RE: [lace] Fine pens
Jean Nathan jean...@hotmail.co.uk wrote: I use rOtring technical pens, around GBP8.50 (around $13) each so not a cheap pen and intended for technical drawings. Guess I'm just ham-fisted. Okay, if you're using a technical pen (the point is a metal cylinder with a wire that shakes up and down to clear out the drying India ink) and it's getting too broad too fast, it's probably how you're holding the pen. Technical pens were designed to be held exactly vertical while drawing. If you tilt the pen they way you'd hold a pencil or regular pen, you will damage the cylinder's edge. Try it with a new crayon--it goes from a circular tip to an oval when you press hard while coloring. If you keep moving the crayon around in your hand, you'll wear down all sides of the tip and make a dull, rounded tip. But if you hold the crayon still in your hand it will wear at an angle and you'll have that ellipse of a point. This is what happens with a technical pen. Hope this helps. Robin P. Los Angeles, California, USA robinl...@socal.rr.com Parvum leve mentes capiunt (Little things amuse little minds) - 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/
[lace] prickings
Hi Arachnids When I learned patterned drafting with Pam Nottingham she reprimanded me when I was drawing the guidelines in pen. She told me to ALWAYS draw in pencil first in case you make a mistake and you can correct it easily at this stage. Then trace over it in ink and, when the ink is dry, erase all the pencil lines that could otherwise transfer to the lace and soil it. I have gratefully followed her advice ever since. I wonder where you got your heelball Maureen. Was it part of that box I got from my local shoe mender? It was his last one tucked right at the back of the shelf. Happy lacemaking Alex - 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/
[lace] Heelball
I've got a stick of heelball from when I did my teacher training many, many years ago. We had it for taking rubbings of tree bark, stone walls and other textured surfaces. Could be useful in getting natural patterns as inspiration for designing lace. As for my pen thickening, I've concluded that it's because I don't have fine feeling in my fingers, or hold it properly so I mash the point. My husband, who was a draughtsman, tried it and just Well, you've wrecked that! Jean in Poole, Dorset, UK - 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/
[lace] 17th c. premade tapes, Mezzo Punto
In the 17th century there were laces made from premade tapes. The tapes were tacked onto a pattern and filled with often very beautiful and elaborate needle lace stitches. These tapes look to be of woven linen. When the tapes go around a curve they are gathered, or turned over, so it is quite clear that they were not made with bobbins on a pillow with the patten on it, in which case the maker would have shaped the tape Does anyone know how or where these tapes were produced? Were they produced on a little loom, like a ribbon loom? Santina Levey discusses this kind of lace on p. 23 of her book under the heading Tape Lace. She does not speak of how the tapes were made. A cursory search of the internet results in the claim that tapes for Mezzo Punto were either woven or made with bobbins. However, I don't know whether to believe that premade tapes were ever made with bobbins. This may be a bit of misinformation repeated over and over again due to generalized statements in which tapes laces such as Milanese are conflated with Mezzo Punto. I would think it would be much easier to make such tapes with a small loom. However, my colleague who weaves thinks it might be easier to make them with bobbins. When one looks at classification of these laces in collections, some are classified as needle lace, whereas others are classified as bobbin lace, perhaps on the theory that the tapes which appear to be woven are bobbin lace. However, the more skilled and remarkable work on the lace is the needle lace in my opinion. I am trying to figure out how they should be classified. Devon P.S. In the 19th and early 20th century there were laces based on these early laces such as Battenburg lace that were quite popular. It is often the case that these are also called Mezzo Punto. In fact, it may be that only in the 19th century did they start to call the tape based laces of the 17th century Mezzo Punto, so this adds to the confusion. I am assuming that all the tapes in the 19th and 20th century were machine woven. - 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/
[lace] 17th c. premade tapes, Mezzo Punto
During my University of Malta Diploma in Lace Studies course, we explored needlelaces and made a tape for a motif ourselves using bobbins and upright Maltese lace pillow. 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/
Re: [lace] 17th c. premade tapes, Mezzo Punto
Karen wrote: During my University of Malta Diploma in Lace Studies course, we explored needlelaces and made a tape for a motif ourselves using bobbins and upright Maltese lace pillow. How did you make the tape with bobbins? Specifically what kind of edge did it have? Was it a tape with workers going perpendicular to the edge, or was it a tape with a diagonal weave to it? If it was perpendicular to the edge, was the weaving done with a single thread, as in a talley, or was it done in linen stitch, moving two threads across at a time, which might be considered a double weft, where as a talley is a single weft? Did the teacher say anything about or give any source for the idea that this was how the tapes were made historically? There are quite a few of these tapes in laces that resemble gros point but that are believed to have been made in Spain, so information from Malta, which has an historical association with Spain may be very significant. Devon - 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/
Re: [lace] 17th c. premade tapes, Mezzo Punto
And having made Battenberg type laces using tapes where you have to gather and ease the tapes around corners, I would much rather spend the time making a bobbin lace tape to fit the shape first. All the tapes I inherited seem machine woven to my eye. Sue suebabbs...@gmail.com - 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/
