Re: [lace] ebay tatted coasters
Having been away for a couple of days, I'm a bit late picking up on some of these threads but... The change of description is there, but as someone else said, I'm inclined to think these are modern, commercial Chinese or whatever, not Granny-made. What did amuse me however is if you scroll to below the change of description there is a bid retraction from Brenda saying If these are bobbinlace I would rather not purchase them. Is that a problem? No problem as far as the seller is concerned but I do wonder about Brenda who apparently only collects tatting but then can't see the difference between it and bobbin lace. Hi-ho, it's the peculiarities of life that make it so interesting. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] bobbin on ebay
It looks like we're getting to him/her!! The seller is now saying he/she is having doubts about it being a lace bobbin, and has given two enquiries to that effect. Hasn't published mine (or Amanda's, I don't think) and has changed the story from 'selling it for someone else' to 'bought it at an antiques fair'. Could be a handle from a lot of things such as a stilletto, crochet hook, button hook but if it came in a whole box of needlework bits and pieces then the remote similarity to a bobbin was enough to convince him that's what it is. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Another ebay lace bobbin
I thought it was probably a stiletto. The LH end in the photo looks like the start of the taper and I have seen one before with a Stanhope in. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Stanhope 'bobbin'
In a message dated 23/05/2005 18:11:19 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: The ebay 'bobbin' isn't a bobbin.. And the seller must know this very well, because as well as Jean writing to her, she has some very nice bobbins for sale. BUT, considering her feedback, I'm not going to waste time going down that one. Thank you Jean, I'd missed that until you pointed it out. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Making a tatting shuttle part 4 The best way
In a message dated 26/05/2005 00:26:57 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: i appreciate this very much. i am sure i can make enough of them to start a small project in tatting this way. Hi Suzi, how are you VBG You only need one shuttle to start to tat! Eventually when you are doing fancy stuff you might want 2 or even 4. I don't think that before you can tat, and have used many different styles of shuttles that it would be easy to make a good one anyway, because you wouldn't have the *feel* for what you are trying to make. The size, shape and feel of each shuttle makes a great difference to how easy you find them to use and what one person loves will be nearly impossible for another to use at all. I don't know what price they are in the States but here they start at a little over 1GBP so $3 perhaps. Put that against the cost of materials, tools and your time trying to make one. One of the least expensive (GBP3) has a centre spool (where the thread goes) that pops in and out. It is very like a sewing machine bobbin. You can get extra ones of these and therefore use the same shuttle for more than one project without rewinding the thread. As for needle tatting, you don't need special tatting needles to do it, any long straight needle with an eye much the same size as the rest of the needle will work. Doll needles are good and can be much more easily and cheaply found in craft shops - I suspect they are the same needles in different packaging as it's unlikely any company would make needles just for tatting. But please be aware that although the finished result is very similar, needle tatting is a completely different technique to shuttle tatting. With shuttle tatting the knot is transferred from one thread to the other and it is the knack of doing this that some people have trouble with. In contrast, with needle tatting the 'knots' are placed onto the needle and then the thread in the needle's eye is pulled through them. The more advanced techniques (I believe I am right in saying this) can only be done with shuttle tatting. Jacquie in Lincolnshire, England - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] lace ebook
In a message dated 28/05/2005 01:39:47 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I wonder if ebay item# 8194265826.is the same as or a different version to.images provided by Tess Parrish. Very probably, I'm going to write and ask them VBG Do you think they'll tell me? Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: Milanese scrolls
Hi everyone interested in this subject. I answered Kathy privately but have been reading the other replies. What I have been interested in is the suggestion that you need to tie the workers against the first passive pair either the first time or even every time. When I was taught Milanese by Pat the only time that she suggested it is necessary to knot after this first pair is when you are hanging in new pairs under the workers before you make up the edge stitch. These new threads are laid in as the 2nd and 4th passive counting from the edge and it can be very helpful to give this new pair some support so avoid spoiling the edge line as you tension the work. In contrast, the constant edge passives, be there 2, 3 or more (that I refer to as the magic number when I am teaching), are normally held out against the pin by the passives-that-used-to-be-workers; if anything when the magic number is 3 or more pairs it is helpful to gently spread these pairs *away* from the edge as they tend to be held there in a tight bunch by the aforementioned p-t-u-t-b-w. In Pat's instructions for the scroll sample in her first book it appears she is suggesting that you tie after the first pair as you start the scroll, but in fact this tie is to support the last of the new hung in pairs. There is no mention of any further knots. I have also checked in the series on Milanese that Pat did for the Lace Guild (Lace 105 - 108) and again there is no mention of tying the workers when doing a scroll or scroll turn. The other thing I would like to comment on is Christine's: Once you have worked down the braid as far as the pivot pin, work the pivot pin as a blind stitch (= do NOT work edge stitch, just pin the workers) and the work to the outside edge, work the edge stitch and work back through all of the passives. LEAVE THE WORKER -it's not going to be a worker any more. . This is correct when the braid leaving the scroll has its own, new pinholes (as in the scroll sample). However, in the example such as Kathy was asking about where it was a scroll turn followed by sewings, it is better to make this stitch up as a normal edge stitch. Once you have finished the scroll turn and are about to work the row right across to the pivot pin, take the twists off this inside edge pair and cloth stitch through it as an extra passive. Now, lay the worker sideways next to the pivot pin and tie what was the edge pair to hold the worker close against the pin. This saves you doing a sewing in this awkward hole. Leave the worker for now, and use the pair you just knotted as the new worker for the next row. When you get back to the inside edge again, the worker you left is included as the inside edge passive. Jacquie, just off for a second day of lace demonstrating. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Corsetry advice VBG
