RE: [lace] Freehand Lace with 6 pairs or less
I do agree with you, Robin.I've spent a day demonstrating with someone working a piece of tape, with half a dozen pairs of bobbins - it was so fiddly that the visitors just couldn't see what on earth the lacemaker was doing. On the other hand, I happened to have a piece of Bucks on the pillow - with long rows of ground.a perfect opportunity for showing the pattern underneath the bobbins, demonstrating a stitch, pin, drop one pair, pick up another in the row - and work down the entire row in a similar way. My pattern also fitted what most visitors thought of as "real" lace. I'm always very selective about which part of a pattern I use for demonstration purposes - as I mentioned, in the Bucks piece, all I did all day was work long rows of ground - I wasn't fiddling with the flowers on the headsideI kept the demo simple. Ruth (Sydney, Australia) -Original Message- From: owner-l...@arachne.com [mailto:owner-l...@arachne.com] On Behalf Of robinl...@socal.rr.com Sent: Thursday, 5 December 2013 5:43 PM To: Arachne Subject: Re: [lace] Freehand Lace with 6 pairs or less This is not necessarily so. I've started using a wider torchon pattern (50+ pairs) for demonstration and I've had great reactions.. - 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] Freehand Lace with 6 pairs or less
jeria...@aol.com wrote: A large fully-dressed pillow with many bobbins and dense pattern is discouraging and elicits the usual "I don't have the patience!". This is not necessarily so. I've started using a wider torchon pattern (50+ pairs) for demonstration and I've had great reactions. I can show them that, no matter how many pairs there are, I'm only using 2 pair, one coming from above-right and the other from above-left to meet at the pin. Then I drop one pair and pick up the next one. The usual reaction is, "Oh, I see!" I then go into CT makes this area, CTC makes this other area, and CTCT makes this. People don't sign up for a class, but they leave with a smile and a feeling of understanding what we're doing. Robin P. Los Angeles, California, USA robinl...@socal.rr.com Parvum leve mentes capiunt (Little things amuse little minds) - 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] 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.  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.  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.  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.  They can immediately understand how this simple stitch and braid can make a beautiful and even complex design. Jacquie in Lincolnshire Sent from Samsung tablet Original message >From jeria...@aol.com Date: 03/12/2013 17:04 (GMT+00:00) To hottl...@neo.rr.com,lace@arachne.com Subject Re: [lace] Freehand Lace with 6 pairs or less Dear Susan, If you have access to Gil Dye's "The Isham Samples and Other Linen Edgings" there are several patterns that would suit you from the Elizabethan era.  Some use 2 colors of thread, which I have found makes it easier for people new to viewing a lace demonstration to see the thread paths. Adding a bit of history at a library location, would be appropriate and you might find a costume book that shows the narrow laces used on coifs and clothing edges. Because of the Isham connection, there was a long article (with pictures) by Rosemary Shepherd in the Fall 2012 IOLI lace bulletin. You might even find an article by Gil - she writes for both IOLI and The Lace Guild (UK) bulletins. Or, you can make a simple Torchon ground of any width. See Rosemary's "Introduction to Bobbin Lacemaking", page 32. People can relate to stitches which resemble machine-made net (tulle) yardage. I used this idea and set up a basic pillow with tatting threads (they don't break at demos, and there is enough space to see the threads and show the route an individual thread takes using a corsage pin as pointer). I wound bone bobbins with white, and black hand-painted bobbins with blue variegated. The effect is pretty, and the bobbins are set up in a sequence to create a diamond shape of blue down the middle.  Not for your limited pillow space, Susan, but an idea for anyone who wants to talk with the public while demonstrating. A large fully-dressed pillow with many bobbins and dense pattern is discouraging and elicits the usual "I don't have the patience!". Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center In a message dated 12/2/2013 10:55:29 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, hottl...@neo.rr.com writes: My plan for making Skansk hit a major snag when I realized all of my patterns require more than six pair. Google brought up Jean Leader's articles, Lorelei's test strips & Jo Edkin's ribbons. With such a tiny pillow, I'm reluctant to add my beaded Mechlin bobbins to the mix, but six pair lace options are less appealing. The pillow needs something cute & petite! Have I missed any attractive six pair resources that may be worked freehand? - 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/ - 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] Freehand Lace with 6 pairs or less
Dear Susan, If you have access to Gil Dye's "The Isham Samples and Other Linen Edgings" there are several patterns that would suit you from the Elizabethan era. Some use 2 colors of thread, which I have found makes it easier for people new to viewing a lace demonstration to see the thread paths. Adding a bit of history at a library location, would be appropriate and you might find a costume book that shows the narrow laces used on coifs and clothing edges. Because of the Isham connection, there was a long article (with pictures) by Rosemary Shepherd in the Fall 2012 IOLI lace bulletin. You might even find an article by Gil - she writes for both IOLI and The Lace Guild (UK) bulletins. Or, you can make a simple Torchon ground of any width. See Rosemary's "Introduction to Bobbin Lacemaking", page 32. People can relate to stitches which resemble machine-made net (tulle) yardage. I used this idea and set up a basic pillow with tatting threads (they don't break at demos, and there is enough space to see the threads and show the route an individual thread takes using a corsage pin as pointer). I wound bone bobbins with white, and black hand-painted bobbins with blue variegated. The effect is pretty, and the bobbins are set up in a sequence to create a diamond shape of blue down the middle. Not for your limited pillow space, Susan, but an idea for anyone who wants to talk with the public while demonstrating. A large fully-dressed pillow with many bobbins and dense pattern is discouraging and elicits the usual "I don't have the patience!". Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center In a message dated 12/2/2013 10:55:29 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, hottl...@neo.rr.com writes: My plan for making Skansk hit a major snag when I realized all of my patterns require more than six pair. Google brought up Jean Leader's articles, Lorelei's test strips & Jo Edkin's ribbons. With such a tiny pillow, I'm reluctant to add my beaded Mechlin bobbins to the mix, but six pair lace options are less appealing. The pillow needs something cute & petite! Have I missed any attractive six pair resources that may be worked freehand? - 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/