Dear Karen, You are wise to express concerns about the fragile nature of this lace. Have you looked at the correspondence about Carrickmacross in our digest?
http://www.mail-archive.com/lace@arachne.com/index.html Put Carrickmacross in the search box, and read a lot we have said through the years. For those interested in books, put Carrickmacross 8/23/2010 in the search box to read a list from me. Proper supplies and technique are important to ensuring a long life for your laces. Then comes care. To a one-piece Carrickmacross collar, open in front, I added pops (small circles of buttonhole stitches) where I wanted to use a cameo pin. Then, I cut a piece of bias-woven white lawn tape to a size that would be hidden by the cameo and marked where I wanted my pin to go in and out of the tape. Insert pin in one pop, then into tape and up again through tape into other pop, and close pin. The hidden tape holds the weight of a small cameo. Collar will rest in place, without being pinned into your garment. I made a Summer dress for just this collar to rest on, so no neck oil would stain it. Another collar solution is to make fabric tabs or thread loops and attach them with stitches at the front of a lace collar. Pin into the tabs or loops. Never pin directly into lace!!! A third possibility (for tape lace collars) is to thread a grosgrain ribbon (it has no wrong side) through openings in the two sides and tie in a bow. Use more ribbon than you think you need. A large looped bow looks wonderful with large Battenburg tape lace collars. Another possibility is to baste a collar directly on a dress. Stitch in the holes, not in the lace threads. Test dark colored dresses, as some will discolor or transfer fibers to the underside of lace. Be especially careful of denim, because dyes rest on the tightly-woven surface and rub off on light colors. Those of us who have been hand washing laces for 50 years must remember that new lace makers are accustomed to easy-care fabrics and whatever water comes out the pipes, combined with strong detergents, in machines that churn whatever is placed in them. A conservator will tell you that Carrickmacross is fragile, and must be handled carefully in the wash. A clean white enamel basin is best - look for one at yard sales, since everything now available seems to be plastic. Mine is oval, with inside measures of 16" x 12 1/2". Paint nail polish over any chipped enamel, to avoid rust stains. Basin should be very clean; detergents wiped away with white vinegar on a cloth. Wash Carrickmacross alone (no additional pieces) in 1 inch of room temperature distilled water with a little Orvus soap which you prepare before floating lace in it. If you do not have a delicate touch, sandwich lace between two layers of soft net (not the scratchy kind) and baste around lace item to keep it from shifting in this envelope. This will resist most of the effects of gravity and water weight. Do not agitate. Do not scrub. Let lace soak a few hours if there are stains, so the fibers can expand and stains can detach. Hold piece flat to bottom of basin and pour off dirty water. To rinse, pour fresh distilled water in from the side of basin, not directly on lace. Repeat. Pour final rinse water away. Sometimes wet lace looks dingy, but it has a way of drying clean. Roll out of basin on a soft towel with no texture to catch in lace picots. Blot. Lay on a clean surface (pre-wiped with white vinegar) to dry. Shape piece for drying, but do not pull in any direction. You can finger press, and warmth of your fingers will hasten drying. Press carefully with an iron, preferably no warmer than your hand can tolerate. Don't let iron point get caught in the picots. A damp light weight pressing cloth may be helpful. Sounds like a lot of work, but you must remember how much more time was spent making your Carrickmacross lace, and how long it would take to replace it. It is best to consider what will be easiest to care for before tackling something like a collar that will be soiled by skin oil combined by whatever dust or sand is floating around and will attach itself to the oil. For a collar, my recommendation is to design a pattern to fit a garment, so it can be basted on the garment. That way, the skin oil issue - on lace - is avoided. Be patient when removing basting threads for lace storage or wet cleaning, so no knots are pulled through the lace. One must avoid activities and jewelry (dangling earrings, charm bracelets, pronged rings) that might catch in the picots (which are much larger and more open than in other types of laces). Be careful when adding and removing a sweater, jacket or coat, because the texture and your movements may injure the lace. Watch where your car's seat belt is dragging over your shoulder. Sorry. This is a fragile lace. It needs more caution than most. Please save this memo in your Conservation binder for future reference. Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center ---------------------------------------------------------- In a message dated 6/26/2014 5:40:11 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time, kazama...@gmail.com writes: ââ¬â¹I have just started to try making some of this exquisite lace. Last night, I started a small pattern featured on page 15 of Volume 28 No 2 (77) of the Irish Lace Journal of The Guild of Irish Lacemakers. I also have a couple of good books to help. I was really puzzled to find out that the thread which is couched down is simply that....just couched down. I was always of the impression that it would be buttonhole stitched down to prevent the organdie from fraying, although I do realise that organdie does have special properties. My question is this. Is the couching enough to prevent the organdie from working away from the tulle with time? I imagine it should be fine if a piece is to be framed, but what about things like collars and fans that are made for use? I would be grateful for some comments and discussion. Thanks, Karen in Malta. - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/ - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
