RE: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
From: Janice Blair [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Now that's a thought... I have two travel pillows that pack up like a small bag and fit into tote bags but how about someone coming up with a backpack design that you can just zip open and get on with your lace!! I saw one (Sonja, are you still on Arachne?) in an attache case. She'd made a lot of foam blocks of various sizes and filled the case with them. The two halves came apart (her modification, I believe) and then she merely unfastened the bobbins and started working. She carried it everywhere (we were on a lace tour of Malta) and anytime we stopped, she sat down and made lace. Really cool! Robin P. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA http://www.pittsburghlace.8m.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
In an email dated Tue, 30 Sep 2003 9:57:57 pm GMT, Janice Blair [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Heather wrote: snipped Having found lacemaking in the last nine years (bought a Dryad kit in 1994 by mail order), finding IOLI and local lace groups, Arachne and conventions, I was of the opinion that lacemaking was growing, at least here in the states. snipped Janice -- I think that the support for lace making is growing - especially the number of people on Arachne - when I first got on the internet it was back in 1996 and there were very few people who weren't just geeks. With access to the internet growing (just look at the number of ebay users and their diversity) we are finding it easier to keep in touch and personally feel that this is going to be the key to the initial survival of lacemaking - accessibility Regards Liz Beecher I'm A HREF=http://journals.aol.com/thelacebee/thelacebee;blogging/A now - see what it's all about - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
In message [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes Here is another thought - the main way to be qualified to teach lace at Adult Education etc is to take City Guilds - but everyone you talk to says that the only way to do that is if you are not working. So, who has time now to devote 2 years full time to do a CG in lacemaking? Only retired lacemakers. Only two years? It took me three to do Part 1, and then another two for Part 2. Admittedly the syllabus has changed since then, so it might take more or less time. The teaching requirement is to be qualified to a level above that which you plan to teach, (logical) and as there is no Part 3 to CG lacemaking, the jump from Part 2 to the CG 7407 (Level 4 Certificate in Further Education Teaching) is quite a jump in intellectual terms! I have passed Stage 1, which was supposedly a 14 week course but then took several weeks further to complete the assignments - whereas I could probably have coped with working part or full time with doing the lace qualification, I couldn't possibly have coped with the teaching qualification if I had started it this term (I'm working in an office part time again, along with teaching one day a week). That said, I have had two new students start today - both in their middle age (I would guess at 50s) - and one girl who I started teaching when she was 17, is now 22, made it to class for the first time in ages today - working commitments make it difficult for her to manage a day time class. It is a lot easier for the older generation to start new hobbies as they supposedly have more time (or are bloody-minded enough by then to make time for themselves for once!), and as women are living longer (so they keep telling us) it should not be a problem to us that they are starting hobbies such as lacemaking at 60 instead of 16 - they are still a new generation of lacemakers, and keep the interest going. My classes are held in a shop, so I am not held to the numbers required for an Adult Education Class. Also, the students pay weekly, so they don't have to cough up several hundred pounds in one go. We also need to remember, as someone else has said, that not all lacemakers are members of the guilds and clubs - many cannot afford to - so it may well be impossible to work out how many lacemakers there are at any one time, except a rough guess of double what we think it is! -- Jane Partridge - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
Hi Liz, You have hit the nail on the head with your reply to Julia. The modern life style makes it very difficult for people to get out to classes in the evening anymore. People work very long hours, and have to continue to work even when they are married and a family comes along. No time for lace. Perhaps this is the reason for the growth in 'instant ' crafts. Card making etc. We still have a need to fulfil the creative side of ourselves but not the time to devote to learning lace. Jean in Cleveland U.K. who has just been asked to Chair her local Lace Guild Again, the ew younger ones, haven't time! - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