While I was away this weekend I bought from a junk stall a delightful pink satin corset. I don't know a lot about underwear and wonder if there is anyone that could give me some ideas about date. It is waist length (10 from the highest arch of the bust shape), the front boned top to bottom. There is a 2 wide elasticated panel in the centre back and two small elastic gussets at the lower back edge. It does up down the centre front with silver colour hooks and eyes. The elastic panel edges are turned over top and bottom with a 1/4 hem and is finished with a form of multiple thread machine stitch. The rest of the stitching is straight stitch. There is no evidence of there ever having been a label inside the garment. The lace content is over the front over the bust where the top curve shape (between 2 and 3 deep) is a double layer of hexagonal machine net with three twists on the main zig-zag horizontal line and one twist on the vertical connecting bars. The outer layer of net is decorated with a coached design. I believe that this is hand done as the coaching stitches appear to be a single thread, are not related to the net, are long on the back (as far as I can see through the other layer) and each repeat is subtly different in shape and size. It is in a box (which may, of course, not belong to it) with a large picture of a double ended axe with and the words The Double Axe Brand Corsetry and Trademark written along and under the picture. Beneath is the description The Corsets that have Stood the Test of Time On the end of the box it repeats the trademark picture with its wording, then Double Axe Company again in big letters (in case you missed it). The quality is marked as SB2, colour Tea-Rose and size 7. All in all, it is delightful but I would like to know a little bit more about it and the sort of clothes it would have been worn under. Many thanks, Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: scrolls and ties
In a message dated 08/06/2005 10:28:27 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I seem to get a series of holes just inside the outside edge, which I don't like in a naturalistic pattern. This is an integral part of this method which Pat sometimes refers to as 'fully-fashioned shaping' as it reminds her of the evenly spaced decreases on raglan sleeves on knitwear. Yes, I know those are little lumps from knittting two or three stitches together, not holes, but I know what she means. If you don't like these holes you can minimise them by having more pairs in the magic number. This means that the open area of the scroll (the bit inside the magic number) is smaller and therefore will be slightly denser and the holes will not be allowed to open as much. Spreading the magic number passives so they are a more similar spacing to the rest of the scroll and not packed tightly together also helps to close these holes a little. Just don't tug the outside pair away from the pins. Some ways to increase the magic number include having 'enough' pairs in the braid beforehand, by reducing the number of holes around the scroll slightly or by working the scroll in two mirror imaged halves (essential with colour if you want the pairs back where they started). Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] IOLI class
In a message dated 10/06/2005 14:10:09 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I'm so excited, this is the first time I will be taking a 24-hour class. Make sure you get lots of sleep beforehand then VBG Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Russian bobbin lace instructional materials
In a message dated 10/06/2005 16:53:51 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: There is a bobbin lace instruction book in Russian on eBay right now These books (there are two) are not 'rare' in the way that the seller is implying. I bought them about 2 years ago and I have seen them for sale at least twice since then. They are apparently new so it is possible that if the dates are genuine, a batch has been found in a warehouse and they are being trickled onto the market. As far as I can see, the cover patterns are not included which is a shame. There are very good diagrams, but maybe not for a very, very beginner unless they are a Russian speaker. The books do cover winding bobbins etc so are theoretically at least, aimed at all abilities. Unfortunately, a fair bit of the information is duplicated in both books, but then we are used to ignoring the first chapter or two of a book once we have mastered the basics. However, they were fairly good value when I bought them and it was very exciting getting post from Russia. What I would really like to know is if there are any different editions lurking anywhere. Is there a Russian speaker on the list who could ask? Since I bought them I have bought the International Lace Dictionary* and Russian is one of the 16 languages that have 600+ lace words translated into English, so I must be able to get some sense now from the words. *This book is well worth having if you have any lace books in languages other than your own as with not too much difficulty you can translate into English and back to a third language. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Birthday Honours list
WOW, that is really amazing, fantastic news. There couldn't be a better, more deserving award person for all she has done teaching so many people with so many types of lace in general and with the research and development of Milanese in particular. I must practise my curtsey! Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: ten-stick
There are three turning stitch variations that I know of, my definition of a turning stitch being the way to reverse direction without a pin, and this is how it has been referred to by the various teachers I have studied, with regardless of the movements used. First is the one that Tamara talked about which I was taught by Beryl Maw and Pat Perryman and I believe is in the Luxton and Thompson books (too tired to look it up as I didn't get home till 1.30 this morning) where you work through to the end, twist (only) the worker once and leave it and return with the last-pair-passed-thru, ie ctc at the edge. The next is Pat Read's ctctc Milanese variation Finally, a second one also taught to me by Pat Perryman, where you work to the end of the row and then with no twists at all, return with the same pair, ie ctc,ctc. I use the first and last for rib/tenstick. Because of the different bulk created by a 3 or 6 movement stitch, I might use both in the same piece of work or even on the same rib because the ts shouldn't show. For tight to medium curls I would choose the first, for medium to almost straight I would use the third. The ctctc is the hardest to use for rib *because* the pairs are split, and it is more difficult (therefore slower) to make sure that there are absolutely no slightly looser threads left at the ts side; the culprit could be in the edge passives or the workers. It is used in the Milanese braids because, by tensioning the correct combination of threads, you can a) move it from side to side, b) move it backwards and forwards and c) once you have tensioned everything tightly it locks in place to a large extent. This complexity isn't needed in a rib, so there is little point in using it in this situation. When you are doing rib, remember Pat Perryman's description - you are making a tape not a piece of string, so keep the passives flat and an even width, not pulled as tight against the pins as you possibly can. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Green cards?
