Technique of Bucks Point Lace, bottom right hand corner. Despite being headed "for black" I'm using white cotton. I've decided to try working without using the odd diagrams worked out under Mrs Carter's guidance (mainly for gimp paths), but use just the pricking and the first length. In that, I tried out different things on different repeats, so this time I can aim for the ones that looked best. I suspect this is closer to how the original worker would have proceeded, possibly having a sample of a pattern new to him or her, but in general, learning from experience. I may resort to pencil and paper, but hope not! Even at this stage, I've realised that a very small enclosed area of ground between leaves or whatever, of just 2 or 3 pins, will always look messy if you use point ground, and honeycomb comes out much better, and the inconsistency noices less than the mess! It's good that experience over the years in other patterns can be used here. And it's nice getting back to the unspangled S Bucks bobbins for Bucks - I find they work much better for me; I use a lighter tension than when working Beds using spangled bobbins, which helps. Has anyone else set up a 2014 project? With best wishes for a happy New Year leonard...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Re: Demonstrating, pillow cases and teaching (long)
"Date: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 22:48:02 + From: laceandbits Subject: Re: [lace] Freehand Lace with 6 pairs or less "A large fully-dressed pillow with many bobbins and dense pattern is discouraging and elicits the usual "I don't have the patience!"." Oh how I agree with Jeri on this one. And it can be a real act of diplomacy to try to tell potential volunteers that their 'boasting' pillow with 200+ expensive bobbins and fine Point Ground lace completely hidden by pins is not going to be an inspiration to new lacemakers. On the contrary, it will frighten them away. One of the best show pillows I have seen is Arachne Leonard Bazaar's. Â From memory it is a largish circular cloth (maybe a metre or so across, but I'm sure he'll let us know), worked in a 5 pair braid lace, all cloth stitch (is that right?) with minimal plated fillings, Bruges style. Â I seem to remember the design is made in thirds, and when i saw it last, at least one third was finished and hung impressively at the front of the pillow. Â The work in progress is so basic that I have seen Leonard invite people to do some for him when there is a queue for the have-a-go pillow. Â They can immediately understand how this simple stitch and braid can make a beautiful and even complex design. Jacquie in Lincolnshire" Dear Jacquie Many thanks for the kind commendation; cannot of course miss the chance to elaborate! The pillow to which Jacquie refers appears at the annual Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace, and is very much, I hope, the right horse for that course. The visitors are serious textile hobbyists, and also textile students and school parties, so interested in a new craft, and also want to learn about lace on a technical and practical level. The pattern's from Anna, July 1993 (yes, I have been working it for some time!) and the design is from Vogtland/Erzegebirge, though Russians have assured me it's from there. It's in 20/3 linen, ie young string, and the tapes/braids use 6 or 7 pairs. It's built up of a centre 30cm/12inches in diameter, and the centre can be surrounded by 4 trapezoids, making a cloth of 70cm/28" in diameter (that's where I am now) and the outer 8 trapezoids bring it up to 120cm/48" - some time this millenium! The original's braids are half in cloth stitch, half in half stitch, with leaves in the filling. I am following the variant with cloth stitch braids, with a twisted passive pair on one edge, and the filling is plaits. This shows how even a beginner can modify a pattern. The bobbins are plain, made from broom handles or similar, and the pillow a flat one about 2 foot/ 30 cm across, so no visibility issues. As Jacquie says, anyone can work a few rows, and we have found the best way to teach, on a one-to-one basis, is to forget all about whole stitch, half stitch, cross, twist, left, right, numbers above 2, and simply say "all you do is move a bobbin over its neighbour; you have two hands, each can hold a bobbin, so you can use two pairs at a time". Then make stitches, just saying "in the middle, other 2, in the middle - see they've woven through - move them, and do the same with the next ones". People pick this up in a few minutes, and seem to have no problem copying, however young or old; I suspect it's because they are using just the bits of the brains that control the fingers, with none of this rational nonsense; rather like we can "remember" numbers when tapping them out on a key pad, or when guitarists can memorise music, even with chords, in a way other instrumentalists find harder; I learnt the flute at school, and the guitar aged 40; I can play the flute much better, but memorise guitar music much more easily, even though it's chords. We can then say they've learnt the basics much quicker than they learnt to knit, and point out how other laces are similarly structured. Having seen this tape, Honiton makes sense. With the inevitable questions about fine thread and time, we can then say that of course when using thread finer than ordinary sewing thread it takes a while to make anything, but if you want to work that fine, it's the only way - you can't knit it. There's usually a scarf worked in thick wool on display, and we can say making it took less time that knitting would. This year's example was mainly in torchon ground, so I could point out the rows of weaving, just as done on my pillow but with twists, and they can see how little work, relatively speaking, is involved in making a desirable object. I take a couple of the Terra books, and the one on Brugs Bloemwerk lets me shoe how this sort of braid can be used to make striking collars and cloths, easily designed and customised, and the one on Russische kant starts with various braids and trims, suing colours, which can readily be used or adapted to customise and trim a classy garment. We hope our double-act helps students etc understand lace, and be tempted to learn and use the techniques creatively, and other
[lace] Bobbin-made tapes
Dear All It is of course difficult to work out how a textile was made just by looking at it, but don't forget that the basic tools for making something can be used in many different ways. Just because something is made with lace bobbins on a lace pillow does not ensure that it is made using cloth or half stitches or whatever we would now use with a standard foot-side. The braid used in Chinese braid embroidery is now typically made on a set-up spookily similar to a modern lace pillow. While a pillow as such is not used, just a surface on which the braid is formed without pins, and a roller at the back for the braid to be wound on, the bobbins are lengths of bamboo with a hook or a notch at the top to hold the thread, and a spangle, of coins, washers or beads to weight it at the other. The actual braid produced can be fancy, with complex weaves and colours, but basically has a bias weave. One major difference from bobbin lace is that a thread can pass over two or more other threads at a time - something I don't think we ever do, though I suppose we could have a twill weave in an area of cloth. The best book on the subject of which I know is Jacqui Carey's Chinese Braid Embroidery ISBN 0 9523225 6 0, published by Carey Company of Ottery St Mary, Devon, UK in 2007. It shows how the braid is made and used, and any bobbin lacemaker could easily replicate it using his (or her) equipment; you could easily make a useful customised trim for another project with it. The ingenuity of the workers in improvising apparatus is amazing - anything from beautifully made stands produced by a father or husband to an ordinary wicker basket. The insights into the social side of the work and workers, and how it is affected by modern events - synthetic materials, machine-made tapes, the tourist trade - make the book well worth a read by themselvs. It also shows how similar braids can, and were, made by finger looping - with a sample made and sewn into a 17th century English instruction book. There is also a picture of a braidmaker from Oman making a braid called tili. She is using a small bolster on a stand, no pins, and it looks as though her threads are still on the original reels, secured by a half hitch - one way of minimising joins and avoiding bobbin-winding! I sometimes think that the only way some mysteries will be solved is with the use of a time-machine, though I can't see the BBC extending the Historic Farming series to Dr Who and the lacemakers. leonard...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Copying lace prickings
One thing the discussions of this - using heelball, pricking through original prickings etc - makes very clear that the photocopiers we now take for granted are a very modern invention, and most of us can remember when they were unreliable - distorted, shrunk patterns on odd shiney paper that disappeared after a while in sunlight. This I think is yet another thing we need to bear in mind when considering how lacemakers of old worked. I started when the best way of making an accurate pricking was meant to be working on graph paper, using one and a half squares (or whatever) one way, and one the other to get a Bucks grid - and that relied on accurate graph paper, and indeed cheap paper, itself not available in the early days of lacemaking. With all these problems in reproducing patterns, freehand lace may well have continued longer and into more elaborate patterns than we consider practical, and to me, it seems quite unlikely that "working diagrams" or similar would be readily available when the workers would have found it hard enough to get accurate patterns; a piece of worked lace would probably be the most practical way of letting someone know what to produce. It would be fascinating to know how the designs were first turned into lace, and what knowledge the designer, pricker and maker had of each others' skills. leonard...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Tudor Tailor book
Dear All Just a quick reminder that this book is on sale at the Queen's Gallery, and that In Fine Style finishes on 6 October - it has a section on children and their clothes (very upper class only!!) leonard...@yahoo.com in an unseasonably warm London, stewing down the last of the blackberries (courtesy Hampstead Heath) for jam.. - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Fork Tines vs. Lace Cuffs - What did they wear?
Again, the Queen's Gallery exhibition threw some light on this, certainly on expensive the laundry skills a lace wearer would need to buy. However, there were also some thought-provoking comment on how accurately the clothes in the portraits mirrored what the subjects would have worn. Clearly, in a picture you can wear the biggest pearls the artist can paint, and "Robe" magazine points out that several of Mr Lely's ladies wear the same scarf, and suggests he buys a new one! Samuel Pepys's robe in his portrait is known to have been borrowed. Painted lace is not torn by painted gems! However, the deeper point is that to some extent the very rich and fashionable would not wear all their latest finery, and the ladies dressed in negligent fashion, showing a fair amount of neck and so forth (and quite a bit of and so forth in some cases) would have worn more in Court, which would have included more lace round the neck. Equally, men and women would not wear the more extreme ephemeral fashions, as that would make the portraits date very quickly; Charles II wears his petticoat breeches in woodcuts and similar, but not in formal oil painted portraits. The fashion for heroick and mythological portraits had a practical reason. On lace cuffs, this would be a problem mainly for men, and while lace ruffles at the end of sleeves were very fashionable for ladies (engageants) they happened higher up the arm, to show off the white forearm below, and their shape number and size as well as position changed with fashion - those who know use this as a key dating method. Dress collections often have men's coats/jackets with the lace ruffles sewn in the sleeves, which tends to indicate use as fancy dress, when the 19th or 20th century wearer could take the coat off to eat, preserving both it and the lace from tines, gravy and chocolate sauce. leonard...@yahoo.com, melting in London Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 20:28:39 -0400 From: Shell Subject: Re: [lace] Lace Conservation - Fork Tines vs. Lace Cuffs What a very cool way to start a lace talk. Would definitely get the attention of those attending. Amazes me how often some wear knit lace shawls with long draping ear rings and jewelry. Snags almost always occur. It occurs to me that would often occur with lace cuffs and collars in the past. Yet many portraits show elaborate jewelry with the lace. Would not be for every day wear, yet I would imagine that the ladies maids were somewhat versed in the care and repair of the lace. - -- Smile! Shell - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
[lace] Lace in contemporary fashion
An article in the Weekend Financial Times, at present on line at http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/1b3218fe-8717-11e2-bde6-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2NvNh cA53 gives an interesting insight into how designers, High Street and couture, are using lace now. Obviously machine, but it may inspire one of us to wear something. Clare Brown of the V&A (where the Treasures of the Royal Courts exhibition of course includes lace) talks about ruffs, illustrated by one worn in a Tudor portrait minature, and one worn as part of an Alexander McQueen model! It finishes with a glossary of types of lace, useful to us because it's how the terms are used by the fashion industry, ie the users, not by us, the makers. As ever, divided by a common language! leonard...@yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
Re: [lace] Lace on tallits
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[lace] Le Pompe book 2 - long
I was delighted to read Amanda's reference to book 2 of Le Pompe being available in full on the Professor's site (at http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books/pompe2.pdf) both to have the resource and to be able to clear something from my "draft file". I've only just been able to catch up on past postings in the lull before the storm (next weekend's Lace Guild convention), and have particularly enjoyed the thread, from February, on recreating 16th century lace, including thoughts on the Le Pompe laces. The thread was started by Orla's enquiries and experiments, and at first finished with Nelleke's superb work (on http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003-date). I've also only just been able to catch up with Jean's and Gil's articles in the latest Lace Guild magazine, which were fortuitously very relevant, on freehand lace and reconstructing historic (Lady Drake's) lace; however, I hope this latest reference justifies me pursuing some loose ends from the original thread, so to speak. Firstly, a useful resource in reconstructing these laces is Gil's "Elizabethan Lace" ISBN 0 9522709 3 5, which provides alternative methods to those in the Ruth bean reprint of Le Pompe vol. 1 - as Orla said (and showed!) you need to work out your own ways, but it is useful to have as many other versions to inspire - we stand on giants' shoulders. There was some debate on what metal thread was used. There is a length of plaited Le Pompe style lace made with gold and silver thread at Hardwick Hall, dated by Santina Levy to the mid-16th century in her book "An Elizabethan Inheritance The Hardwick Hall Textiles", ISBN 0 7078 0249 0 (pic. p.31). Having seen it, it looks as though it's made with what I would call Jap, where the metal foil is on very fine paper, originally rice paper, wound around a silk core (which shows through where the foil has cracked on a sharp corner). Bess of Hardwick was buying such lace, English made, by 1550, according Santina's research. She also seems to have been buying this sort of metal thread - (p.41) in 1548 Bess bought for the embroiderer (she employed various men at different times for metal and other embroidery done by professionals, some becoming temporary members of her household) "one pound in weight of gold and another of silver, each costing £3 6s, more than the annual salary of all but the highest paid of Cavendish's (her husband at the time) servants". As the gold and silver thread cost the same, it would tie in with Jap, where there is very little metal content, with the paper and silk, and gold leaf is far thinner than silver. The book, published by the UK National Trust, will delight anyone interested in the textiles of the period, or the life of a somewhat formidable Elizabethan lady. Mary Queen of Scots was a reluctant "guest" at Hardwick Hall, and both ladies embroidered themselves, as well as getting men in for the heavy work! Tamara commented that the wood cuts' accuracy is brought out by using them - they make very accurate prickings. We then went on to consider whether prickings were originally used for all, or whether the plaited ones could be worked freehand - I think jury still out! However, looking at the new selection, and indeed the old ones again, it's noticeable that some have white holes in the black plaits at junctions only in a few places, suggesting to me that the author expected pins to be used sometimes, and sometimes not. One other thing the author has done which I found helpful with the few of those I've played with is that the thickness of the lines indicates whether it's a four-bobbin or thicker plait - though that hasn't helped me with Gil's challenge, the pattern on page 7 of book 1. Has anyone cracked it? I had asked Santina about it, and she said she hadn't, but if I was automatically assuming bobbins always worked in pairs, I could be wrong, and she sent me a photo of a similar, though simpler, piece, in which the triangular tallies had at least 10 threads, and were used as a reservoir to carry them from one section to another, and some of the pliats look like 3-threaders. It didn't help, but raised my respect for the original even higher. [EMAIL PROTECTED], in London ___ What kind of emailer are you? Find out today - get a free analysis of your email personality. Take the quiz at the Yahoo! Mail Championship. http://uk.rd.yahoo.com/evt=44106/*http://mail.yahoo.net/uk - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Australian/Honiton lace competition
