I've made three lace fans so far - just finished one which is just a torchon edge strip with beads from La Encajera to get back into doing Torchon after completing a couple of Milanese pieces.
I use Mighty Tacky Glue (might not be called exactly that, but it always has tacky in the name). It's a water soluble pva which is white when you apply it and dries invisible on the sticks and the lace. I made a Bruges flower lace fan and, because I felt it needed a background, tacked it to a piece of navy cotton to which I'd fused light interfacing. But I didn't like it and took it apart. The glue dissolved completely off the fan sticks, but, as I wasn't going to re-use it, I didn't bother to wash it out of the navy cotton. I painted a piece of silk a paler blue with silk paint, marked the outline of the fan in tacky glue to seal the edges, cut it out when dry, and then tacked the fan leaf on that before glueing it to the fan sticks. The dried tacky glue was visible as a dark line round the edge of the silk, but as it was hidden by the lace edging on the fan leaf, it didn't matter. I like it now. When attaching the leaf to the sticks, I arrange the sticks equally spaced on a board, and hold them in place with masking tape (draughtsmen's tape). I put the tape on the back of the sticks if they're fancy on the front face. I put glue on the sticks and carefully place the leaf on the sticks. When the glue is dry, I fold the fan so that the pleats form more gently than if the leaf was pleated before mounting. I store the fans open, and prefer a hint of pleats rather than razor sharp edges. For the next one I make, I'm planning to drill holes in the sticks and sew the leaf in place instead of sticking them only because I haven't tried that method yet, but still not pleat before mounting. Jean in Poole - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED]
