In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes >Not only that, but the use of hand made lace as trim presents problems in >laundering. I do not see any sign that people of the future are going to want >to do much fussy laundering.
So make the piece to suit the function - the basic rule of any design brief! Not every piece of lace we make is of heirloom category, and one of my early pieces, an edging used to trim the yoke of my daughter's dress - she was 2 when I made it, saw about ten years service (as Hannah grew, so an extra flounce was added to the dress, she stopped wearing it when she was 10, and it had a couple of years with my cousin's daughters) as a favourite dress, being machine washed and ironed. The lace is made from Sylko (ordinary run of the mill sewing cotton) and is still as good as when it was first made - the dress now occasionally comes out to show when I'm demonstrating. If you are making a piece to wear, accept that it will need laundering - and design to suit, use sensible, hard wearing threads (which most natural fibres are - Mom always told me that silk was used for underwear because it would stand up to harsh washing!) and make sure that your ends are well secured. Leave the flimsy, hard to clean, lace for that which is only occasionally worn for special occasions, or that which will be framed. We are, after all, using a traditional method to make a piece of cloth for whatever use we will put it to, whether it is coloured, white, of simple geometric design or outrageously stylised - what matters, and impresses people more, is that it can look delicate but stand up to modern life (hence my reason for taking the dress out with me - it shows that lace isn't just for underwear). Handmade lace in the past wasn't made to look pretty - it had to stand up to being used on bed covers, being positioned to prevent armour chafing the neck (the reason for Venetian Gros Point cravats), flouncing over flowing skirts and draping from sleeves - and no doubt likely to be caught on furniture, etc. It was used for the doily under the cakes at tea, and to protect furniture from the plates and vases - and it was washed by laundry maids using methods that probably make Jeri's hair stand on end, but it made its impression because only the wealthy could afford it, and as a status symbol. When machine lace, priced to be affordable for the masses, came in, everyone could have that status, and so today we see lacy patterns on jeans, trims on collars, as a textile, it is seen and ignored. Distinguishing hand from machine often makes us reach for our magnifying glasses - not something Joe Public would bother about. To be visible, modern lace needs to stand out from the crowd - and be something a machine possibly wouldn't make - hence the reason why wire lace is "seen" and silk or cotton lace isn't. Pictures, 3-D items, etc may be noticed - unfortunately, the lace waistcoat that took months to make will probably be thought of as machine made - you might get asked where you bought it, but it isn't out of the ordinary for modern machines. In a modern world, handmade fibre lace is probably more valuable as a means of stress relief than as a saleable art-form! -- Jane Partridge -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.6.11 - Release Date: 12/01/2005 - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