Dear All Apologies for cluttering up the list, but I'd be grateful for an e mail address for the Australian/Honiton lace competition. I've been asked for details but had not kept them Please reply privately, of course. With thanks Leonard ___ The all-new Yahoo! Mail goes wherever you go - free your email address from your Internet provider. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Le Pompe laces
Tamara's comments, as ever, sent me back to the books and reconsidering old assumptions, especially in the light of Ellen's comments on reproducing old lace. Tamara and I went on a course on freehand lace in Prague, and seeing in the light of that, realised that some early metallic lace would have been made similarly. There was a piece of metallic lace of 1606 on p.19 of "Laces from the Collections of the Jewish Museum in Prague" seems to have been worked freehand (repeats are different lengths) and someone in the class, forgotten who, reproduced it that way. The Foreword to the New Model Book strongly suggests that prickings or similar were not used, as you changed the scale of the lace by changing the thickness of the thread - no mention of using or adapting the pattern, and the advice on adding to the width with sideways repeats or a tooth edge is echoed in modern Scandinavian books on freehand lace. Admittedly, it is not clear from the illustration on the cover whether there is a pattern under the lace, but as there seems to be a pig not dog or cat on the floor, I don't think that signifies! In all of this, it really does seem to be continuing experimentation and careful consideration of the past that makes the discoveries - as it says on the UK 2 pound coins, we are "standing on the shoulders of giants". An example of this relates to something very much relevant to Ellen's pioneering - the V&A has a picture of Amy Latham in an embroidered jacket with metallic lace trim - a ninepin type edge with spangles - and a very similar jacket. Someone, and again I'm afraid I've forgotten who, copied it and was not too sure how to place the spangles, which were not that visible in the picture, and had not all survived on the lace. She found by experiment that the most plausible reconstruction could be made with all the spangles on one bobbin! [EMAIL PROTECTED], in London. ___ All New Yahoo! Mail Tired of unwanted email come-ons? Let our SpamGuard protect you. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Straight edges in Bucks point
Sorry, should have added to my last on this the way used in the 19th century Alexandra Stillwell recommends as working best for her - use a thicker pair of threads (just one pair) in the footside, and work cloth and twist instead of cloth with it. Has the vice of its virtue - not surprisingly, you can't gather or ruffle it easily. Would not therefore be suitable for a garter, but might be worth considering reviving elsewhere, especially if the lace is to be attached so that the footside doesn't show - though I suppose you could use a suitably coloured thread and make a feature of it. I'll continue as before, and say that I like the slightly ruffled effect I end up with! [EMAIL PROTECTED], in London ___ What kind of emailer are you? Find out today - get a free analysis of your email personality. Take the quiz at the Yahoo! Mail Championship. http://uk.rd.yahoo.com/evt=44106/*http://mail.yahoo.net/uk - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Angle of corner
If it's the relative tension of the headside and footside of a point ground or similar lace that makes a pricking with a corner at 90 degrees produce lace where the corner isn't, then this may be the same factor that makes a straight length of Bucks have a ruffled headside when the footside is laid straight - "twippering" being a traditional term. I personally think it helps the appearance of the lace if it is used on something, rather than laid it flat for photography. Of course, I would say that, as that's what happens to mine... As noted in a previous posting, this was thought a common occurrence in Bucks point, and a traditional solution was said to be to use half stitch and twists not whole stitch and twists at the footpin - Alexandra Stillwell's experiments showing it doesn't always work! [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ What kind of emailer are you? Find out today - get a free analysis of your email personality. Take the quiz at the Yahoo! Mail Championship. http://uk.rd.yahoo.com/evt=44106/*http://mail.yahoo.net/uk - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Old Tønder and Old Bucks point
Joyce suggested as differences between Bucks and Tønder: "in Bucks a picot is made in the "valley" at the headside, but in Tønder, at the valley pin the workers are brought through the headside passives, twisted twice around the pin, and then taken back through the headside passives and into the lace. Also, in Bucks at the footside a cloth stitch is made (C, T, C) after you "pin under four," but in Tønder it's a half stitch (C, T)." Alexandra Stillwell's "All about making Geometrical Bucks Point Lace", which has been discussed recently, and I would agree is essential reading for the point ground brigade, incorporates a great deal of research done into surviving 19th century Bucks point lace. It treats the two twists round the valley pin as standard (and indeed that was what I was taught) and notes that if the angle of the valley is less than 90 degrees, a picot looks wrong. Variants given are a picot, for an obtuse angle, or a honeycomb stitch, for either. Again at the footside, a half stitch instead of a cloth stitch (with various numbers of twists for either) was a very common variant, and its use is traditionally recommended to avoid the edge curving (Majorie Carter among others recommended it). AS, very typically, was not satisfied with recording the fact, but checked it, and decided that it does not have that effect, but enables a much better join to be made when lengths of Bucks point are joined side by side (very common at certain periods, for example on bodice-fronts for ladies or babies). I suppose it goes back to the Bucks point traditions of doing whatever seems to work to get a desired result, and copying any ideas that seem worth it from other laces, a tradition I firmly believe in maintaining! [EMAIL PROTECTED], in London ___ What kind of emailer are you? Find out today - get a free analysis of your email personality. Take the quiz at the Yahoo! Mail Championship. http://uk.rd.yahoo.com/evt=44106/*http://mail.yahoo.net/uk - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: Antique Toender Pattern
I too have been enjoying and learning from this thread. Yet another source for fillings using this pricking is "Decorative Fillings for Bucks Point Lace" by Geraldine Stott. I bought my copy in 1996, and as it has no ISBN, it may have been privately printed and now difficult to acquire. Anyway, in addition to the cord filling, which seems to be what the pattern drafter intended, it has a couple based on wholestitch blocks, but possibly something more of interest to David, honeycomb with tallies - and a variant without the tallies dedicated to "those not wanting to do tallies!!" Very typical of Geraldine, and the good old Bucks tradition, to add a few new tweaks that might appeal to today's lacemakers. The other one is the second of her whole stitch block versions, which she calls "Bias ground 11", page 62 in her Book of Bobbin Lace Stitches, which is less heavy than the traditional one, and would look good in a flower centre, like a checquer-board pattern, but with whole stitch, not tallies. Looking at the samples on Joyce's website, I was fascinated by the corner of the old sample, where an area of point ground went round the corner, without the usual glitches, which do show a little on the modern pieces. How was this achieved??? Or is it just the angle of the ground making them less noticable? The print-out I can get hasn't enough detail for me to work this out, and though it's clearer on screen, not quite clear enough. Also, it's interesting to see cloth go straight into ground without a gimp, to good effect. Nice to see the old Toender with the successful exuberance of some old Bucks - rules, what rules? [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ New Yahoo! Mail is the ultimate force in competitive emailing. Find out more at the Yahoo! Mail Championships. Plus: play games and win prizes. http://uk.rd.yahoo.com/evt=44106/*http://mail.yahoo.net/uk - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: lace in 16th century Salisbury
BBC radio 4 is running a repeat of the history of childhood in Britain "The Invention of Childhood" at 9pm in the evenings of this week. Monday night's episode stated that under the Orders of the Poor 1536 (just after the dissolution of the monasteries) parishes had to ensure that the children of the poor were gainfully employed and did not beg. The example given was for Salisbury where the children (it seems aged 3 upwards) were to be taught "sewing, knitting, bonelace making, spinning, pin making, card making, spooling and button making." I'm not sure what the cards made were for, spooling presumably was ancillary to weaving, which interestingly is not mentioned in its own right - possibly needed a formal apprenticeship at a more mature age. From a lace point of view, interesting that bone lace is there in the middle of the list as though a normal and obvious choice for a craft by which to earn a living. The list of course might be different for a different part of the country, and I don't know how far the lace tradition continued - obviously, whatever these Tudor children were producing would not resemble our Downton lace. Here there is no indication as to whether boys and girls were taught different trades. If sewing included embroidery, one should note that the professional embroiderers employed by Bess of Hardwick later in the century were men. The programme is available on the radio 4 website of the BBC, this bit being about 45 minutes into Monday's episode. Nothing else of lace interest, but a great deal of general interest, and I know some of us do take an interest in how boys and girls were brought up differently. This is well dealt with, making clear the similarities as well as differences; a lower, but surprisingly high, female literacy rate, with probably well under 10pc aristocratic girls being taught Hebrew and Greek, though one is pleased to note that more learnt French and Latin, German and Spanish! Accountancy and the skills of running a household and estate though were thought important over a wider social range. Happy 2007 to all [EMAIL PROTECTED], in London. ___ Inbox full of spam? Get leading spam protection and 1GB storage with All New Yahoo! Mail. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] (lace) Visiting Exhibition at Bowes Museum - combine with the Lace Guild Convention (short)
Just an addendum to the review... Don't forget that if you do come to the UK to visit Bowes in April 2007 THE event is the Lace Guild Convention on the weekend of 13/15 April in Reading University, which is handy for Heathrow and Gatwick airports and London, though not Bowes (Newcastle airport). There will also be a museum visit on Monday. Full details of all events and workshops etc in January's "Lace" with booking form, though accommodation on campus should be booked as soon as possible - forms available from the Hollies. [EMAIL PROTECTED] in London Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Exhibition at Bowes Museum - another review (long)
Just to add to Dianne's review of the exhibition, and answer some of Devon's queries. Firstly, yes the exhibition is out of this world, and should be seen by anyone at all interested in lace, or indeed fine arts or crafts, or textiles or costume. The pains that have been taken can be shown by one of many examples: lace is put into its historic context by exhibiting it with portraits of the period showing how it would be worn. Not unique, but here the portrait of Charlotte, Queen to King George III, of 1771, in which she wears a silk gown covered in French needle lace, backs a silk gown especially made for the exhibition to a pattern reconstructed by Janet Arnold, with a virtually full suit of exquisite needle lace of the period attached to it. That is not all – the V&A have lent the Grinling Gibbons gros point cravat carved in wood, and the curators have enlisted the services of an Italian expert to recreate the cravat, using fine linen prepared with an authentic starch no longer available in the UK, and attached a superb gros point cravat end to it, so you can see how it would have been tied. I too was lucky enough to go when there was a talk by Santina Levy, who gave some more details about the collection, though the full story presumably will be revealed on 4 January by Joanna Hashagen. The Blackborne collection was made over the period from about 1850 to 1952 by a father and son, the father the founder of a major lace dealer in the 19th century, the son continuing the business until his death aged 96, and both collecting samples of the best laces of all periods and countries, in part as a study collection. The collection passed to his great niece and her husband, who have generously donated it to the Bowes Museum. The son lived over the shop, in South Molton Street, until his death, run over by a lorry on his way back from advising an auction house on some lace. South Molton Street is still full of fashionable boutiques - near London's Oxford and Bond Streets, but with more of the atmosphere of Bond than Oxford. The collection stayed there, and survived no t only a firebomb in the last war, but also being doused with water as a result, which probably did more damage! The collection was built up both for the usual reasons and for study, hence the lappet collection, mounted on silk, to show the development of design and techniques. The exhibition includes a late 18th century Valenciennes pricking (with pinholes for the ground) and a piece of lace they had made from it. The son continued to add to the collection in the 20th century, having his pick of first class lace when it was being thrown away by its owners, or probably their heirs. The catalogue and exhibition have a charming photo of Young Mr Blackborne aged 92 in 1948 still with a kindly smile behind some splendid whiskers and a twinkle in his eye. This may be explained by an adjacent postcard (exhibition, not in catalogue) of his friend, a Spanish dancer, depicted holding a black lace fan, looking at us with a pert false-innocent smile, in her prime, much white lace, and in danger apart from that of catching a chill, as a celebrated US author and admirer of the skill of lacemakers used to put it. (Damon Runyon). The final room, based on the Blackbornes and their activities, includes examples of their commercial activities. It has the contemporary lace they bought and sold - a Honiton shawl, and a superb black English point ground stole as well as continental laces, and interestingly, top quality Irish - Carrickmacross guipure and Youghal. The Victorians' interest in antique lace is made clear, with examples of the antique lace being sold and adapted for contemporary wear showing its commercial and fashion importance. The adaptation included the use of scissors and adding new work, but to be realistic, without that the lace probably would not have survived at all, and it did keep the love of and interest in non-contemporary lace alive. We should not forget that before the Victorians, there was little interest in old lace. The catalogue can be enjoyed independently of the exhibition, and is almost a distillation of Santina Levey's "Lace - A History" as indeed is the exhibition itself. It also gives a history of lace and puts it in context, making clear its importance, and includes superb photographs of the lace from the collection and some of the other artefacts displayed in the exhibition. It's only GBP16. The exhibition continues until 29 April; details on www.thebowesmuseum.org.uk. Other local places which may be of interest include Beamish open air museum, which has some lace, and puts on demonstrations, though it would be as well to check what's on display and whether you could get into the reserve collection. Things may be restricted during the winter months. Its website is www.beamish.org.uk. There are many things there to attract members of your party who ma
[lace] Re:sore fingers
Dear Tanya Try pricking the pattern with a size larger needle - it can help! [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: [lace] Teacher needed