Presumably the need for a green card doesn't only apply to Canadian teachers? and Some of my friends have presented at scientific conferences in the US and it's always been a hassle for them to get work visas - and that's when some admin department somewhere has been doing all the leg work and they've just had to fill out the application forms. I can't imagine how tedious it must be if you constantly have to deal with this sort of stuff yourself. Just a thought in response two these two comments. I'm feel sure the organisers must know which of their selected tutors need and more importantly, make sure they can get, any extra necessary documentation *before* they advertise that particular course. I am convinced that no-one involved in an event for this size would be so naive as to leave this major detail to chance. And I also thought that Lenka had taught in the States before so *she* must have known about this when she agreed to teach the class. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: [lace-chat] Question about lace supplies for convention
In a message dated 19/06/2005 04:38:49 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: You'll need two work cloths and, for both laces, you'll need similiar ones - a square or round cloth with a small (no more than 2) hole in the middle. Depends on who the teacher for Honiton is! Really you should use 3 or 4 ordinary cover cloths, preferably a reasonably light weight (plain dark coloured) cotton fabric, and you dress the pillow with a triangular hole using 3 or a square/rectangular hole using 4. The cloths are pinned low down on a proper Honiton pillow (or way out at the edges if you are improvising with another sort) so they need to be big enough to do this. They are stretched absolutely drum-tight (so you need 6 or 8 strong flat-headed pins) and the last cloth is the one at a 90 degree angle to the predominant direction of work (to give the flattest working area). As you go round curves you often change the *top* cloth by swopping the positioning of the ends relative to each other (NOT completely re-dressing the pillow). But by having the cloths tight, the bobbins pass over the edges with little difficulty anyway. This tight-to-the-pillow arrangement means you can also use a slider (a piece of acetate or clean x-ray film with 'very' smooth edges) under the cloths (not held by pins) and it covers any exposed pin heads so your very fine thread doesn't catch and break. Having the separate cloths also means you can have a much smaller uncovered hole - most Honiton beginners motifs are less than 2 across so the round-hole cloths would expose the complete motif and even if you keep sliding it about you can't get a tight down to the pillow edge to work over and you can't get the tight fit needed to hold a slider. And the rest of the cloth tends to 'flute' on the pillow which the light weight Honiton bobbins hate, they like smooth to work on. The cloths don't need any fancy hems, I just tear mine so there is as little bulk as possible under the folded over edge, and wash them in the machine a couple of times, after which they don't fray any more, but if you are uncomfortable with that, a zig-zag edge is sufficient. Hope this helps, 'cos apart from the number of them (but you can never have too many cover cloths anyway) these torn cloths will be much easier to make and more useful for other lace in future if you don't take to Honiton. I use the same arrangement for all my part lace - Bruges, Duchesse, Withof and Milanese and have never owned a cloth with a hole. But I have seen them used very successfully for the 'bigger' types and watched students struggle with them for Honiton. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Fingerloop braids.
Jeri is cruel bringing this to our attention when I already have s much lace I should be doing. I also make Kumihimo braids and am interested in comparing the two ways of making a braided/woven lace. I've not started yet (resisting hard as I'm about to go on a 2 day Withof course with Yvonne Scheele) but on reading through Lady Bindloss's Braid Manuscript from pre 1660 I came across the following frustrating entry:- 26. To make a braid of :40: bobbins (I omit this set of instructions since it is not a fingerloop braid. Plus, the handwriting was close to illegible, sorry!) Well, some of us would still be interested even if it's not a fingerloop braid. Some of the earlier ones there is a copy of the script, along with a transcription and a translation. This one just shows the braid, which is flat with a textured chevron design. So, I wonder how it is made. It is very unlike the plaited lace of the time so I am guessing that she is using the general definition of bobbin as a thread carrier. But how frustrating. Jacquie in an overcast but still very hot Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Website, Brazilian bobbin lace
In a message dated 21/06/2005 10:09:31 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: What struck me as being odd, is that they are doing this for money, but making BL with lots of petals which surely isn't the quickest of techniques. A lot of Asian/Chinese torchon/Cluny typle BL also has petals. Yes, but for visual impact they have got to be worth every minute spent. The mix-up of all those colours works because of the blocks of plain colour in the leaves. If you look at the shoulder bag on the products page its the leaves that stand out and makes the whole thing 'work'. Also think about the silk Maltese, made for sale earlier last century and it's the fat, overlapping leaves that give it the wonderful texture; they catch and reflect the light and quadruple its value from just 'ordinary' lace. It's a pity there isn't a picture of the 50 hour blouse (or I can't find one) to see how much lace there is on it, because I'd love to get an idea of how fast these lacemakers are. I always remember Doreen Fudge telling us the Midlands lacemakers could make a Beds collar (and we are not talking small or narrow here, one of the ones with a wide back and shaped, hanging down fronts) in a day and a half. Jacquie. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] resizing patterns
