On Aug 11, 2009, at 12:39, Chris Vail wrote:
I taught a beginner 16th c. bobbin lace course. It was...
interesting. I usually teach this class in two hours to about 6 people
at a time (basic twist and cross, plaiting -- I
don't cover picots).
And just as well, since there don't seem to have been any true picots
then :)
In the past two years, I looked at lots of the earliest laces, often in
great magnification. And I've asked Devon to pay special attention to
them for me, in her weekly trips to the Metropolitan, where she
volunteers and has access to the said laces. Nothing. Zero. Picots
don't seem to appear until much later, when the laces began to get
really fine.
What those early laces do have are "mock picots" which we know as
"winkie pins".
For linen and silk, Twist the worker pair (or the pair nearest the pin,
in a plait) at least 3 times (or more; some of those early "picots" are
really overtwisted), put a pin under it and keep working. For
metallic/metal thread, Twist the pair, place the pin under *just one*
(outer) thread, Twist the pair again and keep working.
On Aug 11, 2009, at 13:20, Regina Hart wrote (re Chris' message):
Do you have prickings/diagrams for early work? I'd like to learn
more about
bobbin lace in this early period, and I wouldn't mind replicating a
piece or
two.
OK, I'm not Chris and can't answer for her (him?) as to what sources
*s/he* used, but...
In addition to several books on the subject, the IOLI Bulletin has been
publishing -- beginning with vol.27, #4 (summer 2007) -- my
reconstructions of some of the simpler early laces, mostly from Le
Pompe. Not to blow my own horn too loudly, but, while not perfect (I'm
working on a correction for one of them, right now <g>), they're not
half bad, either. And most are simple enough so that they can be made,
by-the-many- yard, as needed for those early costumes. Nor am I
finished reconstructing... And, during that same time, others have also
written articles (some with prickings and diagrams) on the earliest
laces.
So, join us. Subscribe to IOLI, which will allow you to borrow the old
issues and will assure you of getting anything new that comes out as
well. By-and-by, you should be able to assemble a library of patterns
for every occasion to choose from.
--
Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/
Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland)
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