Dear Daphne I don't know whether there is a teacher or not in Melton Mobray, but anyone who wants to know of groups or classes in the UK can contact the Lace Guild ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) who keep lists. No recommendations - just people who have provided their details. We're happy to add to those lists...! Please note they are in geographical order, so it helps if you can provide postcode and county - and alternatives if you're near the border of 2. Regards [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: "Daphne Martin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [lace] Teacher needed Hello everyone A friend of mine is moving to Melton Mowbray in a couple of weeks. Does anyone know of a lace teacher in that area please?? Daphne Chilly, dull dreary autumn in Norfolk ___ Inbox full of spam? Get leading spam protection and 1GB storage with All New Yahoo! Mail. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Lace Magazine - duplicate mailings
Note for Lace Guild members - some of us may have received a duplicate magazine 124 This was due to a power failure at the mailing house when the names and address were being printed - please do not telephone headquarters or post the second issue back. Why not pass the this second issue on to a lacemaking NON Member and ask them to join! A quick look at the single copy I have just received suggests a bumper issue - several book reviews, and interesting articles on gros point lace - the short cuts they seem to have taken - and some free hand lace, as well as ranging from torchon patterns to pictures of large-scale coloured lace. [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Now you can scan emails quickly with a reading pane. Get the new Yahoo! Mail. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] The cope/cape
A further thought on the cape, inspired by Tamara's comment < it was supposed to have been a "cape", if abbreviated one (more like a Bertha, maybe?).> Looking at the pricking, Tamara has as usual hit a nail on the head - it is abbreviated! The pricking notes that the upper edge was meant to be mounted onto net (presumably machine made net). Christine Springett notes that she has seen a pricking made so that the whole area up to the net was worked in point ground! With the net there, it would be a cape, and sit on the shoulders over whatever was being worn underneath, not needing to be attached to it; I don't think it could work as a bertha. Without the net, the top edge would be far too irregular. It's interesting that very high quality lace articles were being made to be used, with handmade work supplemented by machine net where it would not make any practical difference. Pamela Nottingham's "Technique of Bucks Point Lace" p.83 has an edging where the very irregular inside edge was also meant to be attached to net. By the way, a quick look at Google UK showed that the Springetts' Pope/Sivewright pattern book is available from WH Smith for GBP7, so I assume that copies are still available from the Springetts themselves (or the site is out of date...) [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] PBLC website and Bishop's Cope
Having admired the picture of this in Thomas Wright's "Romance of the Lace Pillow" (facing page 65), and then seen the pricking, published by the Springetts with others from the Pope/Sivewright collection, I had assumed it would be one of those marvels of a past age which we could no longer re create, so share everyone's marvel and admiration to see it not only done, but done so well. Ilske's doubt as to whether it really was a bishop's cope is also expressed by Christine Springett. Thomas Wright describes it simply as a cope, without mentioning a bishop, and she wonders if this might not be the result of a misprint for "cape", which seems likely to me too. Beautiful though the patterns are, the annotator's handwriting leaves something to be desired (though the reproduced section of this one does not mention cope or cape). Possibly another example of language leading us astray, to put with the witches of Bruges? [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [lace] PBLC website and Bishop's Cope Hello pam, First congratulaion to the wonderful work. Where does this name come from? Ilske> - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Peat and etymology
I find the way words change their meanings leaving puzzles for the future fascinating - Brugge lace turning into witches via Spanish being one! Happily jumping in with full ignorance, is it possible that "piete" in the original posting means exactly what it says, in that it's the French for piety. Could the lace sellers of 's Gravenmoerse simply have found a name in the language of fashion for their lace, slightly more pronouncable by non-Flemish speakers, when marketing their product for church use? Lace made of peat seems unlikely to attract anyone, and I doubt if the purchasers would have been that interested in the English spinner of the thread, or indeed if it were made of pita. [EMAIL PROTECTED] "next to the goddess fair and free, fairly free, fraily free, divinest Etymology" - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: I've always wanted ... to get to the Lace Guild Convention
Jane's wish was nicely timed, as the latest Lace Guild magazine, just being distributed, has some details of the April 2007 convention, and a fair bit from me about efforts to keep the price down! We have secured some (basic, single) accommodation on campus for GBP30 a night bed and breakfast, (but book early for it) and our hall of residence has a dining hall we'll be able to use for socialising and lacemaking in the evenings as well as its own bar... I don't yet know whether it'll be possible to keep prices down to last year's levels - GBP20 for the weekend (hiring a university campus does cost, whatever people think!), and GBP15 for a three-hour workshop. To keep it affordable by as many as possible, everything (including workshops) is on a pay-if-you-do-it basis, which seems to me fairer, though it does increase the work. The AGM itself however remains free! I think it does represent good value, and hope that Jane and as many others as can do make it to Reading - it is good to meet up with people, and there's a substantial Arachne contingent. Can't help with double bookings, though... [EMAIL PROTECTED], just off to Knuston for 10 days of Thomas Lester lace with Barbara Underwood, before returning to continue with Reading, and sorting out the location for 2008 (hence not that many postings for the last year) Date: Wed, 26 Jul 2006 23:43:58 +0100 From: Jane Partridge <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [lace] I've always wanted a . . . I think the only thing I have wanted to do for several years lace-wise but not been able to justify the cost of, is getting to the Lace Guild Convention. Maybe next year (the added complication has been that I have been out demonstrating lace on the Sunday of the weekend for the last two years) - -- Jane Partridge - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fw: [lace] Tambouring by hand and machine
Dear Brenda Cannot say precisely how the Indian workers managed it, but the article I read had an illustration showing the results, which did have the beads on the loop side of the stitch, not the single thread on the back. It was said that seeing the bead allowed greater speed and accuracy, but I'm sure everyone thinks their local tradition is the most efficient! [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Original Message From: Brenda Paternoster <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Leonard Bazar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, 8 July, 2006 12:03:38 AM Subject: Re: [lace] Tambouring by hand and machine A former BL student of mine used to work as a professional tambour beader (in London). She always worked with the beads/sequins underneath. Beads and sequins come threaded in strings; the thread of the 'string' is knotted to the tambouring thread and the beads transferred to the main thread which is underneath the fabric. The first loop is pulled through the fabric and then the tambouring is done with the dominant (right) hand on top and the left hand feeling the beads underneath and pushing them into position - a bead can be added on any or all of the stitches as required, and they are on the single underneath thread. To have the beads on top would surely require two threads - one for the beads and one for the tambouring which would 'couch' the bead thread between the beads. Brenda On 7 Jul 2006, at 21:19, Leonard Bazar wrote: > One difference may be the side from which it is worked, but even that > can be misleading, as I understand that professional hand beading in > England and India is done from opposite sides, in England the beads > are underneath, in India on top (or possibly vice versa), so caught in > a different part of the chain stitch. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Tambouring by hand and machine
Just a lace-related footnote to the reminiscences of sewing machines. In her fascinating talk on tambouring, Joan Merrifield, the doyenne of Coggeshall lace making, mentioned that the type of hook she uses for tambouring by hand, and originally used when beading professionally, is the "needle" from the Cornely machine that has been discussed - it all goes round in circles! It may also be why it can be so difficult to distinguish between hand- and machine- net embroidery - the same technique is used for both. One difference may be the side from which it is worked, but even that can be misleading, as I understand that professional hand beading in England and India is done from opposite sides, in England the beads are underneath, in India on top (or possibly vice versa), so caught in a different part of the chain stitch. [EMAIL PROTECTED] - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Brioude pillow and leather cloth
Dear Jean
I think the leather cloth may go under the bobbins, so
is the worker cloth not the cover cloth. Hilary Booth
described her experiences making lace in Le Puy in the
summer of 1981 ("Lace" 26, pages 17-18) and said "The
pillows are French-style with a roller, and covered in
oilcloth. ... It took me four afternoons to master
the art of swinging the bobbins on the oilcloth
without picking them up - have you tried to make a
leaf with a rolling weaver? ... One day the girls
passed me a sweet filled with the local liqueur and
they said 'Now your bobbins will swing well!' ...
Beginners start with leaves ..." She also describes
the sample workers "...who sit in front of huge flat
pillows called galettes or flat cakes, on angled
tables. They use large pieces of leather under the
bobbins to assist them to roll ..."
No spangled, let alone square, bobbins there, but I
suppose it keeps the speed up. Look forward to
learning the answer when you're back, but it sounds
like fun!
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[lace] Lace Guild Convention 2007
Signing off on the previous posting reminds me - the 2007 Lace Guild convention will be at Reading University on 14/15 April. [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ All New Yahoo! Mail Tired of [EMAIL PROTECTED]@! come-ons? Let our SpamGuard protect you. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/nowyoucan.html - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: auction of lace etc London 26 June.
Tiny Have just bought the catalogue - it looks as though it will be excellent. The bulk of the lace is the Fulvia Lewis collection, examples of which are of course in her book, and also Santina Levy's "Lace, a History". Other gems are couture, including dresses owned and worn by Princess Di and Lesley Caron (with photos of them wearing them) and part of the Emmanuels' collection. [EMAIL PROTECTED], just about recovered from the Lace Guild's Durham convention, and off to Italy to finish the process tomorrow! Date: Tue, 23 May 2006 10:14 :55 +0100 From: "Tiny Dell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [lace] Collecting lace Hi There is a lace sale on the 26th June by Kerry Taylor Auctions in London. Is this any good? www.kerrytaylorauctions.com Peter ___ Copy addresses and emails from any email account to Yahoo! Mail - quick, easy and free. http://uk.docs.yahoo.com/trueswitch2.html - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Point ground without pins - Downton lace
Pompi has asked me to forward this to the list - at last a definitive answer on this, at least for one major type of pg lace. [EMAIL PROTECTED] "Re point Ground with out pins - Downton Lace -there are a number of prickings with out pinholes in the ground in the collection of Downton Lace prickings at Salisbury Museum, one is on a pillow in the process of being worked. Some of the prickings have occasional pinholes in the ground area to support longer rows. Working ground without pins is much quicker but careful attention must be taken over tension so the lines of ground do not sag. Pompi Parry" ___ Yahoo! Photos NEW, now offering a quality print service from just 8p a photo http://uk.photos.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Pricking point ground in Bucks.
As ever, Miss Channer has some interesting side-lights on this. It's on p.70 of her "Practical Lacemaking", but unfortunately not one of the sections that made it into the second edition. It is a warning against automatically truing up all old patterns on a totally regular grid. "The pricking of old Buckinghamshire narrow edgings is difficult to copy because towards the head of the lace the rows of holes are usually placed closer together in order to get a less pointed effect in the geometrical forms which characterise them. The simple fan pattern [the standard cloth fan with curved headside in virtually all beginners' Bucks books] would be too long and pointed to look well if drawn on the net as it stands. Towards the head the rows are placed nearer together to obtain a more square effect. The ground then approximates to a Torchon pricking and does not look so well when worked, the holes appearing to be long instead of round, but only a little of it shows between the cloth work fans and the defect is passed over for the sake of obtaining the pleasanter effect in the geometrical pattern". I personally find the most efficient way of working the ground is to do a row without pins, then put them in, checking that the stitches look (or rather feel) ok, and then, as already recommended, removing pins that are so out of place that they distort the ground. One of the problems, or rather features, of floral Bucks is that the cloth pins are not usually on the ground grid, so leaving out all of the ground pins and relying on cloth pins to keep the lines straight won't work. I have not seen an old pillow with Bucks on it without the sea of pins either in real life or a photo; has anyone else? I strongly suspect that the prickings without pins in the ground were for a plaited ground, such as Mechlin or Valenciennes, where the more stable nature of the ground avoided this problem. [EMAIL PROTECTED], returning to his tangram, one of the many things to do for the Lace Guild Durham convention... ___ Win a BlackBerry device from O2 with Yahoo!. Enter now. http://www.yahoo.co.uk/blackberry - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: Ivory bobbins
Reading the quotation of David Springett's comment that ivory may have been used for "ladies'" bobbins reminds me of a favourite remark by the Miss Tebbs in their "The Art of Bobbin Lace" of 1907 - an excellent instruction book, if not quite in comprehensible English all the time. "... the bobbins should be the shape of the illustrations on page 2, the ivory bobbins taking precedence over the wooden variety, being prettier to look at, pleasanter to handle and emitting a more decided clicking sound as they glide quickly into place, than the wooden bobbins, though for practical purposes these latter are just as good". They were writing for ladies! ... though the products of their teaching were excellent. [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Yahoo! Messenger - NEW crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Footside on left or right
Alice wrote on 9 January "There can be a problem with some laces that use gimp. Someone once reported that a pattern was almost impossible to do, as printed in a book. The answer was that it was printed upside down. When turned around, the gimp movements were possible." As Steph noted on 11 January, you don't need a gimp for this problem to arise either. Floral Bucks is certainly one lace where up-ending a pattern with the footside on the "wrong" side doesn't always work; you should mirror-image it. Generally, start at the top of the flower or sprig, and end with the stalk. However, this can apply in well-designed patterns, for example, handkerchief edgings, which to the innocent eye look symmetrical around a central reverse. Good examples are on pages 128 and 142 of Pamela Nottingham's "The Technique of Bucks Point Lace". It's usually at the nook pins where the differences have been introduced, so mainly a gimp problem. I generally work with the footside on the right, certainly for Bucks point, but with it on the left for early forays into Flandern and point de Paris. I think there can be a practical difference in working the different ways, though I'm not sure whether it really matters. I've virtually always ended up with the main angle of work top right to bottom left, whichever side the footside was on. Assuming that the bulk of the design is on the headside, and net on the footside, with the footside on the right, the net works into the cloth (or whatever), while with the footside on the left, it works out of the cloth. The picture of a pillow with work in progress in "La Dentelle de Bayeux a l'ecole de Rose Durand" by J Potin and MC Nobecourt on page 41 shows the same line of work, with the footside on the left, of course. The only diagrams in Shelly Canning's "32 Downton Lace Patterns" which show a working angle, nos. 27 and 30, are the same. Has anyone noticed this, or is it just me being awkward? Can it make a difference to tensioning, or anything else that might matter? It's nothing to do with spangled/unspangled bobbins, as I use unspangled S Bucks bobbins for Bucks. Baffled, but interested [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo! Security Centre. http://uk.security.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Rose patterns
