Re: [lace] Publicity
In an email dated Tue, 9 Sep 2003 7:33:48 am GMT, Jean Nathan [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: The problem with the word 'craft' is that to most people this means going into somewhere like 'Hobbycraft' (who call themselves the 'craft superstore' and you all apready know my opinion of what they sell) picking up a kit, or loose materials if you really know what you're doing, and completing even the most complex of their projects within a week. It's something you do to fill in the odd free hour. Then you go and try something else. They tried selling bobbin lacemaking equipment at inflated prices with no indication of where to learn, no books or other instructions available so no-one knew what to do with it, and ended up selling it off at half price to clear the shelves. snipped Jean in Poole - Jean and the spiders, What really hurt me about Hobbycraft (apart from the fact they sold every thing off cheap when they closed our branch and I didn't know about it and they killed off all the opposition ) Deep breath ... ... sorry, what really hurt me was the fact that the lace pillows on sale there were SMP's with the maker's mark not too well scratched out, put in a box and charging three times the price. From what I could see, at our local one, all the lace equipment was SMP's (their bobbins are distinctive) and had been repackaged by a company and sold on. This annoyed me because anyone thinking of starting lacemaking would have looked at the prices and shied away from starting - an 16 dome pillow which SMP have on their site at £4.50 (around $8)(today's prices) was on sale in Hobbycraft, the last time I looked (2001) at £12.50 (around $20). And all because Hobbycraft and their supplier were adding their markup each time. -- Regards Liz Beecher I'm A HREF=http://journals.aol.com/thelacebee/thelacebee;blogging/A now - see what it's all about - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: [lace] Publicity
From: Jean Nathan [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] I don't know the best way of publicising, because 'lacemaking' doesn't only cover bobbin lace. People need to know that (bobbin lace at least - I'll never master tatting) is accessible to all at different levels from a simple braid to complex work like that mat, it's not as difficult as it looks, it's soothing, it exercises the brain, is gives a sense of achievement, you can work from pre-prepared patterns or be original and artistically creative, you meet a whole load of nice helpful people, you make friends all over the world, it gets you out of doing the housework . That's where demonstrating comes in. I show people, Look, there's cross and there's twist. That's all. Then I show them on my pattern, cross, twist, put in a pin, cross twist or whatever it is I'm working on. This is also the time to pull out a try it pillow. We have one with us whenever we demonstrate, and it just has 5 or 6 pairs and we have them doing cloth or half or double stitch ribbon. We tell them emphatically that there's nothing to mess up--it's just a piece of nothing-in-particular for people like you to try. Granted, few of those go on to learn lace, but at least we've gotten them past the I couldn't do that. Robin P. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA http://www.pittsburghlace.8m.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] publicity
I gave my first bobbin lace lecture/demo to the weaver's guild in Jerusalem, so I surmise that weavers are more knowledgeable about textile structure than the average consumer. Most people would not see any similarity between a fragment of Binche lace and a Turkish kilim or an inkle band. People tend to be vaguely aware of the historical context (their knowledge might come entirely from TV historical dramas) but haven't a clue about the structure. Then again, I'm still trying to teach my DH the difference between woven and knitted fabrics because I hate finding my blouses folded on a shelf and my t-shirts hung neatly on hangers. (Maybe I'm asking too much? g) Avital Original Message - From: Jazmin [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, September 09, 2003 3:16 PM Subject: Re: [lace] publicity My Handweavers and Spinners Guild lists bobbin lace specifically amongst it's 'recognized' techniques, and trust me, they are picky about what they define as weaving for the annual show. Someday I might even coax the one other bobbin lace lady into giving lessons, or even admitting that there's other lacers in the group. I think she's been the solo lacer for a very long time. Anyhow, just my 2 cents from Canada. Heather -- self proclaimed Avital groupie in cool and wonderful SW Ontario. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: Lace publicity
On Tuesday, Sep 9, 2003, at 23:15 US/Eastern, Emma Coen wrote: I was thinking about this last night, and actually, for publicity purposes, I'd shy away from the idea that lace-making is terribly intellectual. I had some friends visit my house, and you can't avoid my various crafts. My friends looked at them, and said My, you must be so clever to do all this. I couldn't do this, I'm not clever enough. Mmm... I voiced the very same objection when people were pushing me to learn to drive (at the same time, as a matter of fact, as I was teaching myself the first lace stitches g). One person responded: Your cleaning lady drives, doesn't she? If she were smarter than you are, she'd have finished high school and wouldn't be scrubbing toilets. 5yr old children can -- and had been -- taught to make lace. That's not because they're particularly clever; it's because they are *curious* about what happens if... I think people who are (or could be) in Mensa weren't necessarily born with high IQs; they were born with *decent* IQs, had an itch to find out how come, and scratched it. And, once you show them that the basics are easy (if a 5-yr old can do it...), who can resist the lure of being able to preen about one's superiour intellectual powers in getting beyond the basics? g - Tamara P Duvall mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Lexington, Virginia, USA Formerly of Warsaw, Poland - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] publicity
Lorelei - I love the way you put this! When my husband and I traveled to Germany and Belgium this past summer - I had to go to Brugge and the lace museum - (absolutely wonderful!) - my friends kept asking me if I bought any lace. I didn't - I bought books and bobbins and thread. I enjoy making it. But I have no desire to collect it. That's not my lace-thing. Tonnie Phoenix, AZ Lorelei Halley wrote: When people ask me why I do it, lately I've been answering that I do it not for HAVING lace (that is what collectors do), but because the process fascinates me. I tell them that the process grabs hold of my emotions and puts them in order (rather like listening to Bach), and that the process is addictive and soothing. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] publicity
Adele wrote: I suggested she call her work experiments in multi-directional woven structures I don't know if she has tried it yet, but I think lace might be more respected with some such less feminine name. It's stupid, but it's the way the world wags. Lacemaking is an off-loom weaving technique. When I tell weavers that, they grasp the structure of lace immediately, that it uses a pair of weft threads and that the weft is not restricted to horizontal, selvedge-to-sevedge movements. Structurally, it's closer to complex (I mean 'complex' in the sense of multilayer structures, not in the sense of 'not simple') weaving. Why not just make that aspect more prominent if lacemaking is demonstrated beside weaving? Avital - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
