In message <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, Wendy Davies
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes
I have been told that it is good to leave you lace on the pillow after you
have finished over night if possible. Can you tell me how important this is
It has to do with "thread memory" (the reason why cotton, silk and linen
will crease) - the idea being that the longer the lace is left "set"
around the pins, the more likely it will stay in shape and not shrink so
much when it comes off the pricking.
But, if you think about it, in the days when lacemaking was done to earn
money, the ability (in terms of time) to do this would have been
regarded as a luxury! A Honiton lacemaker's pillow would be needed to
work the next piece once one had been completed, and where yardage lace
was concerned, the pins stayed in only as long as they were not needed
for use further down or the lace needed moving up. Time meant money.
When working on a roller or block pillow to any great extent, the pins
don't stay in for that many hours before they are reused further down
the lace, and if left in too long (my Honiton pillow is in danger of
this!) they can rust into the pillow (even if they are brass or
stainless).
So, it may be the ideal way to work, but I think it is a modern one -
because we have the time and are not trying to make enough lace to keep
a family, we can afford to leave it on the pillow for a while (at least
four hours is recommended).
That said, although if I'm working a small piece (eg bookmark or
coaster) that will not need moving up I will leave the edge pins in
(pushed down if need be) until it is finished, I don't worry if I'm
working on a roller pillow that requires pins to be removed every hour
or so, and I rarely leave a piece on the pillow when it is finished.
If you have a fold in a cotton or linen skirt for more than a minute or
so it will crease quite happily, and require damping and ironing to
remove the crease, so why should the cotton or linen thread on our
pillows need hours to remember where it turned?
I would definitely leave lace to set if it was made from synthetic
fibres - eg rayon or polyester, where the fibre is designed not to
crease - this is less likely to hold its shape unless persuaded in some
way.
--
Jane Partridge
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