As I write, I'm looking at a collection of 12 of them (I hope - haven't anticipated the pleasures to come by turning the pages) - this year's Lace Guild Calendar! [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Win a BlackBerry device from O2 with Yahoo!. Enter now. http://www.yahoo.co.uk/blackberry - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: woollen lace (long)
Just adding a few odds and ends to this thread. My favourite book on knitted Shetland lace is "Shetland Lace" by Gladys Amedro, published by the Shetland Times in , ISBN 0 900662 89 1. In addition to lovely shawls in cobweb and thicker wool, there is a christening robe (which matches one of the shawls), and a baby's lace jacket and bonnet, and woman's skirt. I found the instructions very clear and well laid out, and so easy to follow. One interesting innovation is the order of working for the shawls; you do the border first, join it then pick up stitches from the inside edge and work round, initially on a circular needle, in ever-decreasing circles. This works well psychologically, as the boring bit is done first with enthusiasm to get on to the interesting bit, then you have long rounds to get the patterns into your mind (or fingers, where I seem to keep my best brain cells), and as impatience sets in, the rounds are going quicker. Mechanically, it avoids any harsh sewn joins. While some have criticised it as "not traditional" Jamieson & Smith think highly of it, which is good enough for me! It also pleases those who (unlike me) are happiest using circular needles. When it comes to making bobbin lace with wool, the UK Lace Guild has produced what I think is an excellent leaflet - just a sheet of A4 printed on both sides. It gives a brief history of wool lace in England, going back to the Burial in Wool Act of 1666, then practical hints on how to go about it today. It aims at Torchon-style work using double knitting wool (the UK term for what I think is called "worsted yarn" in the US) and suggests how to make the prickings and at what scale, and what bobbins and pillows to use or improvise. It includes a warning that using mohair can seriously mess up every other lace pillow in sight with stray fibres. Could I add, from personal experience, that you get the same effect from knitting a jumper in an alpaca/wool mix, even if it is a noble enterprise in these days of mini-ice ages produced by global warming, and gas shortages and price-hikes due to politics! It ends with a section on adapting this sort of work for people with limited sight or dexterity, and even how sewings can be made with fingers in suitable pieces. I have spoken to the Hollies, and they are prepared to send a copy out free with any other order, or, if you are resisting the January Sale, they will send one out free in return for a stamped addressed envelope (which will have to be C5 or bigger) for UK addresses, or two international mail coupons for others. One final point - the leaflet mentions that in the 19th century, woollen bobbin lace of the Cluny/Torchon style was called yak in England, and lama or poil de chevre in Le Puy, but was in fact long-staple Yorkshire wool or the French equivalent. This was "worsted" spun - nothing to do with the US use for thickness, but meaning combed and carded to make a strong yarn with very few loose fibres (unlike my alpaca, or indeed normal woollen-spun yarn). This is still made in the UK as Guernsey 5-ply, and is used for fisherman-style jumpers; I have just finished a jumper (or gansey , to use the ethnic phrase). In US terms, the thickness is in fact sports weight. It is very firm, and I suspect would give a satisfactory hard-wearing shawl in bobbin lace. It is difficult to get hold of; the small wool shops don't seem to stock it. The main spinner, Wendy, tend to have only a very dark navy blue or white by the kilo, though there has been a red at least. The smaller suppliers do produce a colour range albeit aimed at jumper-knitters, and may do smaller quantities. [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Yahoo! Exclusive Xmas Game, help Santa with his celebrity party - http://santas-christmas-party.yahoo.net/ - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: Angels
With apologies for the delay (but possibly a project for next year?) - another source of angel bodies and patterns is the UK Lace Guild, where a body and two patterns are available for GBP1. HQ is now closed until the New Year, but details of how to order and pay are on the website - http://www.laceguild.org. With best wishes to all for Xmas - or other relevant festival - and 2006 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Yahoo! Exclusive Xmas Game, help Santa with his celebrity party - http://santas-christmas-party.yahoo.net/ - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Cockfosters Lace Day
Dear Bridget and all in SE England Here are details of next year's Cockfosters Lace Day. It will be held as usual at: Oakwood Methodist Church Westpole Avenue Cockfosters Barnet EN4 On Saturday 11th February from 10am-4pm. Speaker...Jacqui Barber. Suppliers, Raffle, Refreshments (including cake made by me - Dundee with added vitamins, from the rum bottle!) Tickets £5 from (SAE please) Jo Siney 115 Whitley Road Hoddesdon Herts EN11 0PS [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo! Security Centre. http://uk.security.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Books
Just a quick reminder of one source of lace books - the Lace Guild sells off some books donated for funding purchases of books for its library, etc. The current list is on the website, under "lace suppliers" - "books" - "second hand books". You can order over the telephone or by e-wise, using a credit card. Prices quoted do not include postage from the UK. Examples of current offerings which may be of interest are the first of Suzanne Thompson's Honiton books, "Introduction to Honiton Lace" (hard back) at GBP10, and Pamela Nottingham's "Technique of Bucks Point Lace" (the one some of us rave over every few months! - also hard back) at GBP25. [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos http://uk.photos.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Spin and ply
Just to pass on a thought on this. I was told by a Shetland spinner and lace-knitter that the skill in producing the yarn was to ply the spun threads in such a way that the fibres twisted one way by the initial spin were sent back the other way in the plying, so that they ran down the length of the thread. This might overcome some of the overtwisting or unravelling effects noted. It would not affect the direction of the fibres themselves in wool or linen, and of course, cobweb thread itself is unplied. It hadn't occurred to me until mentioned, but the "part" laces, like Honiton and Duchesse, and any lace where the bobbins are wound in pairs, or wound separately, knotted together, and the knot wound back, would automatically have as many threads pointing north as south, so the effect could not be too serious! [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos http://uk.photos.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Donations of books and lace
July's "Lace" arrived today, and obviously I most enjoyed the picture of ME holding (someone else's, I'm afraid) knitted table cloth. Fortunately, there are other things for those who prefer the aesthetically pleasing! In addition, the Chairman's letter does give the Lace Guild's general policy on donations, which is made clear to potential donors before anything is accepted. If books are duplicates of common books already held, or similar, then they may be sold, the proceeds going to fund new purchases. The books available are of course listed on the Guild's website. This gives the lace world a double benefit - the books do go to a lacemaker who wants them, and the Guild can acquire other books and make them available to members to borrow. Lace for the collection is accepted on similar terms, with the same effect. Once in the Guild's collection it is protected by the UK's laws governing museums - the Guild has museum status - and these seem to be far more strict and effective than the US's (one reason why more care is needed in deciding what to take into the collection). [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos http://uk.photos.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Chinese lacemaker
Dear Tess Don't know the picture you have in mind, but there is a photograph of a Miao lady from China woking on a wooden stool with bamboo bobbins weighted with coins (spangles!!). She is making a fine silk braid for use in embroidery - her sleeves are decorated with this work. There is no pillow, but on the facing page is a lady from Oman working a braid in white cotton, using a small bolster (khajuja), which looks very like those we used in Prague, on a practical-looking stand. She is simply using cotton reels with a half hitch to hold the thread - that's what to do if you don't like winding bobbins! The book is "Braids & Beyond - A Broad Look at Narrow Wares" from a Braid Society Exhibition, by Jacqui Carey. ISBN 0-9523225-4-4. Her website www.careycompany.com sells it. I find it fascinating, with several techniques clearly explained, several with interesting parallels with bobbin lace; one can only speculate as to whether cross-fertilisation or common solutions to similar tasks. Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2005 20:57:30 -0400 From: Tess Parrish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [lace] chinese lacemaker (?) There is an early line drawing or perhaps woodcut of a Chinese lacemaker (or maybe she's doing a form of macrame) which I have seen in several books. She is perched on a bench with one foot drawn up, sitting in front of a loom-like structure with her threads attached to weights of some sort. I was hoping to copy it for the Professor, but for the life of me I can't find it now. Does anyone know what I am talking about? I know I have seen it here in something that was on my table, but I had to move everything aside in order to set up rollaway beds, and it will take hours of cleaning out to put everything to rights. So if anyone can help, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks. Tess ([EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ How much mail storage do you get for free? Yahoo! Mail gives you 1GB! Get Yahoo! Mail http://uk.mail.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Exhibitions in the UK
Just a short note of a couple of lace exhibitions in the UK (actually England). There is an exhibition of work by Brooklands College, City and Guilds students, studying embroidery at Henrietta Parker Centre, East Molesey and lace students from Camberley Centre. It's at Weybridge Library, Church Street, Weybridge Surrey KT13 8DE. It's open 10-4 12,15 and 16 July, and 10-1 13 July; closed Thursday. Some of the work is by Ann Day's students, and I am assured some very spectacular large-scale needle lace. The Lace Guild's exhibition "Today and Yesterday" opens at Dudley Museum and Art Gallery on 16 July, closing 10 September, open 10-4 Mon-Sat. More details on the Lace Guild website of course (www.laceguild.org), under events, with a link on how to get there. There's a talk on Sat 6 August at 1:00, and children's workshops on 24 and 31 August at various times during the day. [EMAIL PROTECTED] London, UK ___ Yahoo! Messenger - NEW crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: V&A and pins
Dear Michelle and all Glad you had a good time at the V&A; what's closed there (and it was still closed this afternoon) is the lace room, which has the choicest pieces out in display cases with a information about them; there certainly is plenty to see, but the best is not readily available now. I was there for the Costume Society annual symposium, good as ever, but little on lace as the topic was textiles and jewellery. However, there was one interesting side-light on an old topic which recently surfaced again: pins. The after dinner entertainment was the dressing of Elizabeth I, and for the purposes of clothing herself, not making clothes, it seems she bought pins by the thousands, literally. Obviously, she was a wealthy lady, but then lace was then a luxury good, so presumably if someone thought it could be produced more efficiently by investing in pins, it would have been done. Not solid evidence, but I still find it difficult to believe that workers of the best lace had to manage with fewer pins than they would have wanted. Of course, it is possible that it took time before someone decided to use pins at every crossing, but that's another matter. [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos http://uk.photos.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: lace on show in the UK
Just to add to Laurie's posting - it is wise to check with sites what's available and when. On the plus side, with notice you may gain access to a reserve collection. The real reason though for posting this is that the V&A's lace room (and some other textile rooms) are closed at present, for the foreseeable future. There have been thefts from the showcases, so they need replacements and upgrades, a major project. Don't know if any lace went. Obviously, there's plenty of costume with lace to see in the general galleries, such as the fashion court and the British galleries, and you'd have to be a very limited individual not to enjoy a day there looking at something, but it is as well to know in advance! Also, not all museums with lace collections are as well furnished with alternatives if the lace is not available. [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos http://uk.photos.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: scrolls and ties
I've been reading the instructions and hints on scrolling the Milanese/duchesse method with great interest, and thanks to all providing them. I too hope to do better next time I try - I seem to get a series of holes just inside the outside edge, which I don't like in a naturalistic pattern. I tend to make the best of a bad job by using a pivot, which can be neat if you are very careful with esing the pairs towards the outside of the curve. Horses for courses, and do what works for you. I think the same applies to ties after making the outside edge up to help the current passives stay put. Use a tie if you need to, and feel it helps the general effect on balance, and otherwise don't. One tip I was given some time ago, and have forgotten source, is that it may be sufficient just to twist the workers once instead of tying them. This often does work for me - it provides just the support needed without the little bump of a full tie. [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos http://uk.photos.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: Matisse exhibition and lace
The EG review is illustrated
> with 5 color photographs:
> a French toile de jouy, embroidered Romanian peasant
> blouse, Turkish woman's
> robe, North African pierced and appliqued hanging,
> plus a painting "Decorative
> Figure on an Ornamental Background - 1926". The
> reviewer says the show
> reveals textiles as an intrinsic element previously
> neglected in the analysis of
> this much-studied artist, and now Matisse's love of
> textiles is set to take
> center stage in the reassessment of one of modern
> art's greatest founding fathers.
>
> The catalog by Spurling "Matisse, His Art and His
> Textiles: The Fabric of
> Dreams" was published by Royal Academy Publications
> in 2004, 0-9039734-6-5,
> hardback, 40 pounds (probably around $75-$80 in
> U.S.) The big question is
> whether there is any lace in his collection? This
> book may already be in the
> bookshops of the Baltimore Museum of Art and the
> Metropolitan Museum of Art.
>
Dear Jeri
I am afraid there is no lace; the selection printed by
the EG is a good summary - though the pattern books
from the weaving firms are very impressive, the
interest is mainly colour and design, and there are
some couture garments that appear in his work as well,
and the ecclesiastical vestments. It is an
understatement to say that for anyone interested in
Matisse or textiles, the exhibition is more than worth
while, and it makes the influence of his textiles on
his paintings obvious now, though I'd never noticed it
before! Hilary Spurling points out that the late
paper-cutouts he used show a dressmaker's skill with
scissors. The African wall hangings ("haiti") could
inspire lace - they are coloured cotton fabrics
appliqued to sack cloth and pierced, in some cases the
holes being bound. Techniques possibly of broderie
Anglaise or Richelieu work, but results not!
In the UK, as is often the case with exhibitions
especially at the Royal Academy, a paperback version
of the catalogue is available, but only at the
gallery. The paper just as good as the hardback, and
it is well bound. It's about half the price of the
hardback (I paid GBP19.95, with discount), so it might
be worth discovering if you'll be able to get it in
the US at the exhibition.