In a message dated 24/06/2005 04:31:09 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Is there a general rule of thumb for enlarging or reducing a pattern if you wish to use the /Threads for/ /Lace/ book and use a different size thread than the pattern recommends? To add to what Tamara said, for the continuous laces, at the front of the 'Threads' book there is a section on which span of thread sizes fit each grid (along with the ideal wpc count for that grid). So, if you know which thread you want to use you can look here to see which size graph you need. For your Milanese it's probably easier, in the first instance. to put a piece of graph paper on the pillow, wind the thread you want to use and start with a cloth bandage. Use the graph to keep your edges straight and allow the thread to tell you how much space it needs widthwise and hole distance. Once you are happy with the cloth, do some braids keeping the same spacings. This sample will then let you decide whether you like the heavier thread, both to look at and work with. Is there a point that you can enlarge or reduce the pattern too much? Depends! I used to think I didn't like the Point Ground laces enlarged, but then I saw the Blue Moon scarf.So long as the thread is right for the size you are working and the scale is right for the project as a whole then the answer is probably not. However, if you are working way outside the accepted parameters of a style, it is probably a good idea to do a reasonable sample to see if the actuality agrees with your vision. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] glass bobbins
Clay said So the short answer to your question is that these bobbins aren't any more expensive than others, but they are more fragile, so the expense will be in breakage. But on the other hand, I have probably a dozen glass bobbins and in 25+ years have only ever broken one. That was on my pillow, inside a bag, on a table and I was leaning over to see what someone the on the other side was doing and quite without thinking about it put my hand down on the bag to keep my balance. The bobbin broke clean across. However, in the last year or so I have had a run of wooden bobbins breaking - four now, I think, so like any other tool for any craft there is a need to replace at intervals. Aren't we lucky! I'm just a little extra careful with my special bobbins, whether that special-ness is from extravagance or sentiment. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Lacemaker by Vermeer
I have a half worked version of this as a wool on a printed canvas tent stitch embroidery. I bought it from a lace supplier (Hornsby is ringing memory bells) many years ago. It is not a great success as the scale of the stitches does not suit the detail in the picture, especially around the hands, bobbins and threads, and the directional line of the tent stitch means that more detail is lost or distorted. But I did learn that I hate working on pre-printed canvas. Maybe I'll finish it one day, and use it on the side of a pillow bag or similar. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Nottingham bobbin
I have been thinking about my favourite bobbins for the Canadian Lacemaker Gazette and in the process considered a style of bobbin that I bought at the Nottingham Lace Museum (where the machines were on show) many years ago. And then when I was teaching this week, I noticed one of my students who had been on the same trip was using hers, and she also commented how much she liked it. The head is a most unusual, elegant shape, a flat 'collar' at the top of the neck with a long pointed top. Where the two parts of the head join, there is a rounded groove, and it is this that holds the thread so well, even when it is quite thick for the size/scale of the head. I will add a photo of it/them to my webshots later in the day, because it's hard to describe just how they look. I bought two - a fancy wood and a painted one, and she had just bought the painted version. We were both sceptical as to whether that shape of the head would hold the hitch, which is why we didn't buy more. But it does and I wondered if anyone knows who made them, and if they might still be made. Jacquie, in Lincolnshire England - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] lace collections
In a message dated 19/07/2005 14:18:54 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I have even heard of lace guilds selling books Yes, The Lace Guild is, but when they get 'common' books as part of a bequest, and have several copies when even one is rarely borrowed anyway, surely it is sensible to turn a liability into an asset. If I decided to leave my lace things to them, I would perhaps be upset (from the other side?) if they sold off what I consider to be 'special' pieces of lace, or a rare first edition of a book, but I wouldn't expect them to make *my* copy of Little Grey Rabbit Makes Lace *their* 27th one! I am currently selling books for 3 students who have had to stop lace for health reasons and for the family of one who has died. As I have multiple copies of some books, I know just how the Lace Guild feels. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Second hand books
After mentioning that I had some books for sale, I have had several requests for a list. First of all, let me remind you that I am in England, so if you're not the shipping will increase the price considerably! I don't have time to post the list this week as I am away on Friday to teach lace for a week in Shrewsbury, but I will do it when I return. In the meantime, may I remind you that the Lace Guild has a far wider range of books for sale, at very competitive prices, and so you are more likely to find something tempting there. You don't have to be a member to buy their books. The list (newly updated) is on their website. Jacquie in Lincolnshire, England - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] barbara underwood double picots
Hi Suzy Try twisting the thread 5 times - the number of twists depends on the thickness of the thread and the size of the pin. You need just enough for the little twisted cord to fit round the pin and 5 is usually about right for medium weight thread. I guess you are doing picots on the plaits. Have a good look at the pricking and choose which one to do first as they are often not exactly opposite each other. Do the first one first if that makes sense. It doesn't have to be the RH one. To do a RH picot, use the RH pair and pick up the RH bobbin of that pair with your right hand. Take a pin in your left hand (scary, you need to be a little bit ambidextrous here) and put it behind the thread to the bobbin (on the far side of the thread, so the thread is between you and the pin). Now, keep the pin still and wrap the thread once round the point of the pin. If you rest the tip of the pin on the pricking, the thread from the bobbin should be underneath the thread from the lace (I'm still just talking about that one bobbin thread). If it is, move the pin into the hole, but *don't pull the thread tight* and *don't put the bobbin down*. Pick up the other bobbin of the pair with your other hand (the hand that had the pin) and take the thread in front of the pin and on around it. Now very gently snuggle the threads until they are the same tension; you should be able to see the twisted bit going round the pin now, and then snuggle it tight around the pin. The twists should be like the cheese in a sandwich with a thread each side of them because the first thread was underneath and the second is on top. To do the other picot, do the half stitch as Barbara says (this is to stop a hole forming in the centre of the plait) but if the other picot is quite a way in front of the first, you can do a cloth stitch instead of the half stitch to fill the gap better. A LH picot is done with the LH pair, picking up the LH bobbin with your left hand. Take the pin in your right hand and then you can follow the rest of the directions from above, because they don't say left or right! The important things are: 1) Make sure the first thread from picot to bobbin is under the picot to plait bit of the same thread. 