Re: [lace] 17th c. premade tapes, Mezzo Punto
I'm afraid I cannot answer many of your questions because we did not go into depth on these laces. What we did was a cloth stitch braid with a 'straight edge' (i.e. some of you Spideys out there have referred to it as 'pin under four'). We then gathered to go around curves. I preferred to have a motif that required sharper turns and could pleat the tape neatly. I think I must have used about ten pairs in all. 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/
Re: [lace] prickings
Hi I probably got my heelball from you, have had it since I lived in Essex. Just got back from a day of demonstrating lace in our local garden centre which is based in an old commercial greenhouse. Well I didn't do a lot of lace but several kids went home with fish. It was not as hot as last time either, which was in the middle of a heat wave in July. Am back there tomorrow. Feet ache though!! There was a tame robin who kept coming to see what we were doing and kept landing on the artificial trees above us which have artificial snow on them and the snow is now on the table. Festive. Maureen E Yorks UK - 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/
Re: [lace] prickings
i found many years ago while demonstrating that if i put my feet up on a flat brick, that little bit saved not only my feet but my lower back too. it is tense work sharing our lovelies. because of the weight, i didn't want to carry 2 bricks with me so i got styrofoam and used that. you can cover the pieces (one for each foot - or one longer one) but the damp from the ground makes it look tacky. one old timer saw this and made little foot stools for each of us demonstrating and while a bit heavier, blends great with our costumes of being pioneer women/men. i am sure you can look around and find something to help ease your later aches. i never feel the pain until afterwards because it is too much fun. now i don't have to be concerned and with my tripod table, piano stool with a full back, my tote with my pillow and supplies (including my little stool), i go and come home having not only the pleasure of the day but the glow afterwards for the benefits sharing always grants me. Happy lacing. Hugs, Lin and the Mali *I just realized I am so old, I have forgotten I have been there and done that.* - 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/
[lace] Putting my feet up.
My husband made for me a folding wooden foot stool so I can put my feet up while lacing. Sherry New York, USA Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android - 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/
[lace] heelball
I had never heard of heelball until I needed some to copy lace prickings by taking rubbings on the back of the pricking. I got ine from my next-door-neighbour, who was a cobbler. -- Janis Savage t/a The Lace Place South Africa - 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/
Re: [lace] 17th c. premade tapes, Mezzo Punto
Dear Devon, Where to start on this one!? Not everyone uses the term Mezzo Punto, for example. You might like to reference my 2-volume 1913 set of Old Italian Lace by Eliza Ricci. Volume II is about Bobbin Laces, and though she does not ever use the term Mezzo Punto, you might see more examples of tapes from different collections. Milanese starts on page 155. On page 156 is mentioned a tape made with 2 bobbins. We know you can make lace with 2 pairs of bobbins (In Gil Dye's new book Surface Decoration in Silk and Metallic Laces and in Tamara Duvall's Two-Pair Variations), but 2 bobbins? A fascinating subject to research. In the following chapter about Abruzzi (Southern Italy), you might like to view the illustration on page 228. In the text I found a reference to making lace with thousands of bobbins (p. 223-4), another reference of children scarce 2 years old instinctively twisting 3 or 4 threads (p. 226), and on the same page the words that a lace maker of Pescocostanzo is able to draw with her bobbins and pins. (No pattern or striped fabric on her pillow.) This relates to an Arachne subject of the past few days. These 2 books were scanned by Tess into the Professor's site: http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/lace.html When you read the address you are reminded that he started with a site for weavers. There are many more weavers in the world. Being able to share the University of Arizona site with weavers is a gift of great value, because out-of-print books are extremely costly. Devon, do you know any weaving scholars doing identification at major museum collections? I should think they might add an interesting twist to your research. At the least, you might look to see what books are in the weaving section of the Professor's site. Everyone: If you would like to learn about lace makers who came before us, I recommend the Eliza Ricci books. They are written in a charming style, like books that belonged to our grandmothers. Not over- burdened with footnotes and extraneous credits to others. A chapter a day may be quite manageable and interesting. Makes you proud to be carrying on the tradition of lace making. It is rare to find Italian lace history in English, which is why Tess spent so much time scanning these books for you. Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center In a message dated 11/23/2013 7:58:44 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, dmt11h...@aol.com writes: In the 17th century there were laces made from premade tapes. When the tapes go around a curve they are gathered, or turned over..they were not made with bobbins on a pillow with the patten on it, in which case the maker would have shaped the tape Does anyone know how or where these tapes were produced? Were they produced on a little loom, like a ribbon loom? - 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/
[lace] heel ball
I know the use of heel ball for lace making, but how is it used on shoes? Devon - 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/
Re: [lace] Putting my feet up.