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Re: [lace] Re: Weldon's numberings
--- Barbara Ballantyne <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > It was a very interesting topic as so many books > and magazines were > undated and some illustrious names were included on > the books published many > years after the lady had died. I suspect this was in part so that they could continue to sell magazine which would otherwise seem to be out of date! Weldon's certainly kept theirs in print while they were continuing publishing, as did the Manchester School of Needlework (after the first few were allowed to go out of print). It surprises me that with our ability to store on disc publishers of monthly magazines do not similarly keep all back-numbers available, but they don't! Leonard Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: Weldon's numberings
Weldon's started publishing their Practical Needlework magazines in 1886, producing one a month on various crafts, and issuing each year's in sequentially numbered volumes. Vol 10 was published in 1895. So far, so logical. Unfortunately, the separate monthly instalments were numbered by topic, so Point Lace Second Series (say) could have been published any time after the first, making it very difficult to date the separate monthly issues. In July 1915, when you would have thought the best minds were occupied elsewhere, they started indicating the months on the cover, as 7/15. They kept old numbers in print, good for us, but not for dating! All this from "A History of Hand Knitting" by Richard Rutt, who has sorted out when the knitting magazines were published. [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 21:03:35 -0400 > From: "Jane Viking Swanson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [lace] Weldon's reprints > > Hi All, At the IOLI Convention last year I got > Volume 10 > of the Weldon's Practical Needlework series that > Piecework magazine is > reprinting. This one finally has Point Lace in it > (grandmother to > Battenberg/Tape Lace). However, there is > no date. They give the general dates but Weldon's > printed > booklets on many different needlework techniques > throughout > the year. I think it's probably from around 1898. > Does anyone > have any idea about when Weldon's published the > compendiums? Sometimes ads > in old magazines are for the new volume available. Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Hitches and winding bobbins
"When I wind the bobbins for her, they are better behaved but, as soon as she has done some reverse lace, and rewound the bobbins, the problem comes back. Maybe I ought to let her use the 'class bobbin winder' and see if it does in fact make a difference. I don't think it is the left-handed versus right-handed scenario - but anything is possible, I suppose!" "she's not - I hope - winding overhand, but rolling the bobbin as she should and a winder might help her there" I strongly suspect Tamara has once again put her finger on the problem here - the lady must be winding on the thread, not turning the bobbin, putting extra twists on the thread, making it springier and so throwing its hitch. Obviously, she can't use the winder to shorten a thread lengthened by gniecal, so she may have to follow your suggestions rather than know better than teacher! You did mention she can't see the point of keeping the threads the same length. A tidy desk may be the symptom of an empty mind, but a neat lace pillow is a pleasure to work on as well as to see! Perhaps winding ribbon on a reel and reeling ribbon may convince? [EMAIL PROTECTED], who has just completed his 7 with 7 threads for the Lace Guild AGM this weekend. Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Princess Anne to visit Honiton Museum
For anyone in the area (possibly after the Lace Guild AGM in Bristol the day before?), Princess Anne is visiting Honiton Museum on Monday 11 April. In addition to seeing the permanent exhibitions of lace and local history, there will be an exhibition relating to Honiton lace made for royalty put on specially for her. It will be left for viewing by the general public for the rest of that day only, after she has left. This should be by 2:00; obviously, the museum will be closed to the public before then. The Museum, as planned and promised, will be open on the 9th and 10th, to allow visits from delegates to the Lace Guild AGM, but will appear closed on the Sunday, due to preparations for the Monday. I understand that knocking on the side door will gain access for serious lace people! The museum's website is www.honitonmuseum.co.uk, and it can be contacted on [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] UK Lace Guild AGM 8/10 April
Just a short note on the Lace Guild AGM in Bristol on 8-10 April; there is to be a message board, which should allow Arachnes to make contact. I suspect a good time to meet up would be at the fork buffet/lace in on the Friday evening, when we'll be able to see each other and our work. I'll be the one with the Arachne badge and Adam's apple, either knitting or making needle lace. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Lead-weighted bobbins
The Springett's collection included "weighted lignum vitae bobbins, 19th century, large bolbous bobbins whith compartments which unscrew, believed to have been used to make gold lace for vestments at York Minster", no.643 in the auction catalogue, p.74 in "Success to the Lace Pillow". These are not square at all, but look like large Belgian bobbins. Metal thread would be another candidate for extra-heavy bobbins, I suppose. These have not got the hooked tops so many of us find an improvement when using metal threads. Leonard Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Stitch density in needle lace
Dear Devon I suspect the original table you were recalling was in Pat Earnshaw's "Bobbin & Needle Laces - Identification and Care", which tabulates this for various laces, and includes the figure of 10,000, though not for gros point. Her figures are based on averaging counts in 1/8 inch squares, so are more reliable than some of the over-romanticised exaggerated versions one gets! For the record, her counts of stitches per square inch are: Venetian gros point, 17th cent - 6,300 Reseau Venise, beg. 18th cent - 10,000 English needle lace, 17th cent - 2,000 Hollie point, early 18th cent - 3,000 Alencon, early 18th cent - 4,500 Burano, 1930s - 1,700 Singapore needle lace, 1982 - 380 19th cent Viennese copies of 17th cent Venetian gros point - 2,000-4,000. The book was published in 1983, so the Singapore lace was presumably her latest acquisition. Notes - 17th cent is 1600-1699 etc, and a square inch is about 6.45 square cms, or 2.54 cm square. You need one of her books to see exactly what she means by Reseau Venise and English needle lace. All the best for 2005 Leonard ___ ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Circular knitting
Dear Steph Assuing your friend simply needs a full-sized circular needle - a 100cm one more than takes enough for a 45" square shawl, and far more than can be crammed safely or not on a set of 5 16" wires (personal experience!). However, she may find a tip of E Zimmermann's useful: run a thread through the work a little way below the stitches, and draw it together to compact the stitches on the needle. Can't speak from personal experience there. BTW, the shawl I'm working on has not been finished, but it's worked by knitting the border first, a long strip on 10-14 stitches, and then 768 stitches from the inside side of it are picked up on the circular needle, and you work from the outside in, decreasing at the corners, and eventually do have to finish up on a set of 5 needles. I've found a 60cm circular needle more than enough, even without the draw-string. I understand the way of working is not traditional, but it's from Gladys Amedro's book published by the Shetland Times, so good enough for those south of Watford! It has the advantage of doing the longest work first, when you need the practice to get used to the pattern, then speeding up as the rows shortern as patience goes, and no boring border at the end (of course, you do have to do it at the beginning...) All the best for 2005 Leonard ___ ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Price and value of lace
Dear Lorelei and all It's not often I jump in on any thread without mulling it over for a week at least, but in this case I do feel strongly enough to do so. Of course I agree that second hand lace is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, and that lace sold by the maker should provide a proper return for the time and materials. I also think of lace in general as craft not art, though admittedly I fail to see how that downgrades it. BUT surely the price of some lace made now should reflect its instrinsic value as well? A unique specially designed item, like a couture frock or an artisan pot, should reflect at least the scarcity value of the art and craft skills used to make it. By all means cost out a standard torchon or Bucks edging or anything I'm capable of at a penny a pin (or whatever), but some current work is surely above that, even with design time included? Examples from the visit to the Czech Republic and Arachne members' webs sites spring to mind... Wishing all a happy 2005 [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Bucks pattern and threads
Firstly, apologies - I think my machine may have sent the digest to which I was responding as a reply (I suppose some of the blame is mine, but it should know me better by now - Tamara's views on technology are endorsed). Now what I meant to send: Dear Evelynn As the replies to date have made clear, it really is a case of finding a thread that works for you, and that is a personal preference, and also depends on what you want the lace for. If it's for a mat, then a firmer thread would be better than for the handkerchief. If you were making a length to be gathered round the edge of a dress or similar (which is probably what the original unit was for) a finer thread may give a better result - though it would be a shame not to use the corner devised, which I think is very successful. Equally though I think it would look more attractive with a bit of gather rather than being laid out starched stiff as a board for display, even on the bride's handkerchief - we do sometimes forget that the beauty of some of the old patterns comes from how they should be used, and being laid out for photography isn't the only way! The pattern itself is geometric, and has no whole stitch except the headside and footside passives, which would make it limper than otherwise. The gimp is a key element in the pattern, and needs to be got right for you - if I were working a length of this, and didn't like the effect of the gimp in the first head or two, I'd certainly start again. I use coton perle for Bucks gimps, and my first bash at this would be with 12, for the lighter effect. The version in the book seems to use a lighter gimp than in other similar patterns (eg ships a sailing, p.26, and pisces, p.28. If you prefer the heavier look, I'd try 8 as the first attempt. For thread, I would not mourn the passing of DMC retors 60. As others have noted, retors d'Alsace has been bettered in recent years, though some time ago it was the thread of choice. DMC still produce the 50 count, I think, which may in any case suit you if you want a firmer thread. The name was changed to DMC broder machine, and when I last got any, the 25g spools were the equivalent of retors, while the smaller 500m spools replaced the brillante d'Alsace, and retained that thread's shinier finish. For this sort of pattern, I would in fact use Unity 150; I have an industrial cop of it, and a set of bobbins wound with it, so availability's not a problem! It does produce a good crisp effect, and I think works well on geometric patterns, especially with less rather than more cloth areas. I don't think it works well for floral with irregular cloth areas, where its excellent finish is a disadvantage - it shows up every irregularity, and total lack of fuzz - it's a plum, not a peach! - is a disadvantage. I haven't used dragonfly myself, but have seen Mrs Ford's samples, and it looked as good. She at one stage had worked up a pattern in several of the then available threads, and it really did show the differences, and interestingly different people preferred different threads. For floral, I prefer Egyptian, which while well-finished, does have a little fluff to it, and go for finer (120) rather than thicker, which suits the patterns I like, and gives me the fine net and the opportunity to add and throw out without thickening up the cloth too much but keeping it looking regular. Horses for courses, and in my case, a bit of lazyness/economy - I use S Bucks bobbins, and am not rewinding them with different threads! Not sure which bit of the pattern you're concerned about - perhaps if you gave the details we could advise? The pricking and diagram look fine to me, without working through them on a pillow. I really don't think it would fail to hold together. The few patterns I have used from this book have worked well, problems being my fault not the authors'! The only point I would reconsider is how to work the fingers in gimp. My personal instinct would be not to secure them with ground stitches, but use either honeycomb (as shown in pisces) or cloth (as shown in ships). These, especially the latter, would firm up the lace a bit, which you seem to like. Similarly, the headsides in those three patterns are worked differently, and I would happily use a different one in any of the patterns if I preferred the result (or found it easier...) though here I think, as usual, they've used the right one for the right pattern. Really, in all this it's a case of trying out and working from experience, so hope mine is of some use, but obviously only suggestions. Do let us know what you decide, and how it works. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: lace-digest V2004 #355
--- lace-digest <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > lace-digest Wednesday, October 27 2004 > Volume 2004 : Number 355 > > > > In this issue: > > [lace] Springett's bobbin sale > [lace] Postage Stamps > [lace] RE: digital cameras > [lace] Pattern Issue > Re: [lace] RE: digital cameras > [lace] Digital Cameras > [lace] digital cameras, general thanks and answer > Re: [lace] Pattern Issue > Re: [lace] digital cameras, general thanks and > answer > [lace] Springett Bobbin Auction. > [lace] antique bobbins > [lace] FW: Auction at Sotheby's > [lace] catalogue > [lace] Springett Bobbin Auction - American info > Re: [lace] Pattern Issue > > Note: To unsubscribe from the digested form of the > list you must > unsubscribe lace-digest [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- > > Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 16:50:31 -0400 > From: "Jane Viking Swanson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [lace] Springett's bobbin sale > > Hi Laurie and All, There was an ad on page 31 of > the Fall IOLI > Bulletin about the sale. It's at Sotheby's in > London on Dec. 15th. > The URL to look at the bobbins is: > > www.antiquestradegazette.com > > They do have phone numbers and an e-mail address > too. If you > want those let me know. > > Jane in Vermont, USA about to go rake some of the > "beautiful" > leaves . > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > - - > To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > containing the line: > unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write > to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- > > Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2004 12:51:19 +1000 > From: "Elizabeth Ligeti" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [lace] Postage Stamps > > Helene, how do you get your Overseas mail posted > with a variety of stamps on > it? Since the GST came in, there are special stamps > (GST free) for Overseas > mail, and local, stamps are illegal on overseas > mail. Our P.O. won't let > you post overseas with anything but the 'Proper" > International stamps on. > > > Dianna, your tatting Zoo is great, and I love the > use of the multicoloured > thread. Well Done. > > from Liz in Melbourne, Oz, where it is a cold, wet > and windy, wild day > today. > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > - - > To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > containing the line: > unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write > to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > -- > > Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 21:17:35 -0600 > From: "Helen Bell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: [lace] RE: digital cameras > > I have to say that I have 2 excellent cameras. > > My first love is my Canon EOS Rebel, a 35mm, which > serves me very well. > It will do macros for me, plus portraits, > landscapes, and sports shots, > and I can use auto or manual focus, and I have a > variety of lenses for > it. I've done some delayed photography with it at > night in the winter, > to get pictures of our Christmas lights (yes, I go > out and stand in the > snow - if we have it - to get the shots), and whilst > I have some > ordinary shots from it, I've also taken some > fabulous ones of flora and > lace, and other things - but it's usually 1 or 2 > shots per roll that > turn out great. I do a little scrapbooking, and now > I'm past my phobia > of taking scissors to my photos, I can turn an OK > photo into something > better. > > But, for my Big 4-0 this year, DH bought me a Fuji > S7000 Finepix digital > camera, and I really like it. I take tons of > photos, and I can just > shoot and dump to my pc, deleting the bad pics. It > does macro and > supermacro - to within 1cm (stunning for lace!), and > shoots in chrome, > colour and b&W, and can shoot in a variety of modes > up to 12 megapixels, > so to get a print quality photo is easy. He bought > the extra card for > it, and I can shoot up to 500+ pics at 3 megapixels. > It also shoots > movies (short ones - I burnt 2 1/2 minutes of movie > last week when the > Colorado National Guard landed a chopper at my kids > school). > > I've noticed that the last few times we've had team > photos taken of DS's > baseball teams, the photographers have had digital > cameras, and the > results have been very acceptable. I think a number > of studios use them > now to take the mug shots for student ID's at > school, and also the > commercial places like kiddie candids (or whoever > they are) use digital > as well. They then add borders and all sorts of > post photo stuff prior > to printing. > > Part of me still prefers the 35mm, as it just > appeals to the more > traditional part of me, and the photos are on > emulsion, and not ink on > paper. But by the same token, with the digital you > don't have negatives > to get damaged by processors, thereby preventing > reprints (happened to > me - can't get a reprint of one shot I want to > frame, as the idiots > scratched the neg down to the emulsion). You can > get very good little > digital
[lace] Re: lace in London
As Brenda noted, >There's very little of anything lace related in central London, other than the V&A museum, and lace days mostly stop during December /January.> However, Luton and Bedford are readily accessible on the Thameslink train, at Kings Cross and other Central London stations, and are well worth visiting for the lace collections. The main one at Bedford is the Cecil Higgins, with the superb Thomas Lester collection, but the town museum (very close) is also worth a visit. Cramming in both places on a day might be possible, but either place would make a good leisurely day out, and both should be on the list. As Brenda noted, London is not that good a place for buying lace supplies, so possibly just use your base for poste restante from UK suppliers, to save on postage. [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Mixed laces