2) Keep the whole thing loose until the second thread is in place. If you don't, it is hard to get the twists to go round the pin. 3) Make sure the second thread goes the same way round the pin as the first. If you haven't, one thread comes out from above and the other from below the pin so it's quite easy to spot. As for an official way, this is the way we traditionally make them for English lace but they can be done with the whole double twisted thread wound round the pin which originates with the continental fine laces, or as a knotted picot which only leaves a single thread in the actual picot so is used with thicker thread laces. The important thing is that it keeps its shape and is crisp enough to look as if it's meant to be there. Badly made picots just look as if you've forgotten to tidy your threads up. Hope this helps, Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Minimising a catastrophe
I'm sure most of the experienced lacemakers on Arachne know this trick, but we have lots of newer lacemakers now and I don't remember seeing this here before. If you have a major spill with your pillow, to the extent that bobbins are caught up on the pins as distinct from *just* severely muddled leashes, take a deep breath and hold the pillow upside down over your head. Gently rock it and most of the threads that are caught around the pins will be pulled free by the weight of the bobbins. Any left can be easily encouraged to drop. Once you have done that, slowly turn the pillow back up the right way so the top of the pattern is at the top and the bobbins lay onto the correct bit of the pillow. You still have to sort out the bobbins but it is much easier to do this without some being caught on the pins, and they mostly drop back into the right area so the left hand bobbins tend to be on the left and so on. It really does work, but is terrifying to do the first time. However, sometimes the catastrophe seems so major that anything has got to be worth a try and it was in that situation that I first tried this, with great results. Since then I have used it several times when teaching, when a student has dropped their pillow, and the situation has always been improved. I think the only time I wouldn't risk it would be if the lace was barely started so the amount of pins was not enough to support the weight of the bobbins - but then with few pins in, there would be less to tangle round anyway. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Waxing thread for bobbin lace
Waxing thread for sewing goes back a good many years - probably hundreds -and was a standard *must do* for buttonholes, especially heavy 'tailored' garments. They were done with linen, cotton or silk thread depending on fashion and fabric. I'm sure that if it caused the thread to rot away after even quite a while it would have been spotted at some stage, and have become common knowledge. It was used to strengthen the stitches long term, not to weaken them. Waxing the silk thread is also a normal thing to do for Goldwork embroidery. As a lot of the heirloom style church vestments are embellished with Goldwork, once more I think it would have been discovered by now if bees' wax is not good for silk thread long term. Although I don't think it's something we use much in lacemaking, I do know that at least some of the 'disappearing' ink type pens (that quilters use to draw the stitching lines on fabric), weaken the fibre and long term have left damage on quilts. As this takes some while to show up, I hope that the more modern pens no longer have this effect. As I write this, I am wondering what Tamara and others were using to draw their designs on the tulle (net?) for tambouring, and if this is the same sort of thing. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Beeswax colour and acidity
I confess there isn't any lace content in this at all, except it may help clarify the discussion that has been ongoing on the Lace board. The different colours of beeswax are dependant on how long it's been in the hive. The freshly built comb and the cappings (the wax the bees use to seal the chambers,) are very nearly white. The longer it stays in the hive the darker it gets as it crystallises and gets discoloured by day-to-day bee living and with propolis, the dark amber coloured 'stuff' that bees use to seal up gaps in the high. If the wax is whitened again by industrial processes it is being bleached. The wooden frames in the hive have a thin, man-made foundation of golden wax fitted into them, with the hexagon shapes lightly embossed. The bees then build their comb onto both sides of this, with fresh, nearly white wax. The queen is kept in one storey of the hive and the honey is stored by the bees away from the brood, so you can take frames from the other storeys and scrape off the caps and spin the honey out. As the wax building is labour intensive, you then replace the empty frames ready for the bees to refill, so they can concentrate on collecting nectar for honey and pollen to feed the brood. It would not be sense to remove that wax unless you were getting a very good price for it, as the bees can refill it several times over two or three years. The 'wild' comb I am referring to is when on the odd occasion a swarm of bees take over an empty hive (attracted by the honey/propolis smells in the wood). If this hive isn't full of frames, or if some of those frames have damaged foundation in them, the bees revert to nature and fill the spaces with wild comb which is a back-to-back cells on an oval or vaguely circular chunk of comb which hangs down from the top board of the hive or in gaps in the frames. When the beekeeper realises there are bees in the hive, these stray bits of comb are removed and replaced by 'proper' frames. If you want genuine, natural 'pale as it comes' beeswax you probably need to buy direct from a bee keeper who will take the trouble to separate their cappings and any bits of 'wild' comb from the bulk of the 2 or 3 year old wax from damaged or due-to-be- replaced frames. If you ask for some, it is perfectly possible that they can put some through their steamer/separator for you. However, mostly they don't bother because the golden colour of beeswax is what most people expect. Acid is only actively acid in water, so in wax it won't be active if that makes sense. The acidity in wax is low anyway. Therefore it seems unscientifically possible to conjecture that waxed thread has more protection from the acidity in the atmosphere than unwaxed. Jacquie in England - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Argh! Frustration!