Liz and Spiders, I tend to share the worries about a possible decline in lace - witness the suppliers who have *gone under* over the last fifteen years! When I think back 20/22 years, I was the Events Secretary for both Essex and Suffolk Lace Makers, (at differing times, but bobbing back and forth like a bad openny!) in the UK. In Essex, when I first stsrated, we used the largest village hall in the country, and also hired the side rooms for the suppliers. The hall help 250, we sold all 250 tickets, and had a waiting list just in case any lace-makers dropped out. Similarly, in Suffolk, the hall held nearly 200 - all tickets were sold, and a waiting list for tickets. Nowadays, we are lucky if we can sell 100 tickets in both Essex and Suffolk (I am not involved on the Committees for either at present, but a quick headcount shows that the attendance is *not* what it used to be - but if the figures are totally wrong, no doubt someone will correct me!). The halls used - or the percentage of the halls - extra rooms for suppliers etc - have decreased in size to accommodate the smaller numbers. However, I am not sure that this is showing a decline in Lace Makers. A quick scan of the Events pages in the Lacemakers' Circle or the Lace Guild newsletters shows that a dedicated Lace-maker (and aren't we all?) could attend a Lace Day or Suppliers Fair most weekends of the year. When I started to make lace, there certainly wasn't the proliferation of lace groups and consequent events held - so for those events that were staged, attendance was very high indeed.Nowadays, we can attend the events closest to us, and even if we only belong to one county group,. we can still average about one event a month. Perhaps a better indication of the state of lace-making is the number of new lace-makers being introduced to the art. Are the classes managing to recruit new members - especially younger people? Are we able to publicise lace-making enough to keep up the recruitment figures? I am lucky in my classes - they are private classes, but held in local schools, and because they are not local education classes, I can have youngsters under the age of 15 in the class, which, when the classes I taught were run by the LEA, was not possible for some unexplained reason. (Again, this was several years ago, so things may well have improved ) This perhaps doesn't clarify the position much more, but I do hope it gives some food for thought! Carol - in a dry and sunny, albeit a bit chilly, Suffolk UK - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 6:57 AM Subject: Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help? - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
I have found in recent years that traders are more and more supplying the needs of other crafts i.e., patchwork, cross stitch, card making etc., and also people attending lacedays appear to be participating in other craft taking along not a lace pillow but sewing, knitting, crochet amongst others. Even my local guild, of which I am the only founder member remaining after 20+ years, has expanded its criteria to include other crafts to survive, though our laceday is still going (fairly) strong. Diana (Northamptonshire, UK) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
there is an interesting catalogue for sale on ebay from 1910 - Lace Making Requisites - a nice comparison from 93 years ago - was lacemaking as a hobby popular then? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=2561201424category=221 9 jenny barron Sunny Scotland - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
Dear Julia, The Embroidery Guild of America is having the same problems as the lace society. There is a dangerous decline in hand sewing and bobbin lace making. If you would really like to ingratiate yourself with all your fellow lace makers and needle craft cousins, tell them how to reverse the trend. Then to prove your dissertation, you could implement it. Tom Andrews - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
As publicity chairman for the IOL convention, I was given the info that we have, if I recall, 1628 members. Recently Gunnel Teitel turned over to me a hoard of clippings from all over the country about lace over the last 25 years. Many of them were reports of IOL Conventions. It was quite striking how the membership numbers have stayed very static at between 1500 and 1800 members. In that there was a lacemaking revival in the 1970's a fair number of the members are still the remnants of that, which means that the popuation although the same in number, is substantially older than it was 25 years ago. There is definitely material here for a fascinating dissertation on marketing. Consider a few anomalies of the situation. At the IOL convention no teacher actually earns enough to avoid an economic loss by working at the convention. In other words, either she or her husband are subsidizing the enjoyment of the conventioneers. Presumably there are many good teachers who cannot afford the luxury of teaching at the convention or some who would prefer to spend their vacation time and money having a vacation instead of working. Would conventions be more enjoyable if there was an economic incentive, or even competition among the teachers to teach there? Who knows? In the US there are probably between 5 and 10 suppliers. They supply goods and books which are not produced in bulk, ie. are expensive to produce, to a very small population of people who are very frugal, often on fixed incomes. Moreover, the population they sell to often feels that the vendor is greedy or only in lace for the money and ought really to be providing her services as a hobby, rather than as a business. So there is a moral judgment that the vendor is really not entitled to a profit. The small number of vendors all know each other and compete for a very small market, sometimes resulting in bad feeling when it is felt that one has overstepped They often find lace groups trying to cancel their teaching contracts and vending gigs after other opportunities have been refused because the lace group has failed to fill a class and doesn't want to pay for it. In many cases, only a married woman whose husband is the real bread winner can afford to be