I have seen guitar foot stands used by lacemakers. They're usually quite reasonably prices. For example: http://www.walmart.com/ip/On-Stage-Guitar-Foot-Rest/10298448 Lesley On my way back from Cornwall to Stockport, staying at Taunton Holiday Inn - 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/
[lace] Needle Lace Exhibition Opportunity
The Embroiderers' Guild of America is staging an international exhibition of contemporary embroidery that features COLOR as its main theme. This is open to members of: EGA American Needlepoint Guild Embroiderers Association of Canada Embroiderers' Guild UK Association of New Zealand Embroiderers' Guilds Australia Embroiderers' Guilds Cape Embroiderers' Guild of South Africa Needle Lace is taught and accepted in these embroidery groups, because it is made with a threaded needle and uses embroidery stitches. It occurs to me that it would be wonderful to have Needle Laces well-represented. For more information, go to _www.egausa.org_ (http://www.egausa.org) On Home Page, step down Right column and select For Artists. Entries are due on or before April 15, 2014. If you decide to participate, please contact me. Otherwise, I will not know this type of opportunity is of interest to Arachne members. Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center - 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/
[lace] Heelball
According to the on-line dictionary: A wax colored with lampblack that is used to stain and polish the edges of the soles and heels of shoes or to take rubbings of brass or stone inscriptions. Jean in Poole, Dorset, UK - 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/
Re: [lace] Putting my feet up.
You only need to elevate 2 for the relief - surprisingly enough. anything else is like an ottoman at home which does not lend itself to working comfortably. i use my stool during tax season in the office under the desk to alleviate a but of stress and tension. they used to have angled units in the office supply stores for this. but, believe me, the foam is hardly costly and if you only have sheets of thin stuffs, cut them up to shoe size and glue them together. probably will only cost you pennies. Hugs, Lin and the Mali *I just realized I am so old, I have forgotten I have been there and done that.* - 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/
Re: [lace] Heelball
According to the on-line dictionary: A wax colored with lampblack that is used to stain and polish the edges of the soles and heels of shoes or to take rubbings of brass or stone inscriptions. Which leads to the question, what is lampblack? Fortunately the online dictionary also defines lampblack: Fine soot collected from incompletely burned carbonaceous materials, used as a pigment and in matches, explosives, lubricants, and fertilizers. Also called blacking It sounds a little messy to have around lace. Devon - 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/
[lace] Heelball
Blacking would have been used in the household anyway, I can remember my grandmother having a range (combination of fireplace and about three ovens) which was blacked, and fire grates were blacked as a matter of course, especially in larger households where it was the job of the lower housemaids. To take a rubbing they would have rubbed the image onto paper, or similar material, as you cannot rub straight onto card (or vellum). This would give a mirror image of the pattern, as you rub the wrong side of the pricking, so the image would have had to have been turned over to prick onto new card - maybe this explains the difference in right and left footsides between regions when patterns were copied - so whatever was used for the rubbing would have had to be on something thin enough for the image to show through. The blacking may have transferred to the card when the pricker was pushed through, so they may have used something between the card and the rubbing to stop this happening? Dirty lace was more likely to have been rejected by a dealer - who was under no obligation to buy from the cottage workers s/he employed - so the lacemakers would have done everything possible to keep the lace clean. In message 6c87.43755fb5.3fc27...@aol.com, dmt11h...@aol.com writes Also called blacking It sounds a little messy to have around lace. Devon -- Jane Partridge - 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/
[lace] Christina pillow
Just noticed a Christina pillow for sale on ebay. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Made-in-Sweden-Lacemaking-Bobbin-Lace-Roller-Pillow-European-Knyppeldyna-/151168772630?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0hash=item23325c6a16 Sorry, don't know how to make mini urls. April In beautiful Edmonds Washington - 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/
[lace] another Pinterest board - appraisers, consultants, conservators, repairers, etc.
I just started a new board on the LaceNews Pinterest site for lace appraisers, consultants, repairers, conservators, etc. I think it's a good idea, but am a bit at a loss on what to pin. If you have any recommendations please drop me a note. I'd like to work these up one-on-one with people. Thanks! Laurie Waters lacen...@gmail.com, lwaters...@comcast.net http://lacenews.net/ http://lacenews.net http://www.pinterest.com/LaceNews/ http://www.youtube.com/user/lacenews - 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/