It could also be that those threads were broken in the fall. Before I learnt of this trick, my grandson (then about 15 months old, now 18yrs!) 'played' with my lace pillow when his mum was house sitting for us. It was a piece of Bucks with about 40 or so pairs. She had shown it to a lace making friend to sort out before I came home, but she (fortunately) said No thanks. When I started to untangle, bobbin after bobbin came away in my hand. Some were broken at the pins, others with up to 6 inches of thread. In the end, there were about 12 pairs of bobbins left joined onto the lace. It had not been apparent that any threads were broken before I started. Now, if it had been the first time I'd tried the turn-it-over-and-wiggle-it trick and all those bobbins had rained down on my head, I'd probably have been frightened off ever trying it again. As for the piece of lace, it was as an edgeing to a bonnet (not for aforementioned grandchild) and was almost finished at the time of the 'accident', so each end that was long enough was weaver's knotted onto a bobbin, and I then unpicked back so all the ends could be reached and dealt with. I then worked forward, getting rid of all the knots as they hit a cloth stitch bit and fiddling those that didn't leave ground. An interesting enough exercise in itself, but not one I'd choose to repeat from choice. Quicker though than starting from scratch. Jacquie in England - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Convention query
In her excellent report on the convention, JoAnne made the following comment .and got to sit in on the Lier Lace Class with Greet Rome-Verbeylen in the afternoon. Does this mean that she was not actually taking part in the class, but was there as an observer? I have heard of this practise from one of our leading British embroiderery teachers, Jean Littlejohn, but from what she said, I had hoped it would never be taken up in lace circles. The way she described it was that her students were situated at tables and chairs around her forming a horseshoe or ring. Outside them was another row (or even two in one place) of observers who she also had to acknowledge in so far as all her teaching had to be with sufficient volume for everyone to hear, and all her demonstrations had to be on a large, extravagent scale so those sitting further back could get their reduced-payment money's worth. She said it was enormously more tiring than her normal class size of 18 to 20, and also very claustrophobic to have this other set of people just watching and scribbling frantic notes, particularly when she was trying to do one-to-one or small group teaching within the group. I think she said it was a practise prevalent in the west of England (but I could be wrong on the place, so please don't shoot me down in flames), the logic being they don't get many teachers prepared to travel that far. She hadn't even been asked beforehand if she minded and as the tickets had been sold it was a case of going ahead or leaving a lot of very disappointed people. However, she says she wouldn't do it again. So, please reassure me that this was nothing like that, and that lace classes at conventions aren't going down that route. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Class observers
Phew, that's a whole different thing. A few people wandering in and out, respecting the rest of the class, is a normal situation practically anywhere there is more than one class in progress at a time. In the embroidery classes I was saying about the observers payed a reduced fee as they are not getting any 'hands-on' teaching, but still wanted their pound of flesh. I don't remember if Jean said they could ask questions or not (I'll try to remember to ask her, now I've remembered about it) but it was the sheer mass of people (50 or 60 in one class!) and their intense interest that she found overwhelming. A bit like doing a lecture and demonstration and teaching all at the same time. As her level of teaching is way beyond Here's how to do chain stitch and more about convincing everyone they have an amazing creative talent to produce original work, I should think that the real students also lost out a lot, too. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Convention query
In a message dated 10/08/2005 01:12:56 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: So don't worry - there were no free-loaders!! My worries as far as IOLI conventions go have been more than soothed, but I would like to say just once more that the observers in the class set up I was describing weren't free-loaders, they had paid a reduced rate to be there in that role, and therefore had the right to demand that the teacher's performance was observable. When Jean was telling us about it, and how demanding it had been to teach, my thoughts were that I personally would hate to be a student in a class of that sort, where what I was doing would also be part of the floor show. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] IOLI Montreal
I know that for those of you who were able to go to Denver it will still be fresh in your minds, but the post from Janice yesterday about the 2008 convention has made me stop and think that everything is very quiet about Montreal. I'm sure that they were being diplomatic and waiting for this year's event to be all done and dusted, but now.. Do we have a spider in the camp for Montreal? Will there be any tantalising titbits coming our way? Will there be an arachne event? In anticipation, Jacquie in England - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Liers Lace
I use an ordinary round embroidery frame, with a bound inner hoop, for Coggeshall and haven't had any trouble with the net slipping. Use a screwdriver to tighten the screw. It's obvious once it's been pointed out, and all but the cheapest frames have a screwdriver slot cut in the turney thing (mind's gone blank) but until someone passed me a screwdriver one day in an embroidery class, I was forever having to undo and reposition the fabric because it had slipped just that little bit. As I'm only doing little bits of tamboured lace (as little as possible!) I don't want to set up a slate frame, but I do see it could be better for a bigger project, once you have made sure you have the net straight and the right way round. In a round frame you need to take care not to distort the holes in the net, but once it's in place you can turn the frame to get the hexagons lined up properly. I hold the round frame in the slate frame holder on my Lowery stand, which means I can also get the light exactly where I want it. The pattern I tend to do largely freehand but as Margot says, I bring the 'cartoon' up behind to check I'm on target. I don't think I'd be able to cope with white behind the net (unless the net was coloured) and was taught by at least two different teachers (probably three) to have a dark cloth over my knees so I could see the net better. As with a lot of these things, I think it's a case of trying different equipment and methods and seeing what suits you. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] IOLI competition rules revisited