a lace supplier. They become bitter. Often it is impossible to fill a class from a lace group because a majority of the members are unable or unwilling to spend money on classes or programs. Hence, a majority of people on a tight budget has the effect of voting down any proposed activity of the group. The meetings all become lace-ins and those people who might like to spend money for a class or a program leave the group. Consequently, the people who might participate in classes and programs and field trips sometimes choose not to belong to local groups and don't have the ability to obtain lace activities that might put money in the pockets of suppliers and teachers. A lot of what happens in the lace world and the lace market runs on principles of female friendship. People help others obtain patterns and supplies in the face of scarcity imposed by relentless market conditions. There is tremendous, even heroic generosity of time and effort. However, then when favors are not properly valued or returned by the recipient, bad feeling and sometimes feuds results. I think for lacemaking to take off as a hobby it needs to be sold as enjoyable and trendy to young people in their 20's and 30's. I think a marketing campaign on MTV or in the kinds of magazines young people with discretionary income read might be a good idea. Knitting is becoming very trendy in New York. I saw a beautiful young woman, very trendily dressed, sitting on the subway knitting herself a turtle neck sweater yesterday. I think young people would become interested in lacemaking, if they are exposed to the kind of colored contemporary work that is happening now. They have plenty of time and money for going to concerts, buying CDs taking yoga and pilates classes,etc. But the other side of this is that the culture of the lace group is rather intimidating to young people. If a young person goes to a lace group meeting, it often meets in the home of one of the members, not a public place like a library. The other members of the group are of not even the parental generation, but the grand parental generation of the young person. The young person is unfamiliar with the ettiquette of such gatherings, which include taking turns baking for the group, offering to wash the dishes, working hundreds of hours to produce raffle prizes and favors, etc. The young person usually ends up violating the norms of the group without even realizing it and an uncomfortable situation results in the young person leaving. I think Julia has tremendous material here to demonstrate how market forces keep lacemaking small and unpopular and to propose a marketing plan to turn that around. She should interview vendors
Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
Carol and the spiders (that always sounds like a rock band), I've been thinking about this all afternoon now and feeling really rotten to be Casandra standing the market place here. What I will say is that I think there are more events because the average age of lacemakers is such that they are in early / retirement and what if commonly called the silver market - ie kids gone, house paid off, money behind them and time for themselves - so they are happy to organise and attend events and expect more events to be held simply because they have the opportunity to attend them. My local lace group has had about 10 - 15% new recruits over the last 3 years who have come to lacemaking because they have taken early retirement and are looking to take up a craft they have always wanted to do - however, the number of Adult Education Classes have diminished in our area and now there are very few places to learn because the number of learner has dropped off. But here is the Catch 22 - no learners - no classes - no classes - no where to learn. I have a real fear is the actual age of the lacemakers is rising and that we are about to see a horrible decline in the next 10 - 15 years as the average age hits 80 plus. Does anyone know if the Lace Guild have any demographics on this? I have a simply policy - anyone who asks to learn lace, I will teach. That way, if I teach just two people I have increased my contribution to the gene pool. Regards Liz Beecher I'm A HREF=http://journals.aol.com/thelacebee/thelacebee;blogging/A now - see what it's all about In a message dated 30/09/2003 09:29:01 GMT Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: However, I am not sure that this is showing a decline in Lace Makers. A quick scan of the Events pages in the Lacemakers' Circle or the Lace Guild newsletters shows that a dedicated Lace-maker (and aren't we all?) could attend a Lace Day or Suppliers Fair most weekends of the year. When I started to make lace, there certainly wasn't the proliferation of lace groups and consequent events held - so for those events that were staged, attendance was very high indeed. Nowadays, we can attend the events closest to us, and even if we only belong to one county group,. we can still average about one event a month. Perhaps a better indication of the state of lace-making is the number of new lace-makers being introduced to the art. Are the classes managing to recruit new members - especially younger people? Are we able to publicise lace-making enough to keep up the recruitment figures? I am lucky in my classes - they are private classes, but held in local schools, and because they are not local education classes, I can have youngsters under the age of 15 in the class, which, when the classes I taught were run by the LEA, was not possible for some unexplained reason. (Again, this was several years ago, so things may well have improved ) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