Lise-Aurore said " I'm thinking of mixing bobbin lace and needlelace. Here's the question. Let's say I'm making a Russian-type lace doily, and have made the tape/braid in 60/2 linen. Sould I decide to make needlelace inside the doily, what size of thread would I use to make the needlelace? Do I use the same size of thread, or a thread slightly smaller?" I played around with working needle lace fillings in Bruges some time ago, so much the same technical issue, though in 50/2 linen. Basically, I'm not that fond of couching needle lace at the beginning, and oversewing at the end, nor of Bruges fillings (not much variety, and too many pairs constantly being added and thrown out - Russian chain lace seems to have solved that issue), so this seemed to get the best of both worlds. I did use the same thread, and that seemed to work, but the main problem was getting the balance in the weight of the design. The filling stitches needed to be very bold to stand up to the outline, so they really needed to be very solid, and the patterned ones made up of blocks of twisted stitches, not just plain loops. Nets of buttonholed bars (sort of Argentan ground) worked well. Using finer threads only made this worse, and thicker made it all too "clunky". The other point was that the footside of the tape needed consideration. For some fillings, a border of open twisted needlelaace stitches round the tape was needed to set off a solidish filling. What I actually did was make the tape in the usual way, then take it off the pillow and tack it onto the folded calico(UK)/muslin(US) and work on that. Several fillings were cut out... You may have to make samples before committing to a major project. Having tried it and got it out of my system, I decided against making a major project! I think these mixed laces are more "Fitz" than mongrel, ie highclass illegitimate - after the now aristocratic families descended from an English royal mistress. Using bobbin tapes with needle fillings goes back to the seventeenth century, and by the next century (not sure when it started) needle- as well as bobbin-made motives were being applied to drochel (bobbin-made net). This was replaced very quickly by machine net when it became available, though for some reason, bobbin-made Honiton was sometimes grounded on a needle-made net. For 21st century developments of these techniques, there is Ann Collier's work, most notably, I think, in her "Lace Fans" (Batsfords, ISBN 0713487348). She mixes different lace techniques very freely. One "standard" way is to have needle-made figures or flowers or whatever grounded with bobbin lace, where she has used very varied nets to great effect. She also works bobbin lace fan leaves, and just applies needle lace figures to them. In some, the background of the scene (houses etc) are also in bobbin lace, and the different qualities of the two techniques works well to make them the background. She doesn't give many details of the threads used, though the general impression is that in this sort, the background bobbin lace is worked in slightly finer threads than the needle lace. I suspect at this level of working you would have to do a lot of sampling to get a successful result from cold! [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Chantilly/point ground
The latest OIDFA magazine has arrived, and has a fascinating article in it which does answer some of the things I was querying in the earlier posting on point ground laces. Claire le Goaziou describes a sample book of black and white silk point ground lace from Grenoble from a school operating between 1772 and 1791. The samples have a lot of ground with smallish designs. Gimps are used, but the solid areas seem to be worked in the same thread as is used for the ground, not with the gimp, so although the lace is called white or black blonde (it's one way of confusing people!) it is not at all like the black and white blondes of 50 or so years later, with very bold separate motives worked with gimps as weavers. The solid bits on the black lace do look as though they are make in half stitch, though this is not mentioned, but the white cloth is said to be in cloth stitch (the photo is not clear enough to see.) The black thread is generally thicker, the gimp being a bundle of these threads, sometimes plaited. Again, the grounds are different. The white is said to be honeycomb and point ground (I am not sure if the honeycomb is with the full and gap rows, or honeycomb stitch at every hole on a point ground grid - point vitre, not point ferme, in Bayeux-speak). The black ground is said mainly to be Paris ground/kat stitch - "seemingly worked without a pricking judging by the mistakes!" - and point ground. I should have thought that these differences would have been driven purely by the look of the result. To put the icing on the cake, there is a Chantilly pattern from Nathalie Grangeon, of a rather stylish leaf. The sample has half the ground in point ground, half in honeycomb/point vitre. It's fairly open, so could be kat stitch, but the holes in the lace look wrong for that. The diagram of the leaf suggests that pairs are added and thrown out of the half stitch at three-pair crossings, which looks very neat, and I'll certainly be trying it out where it might be useful in my Bucks or Beds! [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Diagrams again (long, I'm afraid)
As I was in at the beginning of the current round on the use of diagrams, in that it was triggered by Tamara commenting on my comments to her, but haven't actually posted on it, I thought I should set out what I was interested in, especially as the subsequent debate has illuminated some of it. I think it is fairly obvious that when it comes to showing how a particular stitch is done, or how some technique works, a standard diagram can be invaluable, and not using one where it is appropriate, on grounds of tradition or authenticity, is counter-productive and not very sensible at best. It is now as basic and useful as standard music notation is. For the sort of recording of laces that Jeri is interested in, it is nearly ideal, and it is nice to see (latest OIDFA magazine again) that they want to pursue her idea of establishing a standard "notation". The point I had picked on was the one Lorelei made explicitly, that it does depend on the lace. The extreme example is, I think, Torchon, where the designer, patternmaker and maker all can follow a standard to get the desired results. The designer may well work with and through diagrams, and the maker who wants to adapt or redesign a pattern is not going to be inhibited in any way by the diagram - indeed, it may well make it easier to substitute one stitch for another, or devise new stitches, and adapt a pattern for a different shape or width. Indeed, to continue the music metaphor, standard diagrams and Torchon go well together, as they provide most of the information needed. Some laces can be different - the order of working may be important, possibly the tension, and there are only a couple of basic stitches anyway - so a non-standard notation may be useful - rather as lute or guitar tablature instantly tells you not only the note, but which fret of which string to use, something which standard music does not do as well. I was considering what I think of as the other extreme, the "jazz" laces, where the standard notation may not be as appropriate to describe the whole piece, and the use of it may inhibit recreating works in the original tradition. This seems to me to be the case with the English East Midlands laces, where following diagrams for the whole piece (not just the odd tricky bit or unusual filling) stops the worker adapting to circumstances and adding and throwing out as needed. It's clear that the designers and patternmakers did not work from or even to diagrams. Anne Buck's "Thomas Lester" book makes this quite clear, showing old partly created patterns, with the motives outlined first, then the fillings put in, and only then the holes for the cloth, and then the ground. The ground grid would not necessarily be that of the fillings - in general, the angle is often different, and the ground can be on a larger scale. In the Paisley pattern in the "Art Trade or Mystery" book, the ground gets denser in the last inch and a half towards the footside - the pattern is ten inches at its widest. It looks very effective, must have been quite a challenge to work, and I really doubt if it would have been done on a pattern designed on a grid and produced with a full working diagram. Some lovely modern designs use the same grid for fillings and ground, and this can be a weakness; the honeycomb in a flower almost always looks better if on a finer grid and more acute angle, and certainly it is worth considering the effect of a change. The only really floral Bucks pattern in Miss Channer's book (which does use diagrams where appropriate) shows this; there are two repeats on the pricking and on the sample - and each repeat is different, and worked differently! It's in the original and revised editions of the book, and the differences are I think best seen in the leaf motive in the ground, though once you get your eye in, they can be seen elsewhere. And that's an instruction book for beginners! The original book is quite emphatic on the need to sort out what to do on the pricking as you go along, and to do "repeats" differently if it suits. This did not all survive into the later editions. Of course, using diagrams can help. My favourite example is the eagle cuff on pages 56 and 57 of Anne Buck's book. The worker clearly hadn't cracked the wheel ground until she'd worked a fair bit, and if someone had put something down on paper (or possibly even marked the pricking) it would not have been a problem. But you don't really notice that; what does strike is the liveliness of the working of the birds, with the denser and more open cloth and the veining giving them and the lace such life and spontaneity. I do feel the worker added to the designer's efforts like a jazz performer, and this dimension would be lost if a formal diagram had been produced and followed. Using our different threads, I suspect you would have to recreate to get the right effect rather than follow the original thread for thread. I think the main debate between Tamara and me
[lace] Chantilly etc
As I make Bucks point, but not Chantilly, I put forward my views on the debate on whole and half stitch in them with diffidence, but it seems to me that one point that has not been addressed is the difference made by working in black or white. One of the features of much white floral Bucks point is the contrast between the fairly firm cloth patterns and the light point ground, generally achieved by adding pairs as needed for the cloth (though sometimes you do have to add pairs for the ground to stop over large holes appearing by the cloth). Some patterns however have the flower petals or whatever worked empty, with the outlining gimp held in place by a couple of pairs of ordinary threads working honeycomb or possibly cloth stitches. These can have a tally in them, but not necessarily; in effect, the six-pin honeycomb ring of geometric Bucks going floral. The Lester Bucks unit I am tampering with at the moment is like this - it's from Anne Buck's "Thomas Lester, his Lace and the East Midlands Industry, 1820-1905", in the middle of page 22. I have been sent a copy of recent workings of this, one with the petals in cloth stitch, the other with gimp and honeycomb, and both look very effective. An original sample of a similar (but not identical) pattern on page 20 of the book shows the petals open, though leaves filled in, again looking good. The general impression I get is that the white Bucks point of this period does not use half stitch very much for the pattern, though it does for fillings; it's either cloth or open, with or without tallies. This, as Tamara points out, requires you to add and throw out pairs all the time, to keep the cloth "on grain" as much as thick, to avoid the holes that appear when threads move diagonally in cloth, virtually regardless of density. While she, and others, don't like doing this, it should be stressed that there is little problem in adding and throwing out in this type of work; the ends don't show, and nothing undoes if you take the minimum of care - you're generally throwing out from excessively dense cloth, so the pairs left hide the gap and hold the ends. Black point ground however looks far too dead if the solid bits are worked in cloth, and it seems that even in England if open "honeycomb rings" weren't used, half stitch was, for aesthetic reasons. Pam Nottingham states this, and shows a piece worked in whole stitch, which as she notes, would almost certainly gain form being worked in half stitch. As Tamara points out, there is much less need to add and throw out pairs using half stitch, and the further point is that it is harder - you generally have to add and throw out at the edge, whereas in cloth you can do so in the middle, so the technique suits the result needed - black lace and cloth stitch do not really go together. I get the impression that Chantilly also tends to keep threads in by carrying them with the gimp when not needed, which would avoid the problems of throwing out from half stitch. I get the impression that the English habit of using kat stitch instead of point ground in black lace, presumably to get a lighter effect, was not as standard in Chantilly - does anyone know if this was the case, or just me looking at untypical examples? Musing further, the first book on Bayeux Lace by Nobecourt and Potin, "Yesterday's Lace for Today" shows white Normandy point ground, and interestingly, the solid bits of the more geometric patterns are in half stitch, with additional pairs needed for the motives being carried around with the gimp. The book is based on an instruction book written by Rose Durand in 1919, and has pictures of her pillow as left when she died. That lace, very elegant, is in white, the leaves and most of the petals in half stitch, but some front petals in whole stitch, and some front sepals in whole stitch lightened by lines of twists on the workers - very effective. BTW, the second book, recently published, is "a l'ecole de Rose Durand". It has some extracts from her leaflet, but not a complete reprint, a picture of the lace pillow with the last piece, and some attractive more complex patterns. I don't think it has been translated into English, but even ignoring that, I think the first one is the one to go for, as it gives Mlle Durand's full book, which is not only (imho) excellent, but a historic document in itself. Interestingly, the only illustrations are of what the signs on the prickings for various stitches are, no diagrams as such. The book itself supplements them with diagrams, which seems to me (despite the recent debate, of which more anon) to be the only sensible thing to do, and also sets out a beginner's course using Mlle Durand's own samples and prickings to supplement her instruction book. The pillow shows a haze of threads from bobbins thrown out and brought in during the working, so she obviously had no problem with that. She actually added pairs simply by hanging them over a pin at the side, and plac
[lace] Art Trade or Mystery book
Some of us have mentioned the UK Lace Guild's/Pat Rowley's "Art Trade or Mystery - Lace and Lacemaking in Northamptonshire" as having a point ground paisley pattern in it, though as it's 8 inches wide, with a 4.5 inch repeat, possibly not something to be knocked off quickly for the top of a blouse! For those not familiar with it and interested in East Midlands lace, it could be worth considering, as it's got a lot more than that in it, and covers some things which do seem to strike a chord with Arachnes. I know the Lace Guild does take plastic payment, but of course postage etc could make it uneconomic; without that, it is I think good value. In addition to the paisley pattern, where there's an example of the lace, the pricking, and a postcard of the lady making it in about 1900, there's a tie-end pattern and picture of the result, about 6 inches wide, both suitable challenges for anyone looking for something to do after Miss Channer's mat! There are also several pages of samples both of Bucks and Beds narrow units, with a few prickings and diagrams for the Bucks ones, showing some interesting techniques. The Beds samples are particularly interesting, as being far better worked and more attractive than some of the Luton ones. The dealer, Stanton, obviously liked Beds in its own right, as shown by the picture of his garden gate! For those outside the UK, Northampton may be considered the third East Midlands county with a strong lace tradition with Bucks and Beds, and of course, to a varying degree, "Bucks" and "Beds" was made in all three in the days when lacemakers made what the wearers demanded, and there was none of this modern "tradition" saying that Bucks was just made in Buckinghamshire! The other sections of the book which may be of special interest is the information on the various Victorian ladies (and indeed some active in the last century) who kept lacemaking going through the Associations that marketed the lace made in the villages and by teaching the new generations. There are several newspaper articles and pictures of them and the makers, as well as biographical details. They were certainly women of strong character, and some of them seem to have lived nearly as interesting lives as Miss Channer. There is a picture of her lacemaking class in India, and a letter she sent from India ends up "...I still make lace, and find it an excellent occupation for jungle life." ! I still find it difficult to visualise Tarzan wearing a creation of Jane's... [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Address AutoComplete - You start. We finish. http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Bucks point pricking
Karisse The fillings in your mat are a variant of honeycomb with tallies, should be no problem, and what Pam Nottingham calls "hexagonal cloth". Details of how to work it are on page 153 of her "Technique of Bucks Point Lace", in my opinion by far the best book on true floral Bucks point. The mat is clearly based on a Luton museum pattern draft unit illustrated on page 80 of that book - not a Lester one, for once, but with the name Vincent on it. The filling is used in the mat shown being worked on the cover of the book - very effective, though very different from the version you used. However, as noted in the book, the pricking can be worked to give other fillings. I think you've done the proper traditional thing - get a pattern, try and work out what to do, and do it - if it looks good, do it again, if not, try again! It's how progress happens. The filling is also on page 80 of her "Bucks Point Lacemaking" book, with a slightly different marking; that book, again in my opinion only. while easier to follow, simply isn't in the same league as the earlier one when it comes to the full intricacies of floral Bucks. In case any one interested has deleted earlier postings, the pricking is on http://community.webshots.com/user/karissem, with other goodies! Leonardkvb@ yahoo.com __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Lace at Jewish Museum in Prague
For me one of the highlights of the OIDFA congress was the lace of the Jewish museum in Prague. We had a lecture by Dana Veselska, who had been instrumental in putting the exhibition together and producing the superb catalogue, which gave some insight into how the collection had arisen and the importance of the textiles and laces. The actual museum had been established in 1906, but the collections increased with items from the synagogues and communities of, broadly speaking, what used to be Czechoslovakia, when the Nazis wanted to establish a memorial of what was to be an extinct culture. Plan went wrong, of course, but the items survived. Recent work on the textiles culminated in an exhibition held last year, with catalogue and CD, and then to mark the OIDFA congress, a special exhibition of the lace was held. The importance of the lace collection in addition to the Jewish interest is that it contains a large quantity of early metal lace, which does not tend to survive as it can be recycled for the metal content, and also, because the laces are on textiles donated for public use, they can be firmly dated and provenanced. There were pieces with very floral designs, grounded with torchon ground worked without pins, like some early Flemish linen laces. These were worked in what was called "leonine" thread - named after Leone in Spain. It looked to me like "Jap" - metal foil wound on a silk core - but could have been very fine wire. The gimps were very narrow plate. Some pieces included leaves and tallies in the leonine thread - not something I should like to try! In general, the designs did not seem to have a particularly Jewish content, though the use on curtains and valances for the Ark (cupboard used to store the scrolls of the Pentateuch, or first five books of the Hebrew Bible - the Torah) followed a standard pattern, and similarly its use on the covers for the scrolls. It was also used for brides' veils and the canopy under which the wedding ceremony typically takes place. One exception to this was a piece on a scroll cover, three repeats of a reticella-type design - the sort of pointed edging found on early seventeenth century cuffs and collars. This was worked in metal bobbin lace, and designed to look like a crown, representing the Crown of the Torah. The catalogue had some detail on a form of work thought to be typically Jewish, devised in the nineteenth century, Shpanier Arbet. This was worked with metal plate and leonine thread, using bobbins on a bolster pillow, so not unlike lace making, though the intertwining was worked differently (not stitches built up from cross and twist, but winding the plate round leonine thread and securing it with silk thread to create the shapes. The finished work was used, among other things, for the decorative strip on a man's prayer shawl. Far more splendid than mine, which simply has a strip of damask with the words of the prayer to be said on putting it on; not that beautiful, and not useful, as like the recipe on the pie plate, you can't read it when you need it. The catalogue was an education in itself. In addition to the pictures and information about the pieces, it contained reconstructed patterns for some of them. A great deal of important original work has clearly gone into it, and it will give a great deal to anyone interested in textile and lace history or techniques, or Judaica. A final point - Lena Dahren, who was on the free-hand lace course with me and several other Arachnes, including Tamara, got a copy of the flyer for the exhibition, and copied, without a pricking, the piece on the cover! her version looked closer to the original than the reconstruction made for the exhibition. That used a pricking, and had torchon ground with holes in it, and every repeat the same length. Lena's and the original did not... [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Bucks and other laces on bolsters