Now that (hopefully) the symetrical red herring has been put to bed I would like to say I wrote to Debra to ask how strictly the 2D aspect of it will be enforced as I was thinking of some of the Jana Novak type designs where a section in the centre is rolled or folded and then tucked under another bit. She confirmed that 3D will be disqualified. Bear this in mind if you do Point de Gaze as those flowers often/usually have an extra 3D part. I have also written to her to confirm another couple of thoughts I had and I'll post the result once I have it. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: Bobbin Lace - no, not tatting!
I would never have the patience to do something like that. This is one of the most common comments, in response to which I usually either ask what their hobbies are (if they have any at all) or ask them if they knit. I then say I don't have the patience to do plain knitting (that's what my machines are for) so if I hand knit it has to be fairisle or cable or lace, and even then I find it boring compared to bobbin lace. But one of the most unbelievable comments I ever heard was when I was demonstrating solo, but with a steady stream of children working on 'the snake'. A Mum came by with two little girls in the 6 to 9 age range, who both wanted to see what I was doing. She caught hold of their hands and dragged them away with the memorable explanation You wouldn't be interested in that - it *takes time* I wonder what that family did with their time that it was too precious to do crafts with some of it. Watch television? Play computer games? Retail therapy? Well, not expand their children's knowledge of what goes on in the wider world, that's for sure. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] IOLI entries, Canada Customs and time
So far no-one has mentioned none US/Canadian entries. I am occilating between I really want to have a go and push the boundaries on this one and Be realistic, you haven't got enough hours in the day for this big piece of lace on top of the rest that *has to* be made for various reasons. I have naively thought that I would take my lace with me as we do for the Lace Guild AGM competitions. If I have to post the lace overseas ahead of myself and lose the time I need to allow for it to get there, this could be the straw that breaks the camel's back and decides for me not to give it a go. And as Malvary said a couple of days ago, we have had a parcel go astray this year so all of a sudden I am less blase about sending across the Atlantic. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] IOLI entries (short retorts)
Bev said I don't see a problem here, except that the entrants have to allow for mailing time. Apart from the risk of it getting lost in the post, this to me is the biggest problem at all! Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Sue Johnston wearing tape lace
At the Burgley Horse Trials a couple of weeks ago, although even the *very* expensive designer dressmakers weren't using much lace, a lot was being worn, especially fine netty, neatly-fitted overblouses with peplums. Particularly noticable was a cream over navy - very fine lace so the navy was softened - and worn with jeans. And a soft, pale green over cream with a matching green skirt. But lots more, worn by all ages and types. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] RE: IOLI contest entries
In a message dated 14/09/2005 00:52:32 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: We set a date of entries being in my hands by July 1st, so that all paperwork could be checked (don't ask, you'd be surprised what can be missed from forms), and also so that labels and judging sheets could be prepared in advance Well an *entry* could be made because that could even be e-mailed, and that's where possibly a photo in addition could be useful to give the organisers an idea of what the entry is to be, to be able to start planning the display; obviously this year they know the shape and size but will want to consider which goes next to which for the most pleasing visual impact. It's trusting my lace to international mail, and the time I will have to allow for the same, that is my problem. My renewal reminder from Laurie got here in 4 days, but that is exceptional. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: IOLI contest entries
In a message dated 23/09/2005 11:03:57 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: IOLI Officers aren't paid for their time, that's why they call us volunteers. *big grin* I think I am right in saying that the officers for the UK lace societies aren't paid for their *time*, that's the bit they volunteer to give. However, there is no reason why they should be out of pocket for legitimate expenses. For instance, I can decide if I can afford to go to AGMs or not and decide how important it is to me. For a committee there is not that option. If all their expenses were to come out of their own pocket I am not surprised that at times it is hard to get new volunteers. This would surely also mean that there must be occasions where someone's financial situation changes during their term of office - does this mean they be in the situation where they feel they have to resign from the committee, even if they still have the time to offer? I take on board the comments about the distances involved but still feel that any event that it is essential for an officer to attend, their expenses should be paid. This might mean that the IOLI consider fewer events are essential than the Lace Guild do, for example, but I still don't think that the people keeping IOLI running for my benefit should be out of pocket - even if this means my subscription goes up. Jacquie in England - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] pillow bag