In a message dated 30/09/2003 11:47:13 GMT Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Even my local guild, of which I am the only founder member remaining after 20+ years, has expanded its criteria to include other crafts to survive, though our laceday is still going (fairly) strong. Diana (Northamptonshire, UK) Diana, I hope you make them sit in another room with no lights on until they come to their senses and beg to be taught lace making rotfl Regards Liz Beecher I'm A HREF=http://journals.aol.com/thelacebee/thelacebee;blogging/A now - see what it's all about - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
Just my 2 cents' worth: Perhaps I'm overly optimistic, but I don't think lace is declining so much as that it is in the downswing of a pendulum-like movement. I find that all hobbies and crafts are subject to the same variations. Remember how popular knitting was in the 1980s? In Vancouver in the 60s we had only 1 store that specifically sold knitting and embroidery supplies, then we had 2, then all of a sudden we had at least 10 stores. Then interest waned and most of the stores closed in the early 90s. We're back to just a couple. Here in Canada, even the major department stores that had huge yarn departments did away with them in the early 90s, but now knitting has become popular again. In fact, my local bookstore has become a read knit store, carrying good quality yarns and knitting books as well as their previous books. I think there will always be a core group of people who like to make things the way they used to, and now that so many lacemaking books have recorded the techniques, it will be easier in the future for people to teach themselves to make lace, even if the number of lacemakers dwindles. The availability of so many books is a big plus for lacemakers, now and in the future. Another point: when I read the postings from our British arachnes, it seems as if the number of people learning to make lace is equated with the number of people taking classes. However, there are many good books available that will help you learn to make lace at home, and from the beginner's perspective, a book costs a lot less than a class. So there may be many people who know how to make lace, who have not appeared on the radar of club meetings and lace days. Still another point: the Internet. People no longer have to travel to find suppliers, they no longer have to go to lace fairs to buy their supplies. Biggins and Tim Parker and almost all the suppliers are available right in their own home, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Yes, buyers have to take a chance if they are buying some item they haven't seen before, but those of us who are used to mail order have already swallowed that pill. So, maybe the reduced attendance at Lace Fairs is not wholly the result of dwindling interest in lacemaking, but a combination of why drive to Location X and pay and entrance fee when I can stay at home and order what I want and I've already got all the supplies I'll ever need, and more. Lacemaking, like all the feminine arts, has taken a quite a pummelling from the Girls can do anything boys can do attitude of the past twenty years or so. For a long time it has been very difficult for a girl to express a wish to do anything feminine. It has been OK if girls want to fly down mountain cliffs at 60 miles an hour on a bicycle, but absolutely not OK if they want to learn to crochet. Fortunately, I think the pendulum is now swinging the other way. It seems that young girls are now so empowered they feel they can do whatever they want to do - they don't have to prove themselves equal to boys, but social attitudes at long last are beginning to include the notion that you can do anything you want to do, and there is less stigma to traditional feminine arts. At least, that's the message I'm getting from my teenaged nieces, who fly down mountains *and* crochet. Adele North Vancouver, BC (west coast of Canada) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
For a long time it has been very difficult for a girl to express a wish to do anything feminine. It has been OK if girls want to fly down mountain cliffs at 60 miles an hour on a bicycle, but absolutely not OK if they want to learn to crochet. The fortunate flip side of this is that boys are learning lace, at least in the US. I've heard from several school-teachers who brought in lace as an after-school activity for the kids, and they've got a surprising number of boys joining in. Even Junior High kids (early teens), who are so terribly concerned with what's cool, are taking up lace! And when I demonstrate, I get almost as many boys trying it as girls. But almost no men. :( I agree with Adele, things (especially spare time activities) fluctuate in popularity. Quilting is really big these days. However, I seem to hear fewer comments about, oh, that's a dying art, you never see anybody doing it when I'm demonstrating lacemaking, so more people may be aware of it. But I still get so many I could never do that! and That must be so tedious! comments that I don't expect the subject to ever by as common as knitting or quilting. Robin P. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA http://www.pittsburghlace.8m.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
