In a message dated 5/29/05 9:35:44 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> I have just discovered that I do not have a picture of a "real" needle lace > > needle (as opposed to a doll needle etc.) > > Can anyone send me a scan/picture of one please? > Dear Brian, You have not said how you plan to use the needle photo. If it is to illustrate something on your Web Site, you need more information about needlelace, so that people will not be mis-led. Nearly always, more than one type of needle is used for different stages in the making of a single piece of needlelace! I have made a variety of needlelaces, and a variety of needles are appropriate, depending on the type of needlelace being made and the threads to be used. It's like bobbins - you use what works for the type of lace you are making and the thread(s) you are using! Books of four different prominent needlelace book authors from the U.S. and England have been referenced below in pretty much direct quotes, and if you looked at more books by experts you would find even more recommendations! Each of these authors has written more than one book on needlelace, and there are many more authors of fine books on the subject. I am not aiming at over-kill here but an attempt to clear up a misconception that one type of needle will suffice. 1. Jill Nordfors Clark, "Needle Lace Techniques & Inspiration" - modern needlelaces made with a great variety of threads, and needlelaces made on sewing machines: Along with tapestry (blunt-ended) needles with a large eye and large darning needles, you will need a selection of sharp-pointed needles. If you are planning to incorporate tiny beads, you'll also need a beading needle. For machine stitching on paper #90/14 (or larger) sewing machine needles are required. 2. Pat Earnshaw, "Needlelace" (Merehurst Embroidery Skills series): Sharps for couching down the outlining thread, since the needle has to be pushed through both the pattern and its support. A blunt-tipped needle, either ball point or tapestry, is used for working the stitches; its *rounded tip cannot accidentally split the threads*. 3. Valerie Grimwood, "Starting Needlepoint Lace - A Course for Beginners": 1 - Ball-pointed sewing needles for the lace stitches. 2 - Ordinary fine sewing needles for tacking and couching. 4. Nenia Lovesey, "Introduction to Needlepoint Lace": For the couching down of the design: *Betweens have a round eye and a No. 8 is about right when using sewing cotton. *Crewels have long eyes and a No. 10 is right for single strands of stranded sewing cotton or silks of a higher number than 100/3s. *Sharps No. 8 has a round eye; the needle is finer and longer than the No. 8 Betweens. For making the lace stitches: *Ballpoint needles were first introduced to use with man-made stretch fabrics, but have proved their worth for working the needlelace stitches as they have blunt ends and small round eyes, whereas *Tapestry needles have thick wide eyes that can spoil the lie of the close work. With the instructions in these or any needlelace books, it would be wise to use the threads recommended, as they are the ones that will fit the needles. Each author has done the work for you - determining what is best for the instructions in her book. Lace, as you know, is not a subject that can be condensed correctly into a one sentence summary. The same is true of the tools and thread used to make many varieties of lace. Kindest regards, Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace & Embroidery Resource Center - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]