I work Bucks using the unspangled bobtails (aka thumpers, though the term used to be kept for the very large ones for gimp etc). I keep the non-working pairs in bundles, as Steph and others note, but use strips of crotchet to hold them - it keeps them in order as well as out of the way. It's just a length of chain with a row of triple crotchets (UK) double crotchets (US) with chains in between. The pillow I use is a polystyrene or whatever (I am now totally confused as to what it is, but it works) a bit like a Flemish lace table with blocks going the full width, and made to work straight lace, not the "cookie" type. It gives a working area very similar to that of the very large Bucks bolster, and non-working pairs can be kept right at the back of the pillow out of the way, so no problem with a large number of pairs, provided you do not need to use them all at once. Another way that might work with unspangled bobbins is the Flemish use of long pins to stack bobbins with; they hold a large number at the sides, as ten fill the space of one bobbin, plus the support pin. I have seen them in use, and they look very efficient, but have not experimented myself. I am not sure how polystyrene would survive the experience. I've been working freehand lace at OIDFA on the small bolsters used for a surprising range of laces in Central and Eastern Europe, with Maltese bobbins, and once it clicked, on day three out of a three and a half day course, could see how it worked. The trick seems to be to work on top of the pillow, and again, have the bobbins at the back and at the sides, with only those in use at the front, and a long thread. The pillow was narrow enough (under 15 inches) for pairs to hang at the sides. It was under 10 inches in diameter (under 30 inches in circumference - pi!) and stuffed with wood shavings, not saw dust - no dust or allergy problems yet. [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Do you Yahoo!? Vote for the stars of Yahoo!'s next ad campaign! http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/yahoo/votelifeengine/ - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: OIDFA conference
Just a short note from Prague's Agricultural University, where the conference and the preceding courses are being held. We're now on the second day of the courses, so settling in. I'm on the freehand lace course, which is traditional Slovak lace worked without a pricking, and just about managing. There are several Arachne stalwarts here, and indeed Tamara and Tess are on the same course as me. We all went last night to an exhibition of modern lace in Prague itself, which was very impressive. There were large wall hangings, and small items of jewelry, some in what looked like knitted wire, but in general, all types were represented. It had the good sign that most people like some things very much, and others less so, but different people went for different things. I liked some of the metallic thread necklaces, and, to my surprise, a large wallhanging representing a church facade. Close up, it just looked messy, but from a proper distance, it came to life with shadows and perspective. Very impressive, and I think the design would not have worked in anything other than lace. I am also looking forward to the exhibition of lace in the Jewish museum, mainly of vestments and the like, it seems from the advert. I doubt if any pelicans will be there, but we can but hope. Leonard PS Tamara, who has signed off from Arachne for the duration, has just come round and sends everyone her best. __ Do you Yahoo!? New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - Send 10MB messages! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: lace-digest V2004 #143
Viv If you do want to try out Honiton without wasting money on new equipment but without hampering yourself so you give up unnecessarily, I'd suggest the following: Pillow: If you have a 16 inch domed straw pillow, use it, provided it is firm. If you want to use a slightly domed polystyrene pillow, put a layer of felt under to cover cloth - it needs a bit of "give" for sewings, oddly enough. I find it helpful to sit with feet on a footstool and pillow on lap, but really, use any set-up that works. Photos of 19th century workers shows they used pillows unlike our standard modern Honiton ones anyway. However, a very large 23 inch one would almost certainly make life very difficult, especially on smaller pieces. At the Honiton class I attend (in Honiton), most people use a stand or table in any case, so all that matters is the top of the pillow, not the depth, and the Belgian ladies use the equipment they are used to. Bobbins: I would buy a new set. 24 (12 pairs) should be enough to take you to the stage of knowing whether you like it or not, and proper ones are (at least in the UK) not expensive - 33p each a couple of years ago. These standard beech ones are better than the more expensive, generally thinner, ones sold by general bobbin makers more used to Midlands bobbins. If you use the Continental ones with the bulbous ends, you will probably find the Honiton techniques and ways of working harder - the different bobbins and pillows and Continental techniques work well together, but you'll end up making Duchesse, not Honiton, not surprisingly. Books: The Lace Guild book is a good choice, so go with it. If you want another for comparison, and in due course to progress, Susanne Thompson's two books for Batsfords are in my opinion a model of what "how to do" lace books should be. The second is one of the few that gets you into advance techniques smoothly, and the patterns are not just efficient exercises, but desirable in their own right. However, the Guild book is more than good enough for starters. Thread: Use 120/2 Egyptian cotton or equivalent to start with, and later, if you want to, use 170/2 or equivalent (the Egyptian 170/2 is very close to other spinners' 180/2). The standard patterns are all generally plotted for one or the other, your book for the 120/2, and if you use something else, you'll have to adapt patterns, use different numbers of pairs, or get an odd result - too much of a pain when you're learning. Most Honiton workers will use just one or the other, depending on preference or local tradition. The current habit in Honiton itself at present (ie in the "Perryman" line) is in fact to use 120/2, so don't feel the need to convert to thinner just to be more correct, if you can't get on with it. On the other hand, if you want to and do, again go for it. Sticking with the one thickness is useful in maintaining tension, instinctively knowing how many pairs are needed, and if necessary how to prick out your own patterns or true up old ones. Pricking card: It is a lot easier to use the thicker card, for sewings etc, and you really do need very little. The glue in sticky-backed plastic can be a nuisance, but some people get on with it. Prick with a no 8 sharp (or betweens/quilting) needle; you do need a good pinhole, and don't want to struggle pushing pins all the way in. Until I did this, I too ended up roughing up finger tips, bending pins etc, wondering whether I needed pushing devices. Problem, as so often, was between the ears; lacemakers should follow their fingers, not their brains. Needle pin: Do try and use a proper one, and persevere with it. Again, get a cheap beech one from a Honiton supplier - I am amazed at how awkward some fancy ones can be to use. It is worth the effort, as the really tricky sewings cannot be done with hooks or bits of cotton in needles, and you always forget at least one magic thread. You need the practice on the simple ones! I got myself into the habit by not using a hook until I had had three proper goes with the needle pin, regardless. At first, it was three goes, then the hook did it, but gradually it happened, probably because I was not tense, and just going through the motions before I could use the hook. On raised work with several sewings, it's so much quicker with the pin that you're not put off raising by the thought of having to sew. Do though pull up before and after the edge stitch to get a clean pin hole. It not only looks better, it's so much easier for sewings. Don't forget, if you knit, you're used to pulling threads through loops using a needle without a hook on the end... Hope this is helpful - it's from someone who learnt the basics from Mrs Thompson's first book before going to classes, so it can be done! On the other hand, the improvement on going to Mrs Perryman's classes was, to put it mildly, marked! [EMAIL PROTECTED] Looking forward to a week at the beginning of July in Honiton on a course with Mrs P.
[lace] Re: hand washing
Couldn't agree more on the importance of this in needle lace especially. I have completed after quite some time bl handkerchiefs, and can tell where I started from the join and improvement in technique, but not really colour. However, a (genuine) friend once admired a piece of nl asking, sincerely, where I got that lovely space-dyed ecru thread... it was of course worked in my favourite colour, optic white, but with fingers! It's one way of learning a lesson. [EMAIL PROTECTED], off to Scarborough tomorrow for the Lace Guild AGM __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Photos: High-quality 4x6 digital prints for 25¢ http://photos.yahoo.com/ph/print_splash - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] NL query on couching from lace-digest V1 #3892
I hope not too late for a 2003 thread, but here's the method I've ended up using for the couching in needle lace. Following the Zele method (modern Flemish descendant of Alencon/point de gaz). They use a very fine thread - 100/2 Brok or Egyptian Cotton - in a fine (say no.10) needle, and bring the needle through on the design line, over the cordonnet or "trace" threads, and back in the same hole. Couching stitches, as in all versions, about 1/12th of an inch or 2mm apart, and trace threads taut and couching firm. This does work, and doesn't give a loose outline; in fact the couching threads get less in the way in the filling than a thicker thread would. At the end, any stitching holding the sandwich of pattern and double piece of calico/muslin is removed (I zig-zag round the outside to keep things fairly neat) and then the two pieces of calico are just pulled apart, ripping the couching thread. A bit worrying the first time, but it does work! Rather like unpinning one's very first piece of bobbin lace thinking it's all going to fall to bits. It doesn't, honest. What does happen is that the couching thread ends up in longish bits which are very easy to pull out, and being fine there's no problem with this. [EMAIL PROTECTED] - sort of meeting New Year's resolution to post a little more often! __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Hotjobs: Enter the "Signing Bonus" Sweepstakes http://hotjobs.sweepstakes.yahoo.com/signingbonus - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Venetian needlelace - thimbles and black silk
There is a picture of a punto in aria maker in a book of contemporary Venetians in the Museo Correr's library dated to approximately 1754 (not sure why not exactly!). She is sitting with her pillow on her lap, and apart from the fact that it is not on a stand, very similar to the modern Burano set-up, with a lifting stick, though her pillow looks more like a modern Honiton pillow rather than the bolster used on Burano. She is wearing three thimbles, one on each thumb, one on her left-hand index finger. She is shown drawing a thread, as long as her modern sisters, through with her right hand, so the thimbled thumb and bare index finger. It's not clear how or why the thimbles were used. They don't look metallic, so could be leather. Of course, raising the cordonnette in typical Venetian needle lace is hard on the digits, unlike making the toile, so possibly that's what she's doing. I have heard the theory that they were used to help sweaty fingers get a grip on a slippery needle, but would have thought fingers dried on a cloth or with talc or flour would be better. While holidaying in Venice last month, visited the Palazzo Mocenigo, which has an excellent display of 18th century costume, with lace where appropriate, of course. One superb piece was a scarf, dated to the mid century, 8 inches by 2 yards (20 x 180cms) - in black silk! The motifs, while only slightly raised compared with the gros point of the previous century, were as elaborate as anything similar in white linen, the overblown flowers and leaves and the like, and the work looked as fine. It had a net ground - a remarkable piece, must have been very trying on the eyes. Does anyone know if this is unique, or is it just that I haven't come across black Venetian needle lace before? Of course, dyed silk has a much lower life-expectancy than undyed linen, so it could just be that we've lost the coloured needle lace, as we have lost the coloured silk bobbin lace from earlier centuries (and of course the metal, which would get deliberately recycled). The museum catalogue is unfortunately in Italian. It includes the picture described above; I may be missing out on useful information on it and the black lace due to ignorance of the language... [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: NL - cordonettes meeting
What I do when cordonettes meet, say when a vein hits the edge of a leaf, is work the outside one first, ie the edge of the leaf, then the vein virtually up to it, cut the padding threads for the vein, loop stitch over then once or twice to hold them together, and take the working thread under the outside cordonnette, pushing the cut threads under the worked edge (lick and needle end) and finish off the working thread in the edge cordonnette. I do much the same when ending up a circle or similar. The method is from "Starting Zele Lace" by Agnes Stevens and Ivy Richardson, Dryad 1989 (ie Batsford/Chrysalis if still in print) ISBN 0 85219 793 4. Strongly recommended to anyone beginning NL or trying to progress without a teacher, as it is excellent on the small details, like how to make the ends of rows neat, and how and when to join the top row to the outside cordonnet. It gives a great number of ways of doing leaves; some of them work veins while the filling stitches are done, which is very neat and effective, and eliminates all ends, and solves this problem [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Do you Yahoo!? Free Pop-Up Blocker - Get it now http://companion.yahoo.com/ - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Aesthetics and grounding of Beds and Binche
I've been fascinated by the different ways makers of Binche and the other Flemish laces use diagrams, and plan and execute their work; not at all like traditional floral Bucks or Beds. I wonder if there is any documentary evidence (prickings or diagrams) indicating how the originals were worked, or even evidence in the lace. I would assume if successive repeats differed, and improved, that East Midlands methods were at work; you can certainly see that happening in Thomas Lester - the eagle cuff on page 56 of Ann Buck's book has two mirror-imaged eagles, and the wheel ground between his feet was only got right on the one on the left... I think the safest view on the aesthetics is to recognise that we all have different equally valid views - and some of us different views at different times. With lace, however, I think we should consider it in context. Binche was not made to be judged displayed or photographed flat out; it was meant to be worn, frilled at best and possibly goffered at worst, and the wearer probably didn't stand still! Obviously the same applies to some extent to Thomas Lester, but that lace was worn when ladies were more upholstered than draped, and so were made to be seen more as we do now. I really do think we need to take this into account when judging lace. I know the change from point ground to Beds groundings is meant to be because the latter were quicker and easier, and this may be true of the standard plaits of the more geometric sorts, but scarcely of all. I wonder if the original change was as much driven by aesthetic and fashion values - designs were getting larger, lace was not frilled up and worn almost like muslin, and the more open grounds suited it better. The Thomas Lester ground of diamond tallies is certainly not easier nor quicker than point ground to work, but does suit the patterns better than point ground would, or at least, I think that's the case with the pattern I'm working on at present. The use of veins and raised tallies in the bolder leaves and petals in floral Beds balances the style as well, and certainly don't make the patterns easier or quicker to work - they seem to me to require skills not used in floral Bucks - the pattern I'm working on is really in the transitional mode, and doesn't have those features (though I'm still struggling!). Not to go on about it too much, but one reason I think some of us do not go for The Mat is that its design is more Beds than Bucks in this respect. I find the version with plaited grounds more attractive. Back to my struggles in Beds, so to speak - Tamara's and Adele's comments especially on Binche groundings have illuminated something I'm trying to deal with. I was lucky enough to have a weekend recently at Knuston Hall on a weekend course given by Mrs Underwood, and had taken a pattern based on a typical Thomas Lester unit dated 1856. It's the top left hand one on page 30 of Ann Buck's book, and also in Mrs Underwood's "Traditional Bedfordshire Lace, Technique and Patterns", page 44 (with worked sample). It's a typical unit, having a repeat of two flowers and some leaves against the headside, but just ground by the time you get over to the foot. I was tampering with it by adding a corner and reverse, so to some extent repricking it. Mrs U. noted that I was taking the diamond ground right against the sprigs (which the lady who worked the sample had also done to some extent). She said this was typical Bucks mentality, but the original pricking had left the motive room to breathe, and there were more plaits leading into the ground, as needed, rather than the regular plaited ground. This would give a very regular ground, but with the Baroque design sitting within it rather than being crushed against it. I won't be able to check this till I've done a fair bit more, but I have already noted it's easier!! It also does solve the problem of a regular "strong" ground with a flowing design - less of a problem aesthetically with the visually weaker point ground - that the Binche workers have been debating. I feel some consolation in that I am probably fairly close to the original worker, in having some background in Bucks, and trying to cope with the more modern stuff! [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: Thinking person's lace - what about Binche?