I think for lacemaking to take off as a hobby it needs to be sold as enjoyable and trendy to young people in their 20's and 30's. I think a marketing campaign on MTV or in the kinds of magazines young people with discretionary income read might be a good idea. Knitting is becoming very trendy in New York. I saw a beautiful young woman, very trendily dressed, sitting on the subway knitting herself a turtle neck sweater yesterday. I think young people would become interested in lacemaking, if they are exposed to the kind of colored contemporary work that is happening now. They have plenty of time and money for going to concerts, buying CDs taking yoga and pilates classes,etc. Sorry, I missed who said this, but in particular this paragraph caught my eye. I am a younger lacemaker, in my early 30's, and I have to admit, with being back at school, and working and homelife and and and.. most of my handcrafts have to be portable. I can throw my knitting in a backpack and do it on the subway, or the bus, or waiting for class to start, or or or.. in those 5 mins or 20 secs here and there. My pillow lanquishes at home because my life seems to be taken in MTV video clip chunks these days, flitting here and there.. an evening, or gasp a whole afternoon at home is a rare luxury. Now, I recognize that I've got my schedule packed to the gills, but most people I know my age do as well and if it cant go in a backpack, it's not an option. So I knit/crochet lace. I get my lace fix, but it fits in a ziplock bag. Tatting would also work if I wasnt just utterly hopeless at it. Just a comment, hit del at will. :) Heather -- who's on round 132 of 167 of the knitted lace I'm working on. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
--- Jazmin [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: I am a younger lacemaker, in my early 30's, and I have to admit, with being back at school, and working and homelife and and and.. most of my handcrafts have to be portable. Heather is right on here for my life as well. I do bobbin lace and take classes when I can, but pretty much all of my bobbin lacemaking happens in class or on the days I can manage to get to guild meetings. At home I knit or tat, because I have a three year old who tends to launch himself at me unexpectedly. Bobbin lace is a nearly impossible hobby for mothers of young children, so that's an automatic age restriction right there. Emma near Seattle __ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
Heather wrote: Now, I recognize that I've got my schedule packed to the gills, but most people I know my age do as well and if it cant go in a backpack, it's not an option. Now that's a thought... I have two travel pillows that pack up like a small bag and fit into tote bags but how about someone coming up with a backpack design that you can just zip open and get on with your lace!! Having found lacemaking in the last nine years (bought a Dryad kit in 1994 by mail order), finding IOLI and local lace groups, Arachne and conventions, I was of the opinion that lacemaking was growing, at least here in the states. Maybe that is wishful thinking on my part but our local groups are growing, due mainly to one dedicated BL teacher in our area. We were demonstrating together last Sunday at Pioneer Days, outdoors and very cold, brr. I have been going now for about 4 years and this year I kept hearing people say oh look it's the bobbin lacers so I think we are becoming more common place. We heard fewer comments about tatting although we did meet a few tatters. We had a have a go pillow which was in almost constant use and that included men trying it. I missed our last guild meeting but was told there were ten newbies trying BL for the first time including two men. Our age group does tend to range in the 40's to 60+ but maybe that is because we probably bring in our friends as new members, and no matter how we try to hide the grey we can't pass for teenagers these days. :-) Janice - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
Dear Liz and all, It is true that suppliers are getting fewer as they grow older, but you have left out one major Lace Fair - at least, I think it's major, being up in the North like me - and that's The Great Northern Not Just Lace Fair - known to its friends as Pudsey, as that's where it takes place - and is hosted by Jo Firth, who is a general supplier. I tend to think of Jo and Ashley as members of North West Lacemakers, since they come to our meetings more often than most. the Fair takes place in October, and this year it's on 11th October, in Pudsey Civic Hall. I'll have to miss it this year, as it clashes with our meeting - the refreshment are always excellent! Ann in Manchester, UK PS - I have no connection, but I think it's well worth supporting! - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 6:57 AM Subject: Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help? - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
A couple of years ago I was sitting guarding our exhibits and a CG display, getting on with my lace while offering to let all comers have a go at the Springett snake on the other pillow, when I spotted a man looking on with a certain amount of interest. So I suggested he had a go at the snake, and after demurring for a few moments, he agreed to have a try. So I talked him through one row of the snake as it very gradually dawned on me that I had detached him from his group of Adult Special Needs people who were there with their teacher. We both persevered to the end of the row - and I reckon we both achieved something! Ann in Manchester, UK - Original Message - From: Panza, Robin [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2003 7:53 PM Subject: RE: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help? - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Is Lace Declining? - Can anybody help?
