----- Original Message -----How many others don't use the double head on a midlands bobbin? How long should bobbins be? Would it be worthwhile for bobbin makers to make single headed midlands bobbins as a general rule? Should they be longer than the 4 inches which seems to be fairly standard for midlands? >>
Over the years I think I have made almost every vaiation possible depending on the customer request or just how I happen to feel while turning that particular bobbin I have made double headed Honiton and single headed Midlands. On the bobbin area of my website I show Danish with LePuy heads. Currently I am making Midlands with a loose ring on the neck area. I does not seem to interfer with winding thread on the bobbin and I need the practice. You like the bobbin but not the ring I simply break it off.
Most of bobbin style is tradition but it started somewere. I am still a strong believer that had Ethafoam and Styrofoam existed in the 1700's, we would never have seen a heavy straw pillow. Bobbin makers make bobbins the same because that is what the customer wants. And it is about busness. I can make all the strange variations I want but the tradional shape will sell the most. If I don't have them they will be purchased at anothe stall.
One of the first designs I ever did had a small groove set into the bottom protion of the head as a decorative feature. I was told that they simply did not do that to bobbins because the thread might catch and certainly would never sell. So I never offered them for sale but put them in my private stash for lacemaking and have used them over the years. Still waiting to catch that first thread yet, by the way.
If you want it, a bobbinmaker will make it. But in a market that is already small and limited, this area is more limited still. The result is that one makes sellable bobbins and keeps a few odd ones around for you to look for and seek out.
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