Several of us seem agreed that many bobbin laces, certainly floral Beds, and some of us (at least me) floral Bucks, are for "thinking" persons, what about Binche? It's generally thought the most complex now widely made, and I should have thought at least as much brain power goes into it. It seems different in that now at least the thinking is done in making the diagram, and the execution could be thought more manual than cerebral, but even from my limited attempts at following a wiring diagram for Flanders and Point de Paris, that's not the case - it's harder than it looks to get the diagram down in thread, working out which bit to do first etc. The effect of thinking on the pillow, so to speak, seems to me that you can cope with different threads, slightly different pricking, and you are able to improve - as Patty and others have noted, you gradually are more economical with the number of threads added and thrown out, and I find also in use of gimps. The main advantage I've found also is that I work out which order to do bits in so that the bobbins are moved less - as one progresses round a handkerchief, say, or down a length, you do more with the same bundle of bobbins before moving to another group. Indeed, in the fairly basic floral Beds and Bucks I've worked, I've been impressed by how well the designer/patternmaker has planned the pricking so this can be done. It's not that difficult to cope with nearly 100 pairs if you use no more than 20 of them at any time! Is it the same with Binche? Has anyone been thinking that out on the pillow? I assume this was originally done - the Paris ground sections look made exactly for getting x bobbins from a to b with the minimum fuss and planning, and the sort I like to look at with admiration has a sort of careless rapture, not carefully planned feel. I'd love to know from the Binche experts how they think and work. [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: Miss Channer's second book - long, but nothing on copyright or the mat
Well, I've fallen into the temptation of joining the Channer debates. They've approached a subject dear to my heart, working floral Bucks (or Beds) without a diagram, but the real trigger is the acquisition last week of a copy of the original 1928 edition of Miss C's "Practical Lacemaking Bucks Point-Ground". It was updated and republished in 1972, and reprinted in 1984, in all cases by Dryad. While they do have most of the original, the differences are very instructive. Miss C. quite clearly was providing instructions leading as directly as possible to working floral Bucks: the revision was aiming to allow people with little or no access to ready-made equipment or teachers to make the patterns in the book. This comes out very clearly in the section on honeycomb. Miss C.'s instructions are, I think, virtually unintelligible if you do not know at least what you're meant to be doing, while the revision's version is a model of clarity. However, Miss C.'s confusing method is, I think, mainly due to the way she sets out how to find the pairs to use for each pin hole - once understood, this would allow you to work the very tricky small irregular areas of honeycomb that crop up in floral Bucks, and do need care and accuracy to look good. Similarly, the original has one more floral and two less basic patterns than the revision. In the "semi-floral" and floral, Miss C. takes great care in setting out general principles to be followed when the feature being described (eg nook pin) recurs in a more complicated form, and stresses the need to keep cloth even and ground regular by looking at the lace, and thinking. The floral pattern has two heads worked (the same photo and pricking in both versions) - and they are different! The motives are placed in different bits of the ground, and the net forms differently around it. One quotation for Patty; "An experienced worker will exercise her own taste and judgment in working a pattern of this sort. There is much scope for ingenuity in arranging the gimps, in making the ground even round the buds, and in arranging the threads nicely round the rings. The beginner will learn gradually how to get a good effect, and will, at first, probably cut off and hang on bobbins much more often than is necessary." In other words, what you've found for Beds applies to Bucks as well - and she explains why this is the way to go - nothing is worse than wanting to put extra pairs in three rows ago! The section on teaching, only in the original, goes on at great length on this: "Lacemakers have no need to know how many threads a pattern contains or how many bobbins are needed for the work; they need not know how many stitches are required for any part of the work, and such counting and efforts of memory are detrimental since they distract attention... The essential thing is to learn how an effect is obtained...[the student] will not help herself by counting.. The habit of counting exact numbers in simple Torchon laces makes it a bad foundation for learning other laces..." I don't think she would have approved of diagrams!! She has tips on the different ways of teaching adults and children (adults learn better from wider patterns, children from narrower - and being keen-sighted learn in fine thread as easily as in coarse), and how to manage "mixed ability" classes. She thinks using different coloured threads to help learn probably doesn't work but "If, however, the making of a coloured lace is desired, there is no objection to the use of coloured thread when it is no longer looked upon as a help to the learner, but as an end in itself". Her views on which lace to learn first are equally sensible - "Do you admire and wish to make Honiton or fine Brussels, and are you prepared to take great pains and spend a considerable amount of time? Then do not hesitate to begin straight away on Honiton. If you wish to make point ground or Point de Paris then begin with it, and do not waste time on Torchon or anything else..." But the best advice, which I would love to follow, is at the beginning, on why you need not prick your own patterns: "The parchments can, however, be bought ready pricked, and any pattern can be pricked to order at The Lace School, Northampton." All in all, as interesting historically as useful in practice! [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: lace-digest V1 #3732 - London fabric shops
A shortish note, as this is possibly going (slightly) o/t, and my lunch time's nearly over. If you visit John Lewis, Oxford Street, and/or Liberty's (both not as good as they were, but still marvellous) don't miss Mccullough & Wallace, in Dering Street, off Oxford Street, virtually opposite JL's. They specialise in wedding supplies, silks and machine laces, expensive but to be expected, but also have a good selection of linings, calico, muslin, canvas, interfacings etc, which are good value. Calico (UK) = muslin US, ie for needlelace "pads" and toiles, and muslin here the very fine cotton fabric (not sure what it is in US English. Further along on the way to Liberty's off Oxford Street is Berwick St, which has a street market (cheese and rolls for lunch?), and good fabric shops - a silk shop, Mr Franks for end of rolls, and Berovics for a very wide selection. The other side of Oxford Street just before Berwick Street is the s. boundary of what's left of the fashion area - Margaret Street, Gt Titchfield St, Market Place, with specialist bookshop in MP and equipment shops in Gt TS. I think that could make a good morning's shop in London before the V&A or Palace - I wouldn't bother with Harrods either. Today's paper says the next rise in tube fares will give London the most expensive underground system in the world... On excess baggage and books, the advice might be to select and look in the shops, and order from someone who takes credit cards and doesn't charge postage, so you get them when you get home!! [EMAIL PROTECTED] __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: Visit to the Metropolitan Museum Part 3
I had expressed an interest in Honiton and 3D laces,
and Devon put out 8 carefully selected pieces for us
to look at. Some are also in the IOL list, so I won't
go on too much about them, but there are some aspects
of them that can't be ignored.
The wedding apron, obviously and understandably a
favourite of Devon's, seems to combine a refreshingly
naturalistic design with great technical skill, and
the variety of ways in which the hair and buttons etc
are done. Even without the microscope, very
impressive, but with it!
The pieces of 17 century needle lace we saw had the
same characteristic - superb workmanship, impressive
and stylish when seen from a distance, but full of
interest and detail when seen close up - what could be
stylised patterns turn into hunters, dogs etc. It's
marvellous how the great technical skill does not
deaden the liveliness of the design - I wonder if this
was helped by the designer being remote from the
workers. We now think, and I sometimes do too, that
the design can be the main thing, and a little
sloppiness in the execution does not detract.
However, there is a great added bonus when both go
right.
A piece of Honiton had a different combination of
technique design and style. It had peacocks, tails
down, not displayed. The individual feathers looked
as though they were outlined with a bundle of threads,
which gave them a lively 3-d look (hence their
inclusion - 3-d Honiton!) but did look a little
scruffy, and possibly a weak point; they could have
caught when worn, and must have been a danger when
washed. Closer examination showed that they had been
done in the roll and tie technique of raised Honiton.
In the standard modern version, generally, a leaf (or
feather) is worked in the usual way, ending up with
six or so pairs. All but two of these are twisted
together ("rolled"), one of the pairs is then wrapped
round the roll which is laid down by the side of the
worked piece, outside the pin holes. The wrapping
pair is sewn into the pinhole at the bottom, then the
remaining pair is sewn into each pinhole on the way
down, a single knot ("tie") being worked after each
sewing to hold the sewing in place. This leaves the
pairs at the base of the leaf or feather, and the
adjacent leaf can be worked up, sewing into the worked
edge of the previous leaf, over the roll. When worked
neatly, it looks very similar to raising by using a
rib, but of course it saves a lot of tying off and
restarting - it is amazing on looking at Victorian
raised Honiton using ribs and rolls how much is done
without tying off, saving time and making the work
stronger, as well as adding the textural interest.
You do of course have to be nifty with the needle pin.
A small roll can be used discreetly to get a few
pairs from a to b just for convenience. "Devonia",
writing at the beginning of the last century, states
that work with rolls instead of all ribs is thought
inferior, and her instructions make clear that a lot
of rag Honiton used very sloppily made rolls. She
recommends sewing and tying at every second or third
pin hole, where as nowadays, it's every pinhole
regardless.
The point of that digression is that looking at this
piece showed how the designer had used the "sloppy"
way of working very efficiently. He got a striking
effect by having the workers use what would be
considered a short-cut. It must have been much
quicker just to bunch up the threads, tie at just a
couple of pinholes, and start the next feather, than
tying off and restarting for each one.
This line of thinking was developed by studying
another piece, a mid-18th century cravat associated
with Marie Antoinette, I think, in point d'Angleterre,
a sectional bobbin lace akin to Honiton (its
aristocratic great grandmamma). This had the superb
workmanship, style and liveliness of the gros point
piece noted above, and again had hunting scenes, with
an Amazon on horseback (?intended to be Marie
Antoinette - possibly closer to her mother Marie
Theresa of Austria!!). We concentrated on the boar
being hunted. His body was made in half stitch, with
bristles which looked as though they were small ribs.
Even after using the microscope we were not sure how
this had been done. There was no sign of loose
threads at the base, but one view was that small
separate ribs had been worked, then the half stitch
worked on top, the odd thread being sewn into the rib
holes to attach it. That would have meant incredibly
skilful finishing off of the ribs to survive, let
alone without the ends showing. There were small
lumps at the base of the bristles which could have
been where the ends were sewn back into the rib, but
again, remarkable work, especially to survive wear and
washing. A small minority (me) thought that rib and
roll and tie had been used. The half stitch could
have been worked to the base of a bristle, the four
(say) pairs there used to continue in a small rib, and
then being rolled and tied back to the base, and the
half stit
[lace] Visit to Metropolitan Museum Part 2
Odd coincidence - part 1 being posted virtually as Devon posted the preview of the IOL visits planned for early August. Hope this acts to whet appetites rather than spoils any surprises (some changes made with that in mind). During our lunch break we looked at the few, but superb, pieces of lace in the public areas - a very elaborately raised piece of Venetian gros point, an eighteenth century French flounce or similar, and also a case with some superb stump work. In addition to the casket and pictures, there was a very spectacular looking glass with a stump work frame, much larger than anything similar I have seen, and the pieces of stump work were really 3D, overlapping the frame. After lunch, on to the viewing - 8 pieces of lace in two hours, but such pieces! Far too little time! By now we had been joined by IOL's Lee, and Kay, an antiques dealer who is interested in textiles in general, and lace in particular. She had spent the morning examining the data base for textiles in general. The pieces of lace were laid out on tables for us to examine, and while we could not touch them, Lesley, the Ratti's curator, made sure we could see all we wanted, moving them, and even arranging ladders for getting into position to take photographs (no flash, but apart from that, no restriction provided just used for one's own study). The best resource though was an e-microscope linked up to a computer monitor. This allowed every possible detail of the lace to be seen, down to the ply, spin, and individual fibres. It was amazing how this brought out the beauty of the thread. The old linen seemed to regain its lustre under the magnification and become whiter, even when to the naked eye the piece looked a little dry and brown. In addition to enabling us to see how some technical matters were negotiated, I would suspect that this may well enable historical studies to go a stage further. I have often thought that mysteries such as what was made where and when would be solved by thread analysis rather than stylistic analysis. Deciding that good quality is Flemish, not English, enables one to characterise some pieces as English on grounds of quality, but the argument is a little circular! Similarly, I have often thought that deciding on the complexity of braids and fillings whether a piece is Flemish or Milanese is equally arbitrary. It seems to me that this microscope could, in the hands of the right researcher, get all this put on a more scientific basis. It does remain the case that thread can travel before being made up, but Celia Fiennes, in the late seventeenth century, said the only way she could tell the difference between Honiton and Flemish lace was by the quality of the thread (Honiton's being, I'm afraid, "bad"). Not sure if the IOL visit will include it, but not an opportunity to miss. Next part - the lace itself. __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: Visit to Metropolitan Museum, NY, part 1
Well, after over a month back in the UK after two month stays working in New York, I've nearly caught up with myself, and time to share my day in the Metropolitan's Ratti Center. The first surprise when Devon took me to the Center, which is just off the mediaeval court in the "basement" was how modern and bright it was - certainly not what I would expect in a typical British museum in the stores in the catacombs! A reception area, then the work stations, wired up with the latest museum computer system. We spent the morning there using the computerised database, which had detailed descriptions of the collection with photographs. The descriptions, as one would expect, were of various dates, and reflected the views and knowledge of the cataloguers, and some of the older photographs not surprisingly did not stand up to excessive zooming - but the recent ones done by Devon's fellow-volunteer, Gundrun [sp?], were superb, and she had included detailed photos as well as the general one, so you really could see the details. The search facility enables you to get up, in thumb-nail form, the photos of the laces that fit your search criteria, and then you can enlarge, and get at the detailed pictures and notes in the usual way. This was very efficient, though the usual oddities happened - a search for Valenciennes brought up one or two oddish bits, but then looking at the description, the cataloguer had noted that the piece was NOT Valenciennes, so that was why it was there! Equally, if the cataloguer was more cautious about specific identification, one piece might come up as Flemish rather than, say Mechlin, as a cataloguer of a more certain school would have called it. The tip of the iceberg I saw in this way did confirm Devon's view of the collection as world class for quality as well as quantity. It seems that it was built up in a large part by bequests and gifts from wives and daughters of the industrialists/financiers (aka robber barons) of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, and they certainly seemed to have chosen the best! We looked at the Jewish/Masonic needle lace that had been discussed some months ago, and could have spent more than one of our few hours on it. The quality of the work quite frankly is not good - it is in the style of sixteenth century needle lace, but simply has not got the style of that shown in the pattern books and portraits of the period, or indeed of the surviving pieces. To be honest, it looks more a "peasant" version of it than the real high class thing. That in itself was interesting - one would have thought that if a reasonably wealthy church, synagogue or lodge had commissioned it, it would have been more stylishly designed, though the actual workmanship is not by any means sloppy. It is a length of reticella, with different scenes or objects in squares, and with punto in aria points along one side. As the top of the figures in the points are towards the reticella, it was presumably designed to go along the edge of a tablecloth or similar, not on a standing collar. We were discussing the possibility of it being Masonic when a colleague of Devon's working in the room said she had studied Masonic symbolism, and had a look. Her immediate reaction was that it was unlikely to be specifically Masonic. While some of symbols might be considered Masonic (eg Solomon, a building that could as well be a temple as anything else, and a lady who could as well be the Queen of Sheba as anyone else), so many obvious symbols were missing which should have been there that it was very unlikely to be Masonic. It seems there should have been pillars in the temple, and an all-seeing eye and set squares and compasses as well. We agreed that the symbols could have been interpreted to fit several contexts, and it was possible that the designer had simply picked significant symbols from several sources without any coherent plan. The piece was more intriguing after this - whoever did design it must have had some purpose in mind, but it seems likely to remain a mystery. Lunch and lace in the thread to follow! Leonard __ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED]