In a message dated 29/09/2003 12:29:34 GMT Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: My name is Julia, I am 21 years old, and have been making lace for the past 11 years. I am also a final year marketing degree student at South Bank University in London. As part of my degree I have to write a 12,000 word dissertation, related to marketing, on a subject of my choice. It was recommended that this subject be something I am particularly interested in, so, the obvious choice was lace-making!! Spiders, I have replied privately to Julia but then thought perhaps you might want to argue against my thoughts on this. I am seriously worrid that lacemaking is either declining or at best staying at the same levels in the UK - what is the situation in the US, Oz, Canada and the rest of the world? Liz --- As to figures - I would suggest that you contact the Lace Guild for information know when they were formed (about 25 years ago) and where they have associated groups. However, lace is not growing, it is in serious decline and the average age of lacemakers is rising with the number of new lacemakers declining. I'm 37 and the youngest member of the 2 lace groups that attend - infact, most of the lacemakers in those groups are twice my age. I thought that this was due to my geographical placement but in the UK it is a common problem. Most lace makers over here are retired or semi retired. It is a little different in Oz and US and Canada but have lost lacemaking on the curriculum due to the National Literacy and Numeracy Hours. This has resulted in a serious decline in lace makers in the Beds area where traditionally younger children were being taught as a norm. The number of suppliers has seriously dwindled and we have gone from having 7 or 8 major lace fairs each year to only 4 (NEC, Harrogate, Fountains, Tim Parker). In fact, the Fountain Lace fair (which used to be Springetts) has gone from over 75 suppliers over two days as Springetts to around 35 suppliers for only one day. It is easy to see that you are passionate about lace, however, if you want to show how marketing techniques can be applied to a hobby this is not necessarily the best choice - most lace makers buy from the same suppliers that they have used over 10 - 15 years either because that supplier is the only person who produces that particular item or because they have always bought from them. For example, SMP and Biggins for pillows and Biggins for patterns and thread. Tim Parker for unusual bits and bobs and threads. When I attended the Fountains Fair and the NEC, last year, for the first time in 10 years, I was shocked to see that the average age of many of the suppliers and I whilst I know that they all have a love of lace making and its promotion, I do understand that many of them are looking towards retirement. I know that some of them have family support and are able to pass on supplying to younger family members but in the past few years we have lost through retirment, family needs and death some of the major names in lacemaking. I, personally, am seriously worried about the future of lacemaking and one of the reasons that I am on the Arachne list is to ensure that we promot the best suppliers, world-wide, and ensure the continued success of the lacemaking. On a more positive note, you could look at how commercial lacemaking rose and fell due to the marketing of machine lace and the movement of younger lacemakers from lacemaking to straw braiding. Thomas Wrights 'Romance of the Lace Pillow' is an excellent start. Or, how the rise of department store promoting of people like Hobby's has seriously affected local small scale craft shops and its affect then on lacemakers and embroiderers. Regards Liz Beecher I'm A HREF=http://journals.aol.com/thelacebee/thelacebee;blogging/A now - see what it's all about Regards Liz Beecher I'm A HREF=http://journals.aol.com/thelacebee/thelacebee;blogging/A now - see what it's all about - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