In a message dated 01/10/2005 18:05:48 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Now I have a question about this design. Do the two flaps that fold over the pillow truly keep it from sliding out the end of this carrier? I'd worry about that. A length of velcro or a button or two would fix that problem. Although, as you said they might, I think the characters had moved a bit, your diagram was clear enough to me. How well does the dowel stay in place when you're not carrying the pillow? I like the simplicity of this design, both for cutting and making. An ideal way to use up fabrics or to showcase special bits of patchwork or embroidery. Pockets could easily be fitted inside the arms with handles for bits and pieces, or even a book. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] MP, OT, yarn question and sock knitting machines
Not a specific yarn for argyle as far as I know, but there are several makes of wool dyed specifically for socks that give an imitation fairisle or stripes. Sirdar Town and Country (not sure if you can get this in the States), Regia (German I think, but available in the US), and Opal (also available in the US) come to mind. I also have an American book, Yarns to Dye For by Kathleen Taylor which tells you how to make your own self patterning yarns. The problem I can see with a yarn for argyle checks is that it would only work properly if your tension was exactly right so that the colour change came on exactly the correct stitch each time. The reason I know this is that the other half of my life is involved with vintage and antique (yes, over 100 years old) circular sock knitting machines. At the moment we are organising the first UK convention for people who have or are interested in these machines, to be held in Bournemouth in November, but there has been an annual convention in the States for several years and also lots of local 'meets'. The yarns mentioned above make socks which appear to be rows of fairisle with plain colour stripes between, or all stripes, with no wool changing needed. I can now do a sock in an hour but should be able to get to a pair in less than an hour. I can also do argyle socks on these machines without special yarn, but this is slow as there is a lot of short row work instead of being able to crank round and round doing two or more rows a second. Still a lot quicker than hand knitting them though. Lace content so it's not OT anymore - I can also do simple lace patterns on them by transferring stitches between needles. If anyone is interested in knowing more about these machines I can bore you for hours! And if anyone knows anything about them, or has any vague memories of them, I'd love to hear from you. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Egyptian twisted lace
The frontispiece and first chapter of Margaret Maidment's Manual of Hand-Made Bobbin Lace Work is all about sprang/Egyptian twisted lace. She says there are two types of Egyptian lace found in the tombs. The first is knotted from which the filet lace is developed (and I would have thought that this type of lace would have evolved from fishing nets) and the twisted type such as we are talking about, which she thought was likely to be the origin of bobbin lace. For this to be true, it would seem to me that some sort of evolution in situ should be able to be traced. For example, if sprang was made in Scandinavia and Southern US, but bobbin lace evolved in Italy with no cross pollination, I would have thought they evolved separately. But if sprang had been made in Southern Europe then I could see that lateral thinking could have taken place by people really familiar with the first technique Do we really need these threads held top and bottom, or could we manage them some other way. And I also thought the earliest laces were plaited ones imitating needle lace which don't have a lot of similarity to sprang lace. Just musing and I'll be interested in hearing your thoughts. But the tunic is very beautiful and could be easily drafted out as Torchon. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Twisting lace comment
Kathy told us how upsetting it was when she took her first piece of lace off the pillow and it twisted. Well, Kathy, I don't know how long you've been subscribed to Arachne but not so very long ago Brenda Paternoster was trying to do a 'research project' to establish which combination of threads and stitches had this effect. And that's what made your lace twist. Unlikely to have been any mistake in your lacemaking (except that your tension was probably good or the thread wouldn't have been 'stressed' enough to twist the whole piece), just an unfortunate combination of thread and stitch type. Unfortunately I don't think Brenda was able to come to any firm conclusion of which combination of threads and stitches to avoid. One of my very early pieces was a simple Torchon fan edge worked as a circle. I made it in crochet cotton which was way too thick and when I took it off the pillow it buckled and just wouldn't lay flat. So I then made the same piece in sewing cotton which was way too thin (I did learn eventually how to sample threads, and now with Threads for Lace life is so much easier). It lay flat but was so flimsy I had to applique it to fabric so it didn't pull out of shape. The problems with the first I blamed for years on the thread being so thick, but one day I was showing the two extremes to a student and was playing with the thick bit. Quite by accident I folded it and all of a sudden it was flat - somehow I had worked two repeats too many! So obvious in hindsight. Jacquie in England - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] future of Lacemaking
In a message dated 25/10/2005 21:07:32 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: http://www.tsgny.org So... Why isn't there a link to IOLI on this site? Thanks for sharing it with us, lots of interesting sites to explore. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Suggestions for Lace portfolios?
Apart from pointing you to the materials made for scrapbooking where 12x12 is a common size and everything is archival quality, one suggestion I would make is to stop thinking that you have to display your lace on dark blue. I think this came into being when tissue paper was either white or dark blue and obviously, of the two, lace looks more spectacular on the darker colour. However I think you will find that if you use softer colours - rose pinks, greys, dull greens and blues for example - there is less 'glare', for want of a better word between the two extremes, and you can see the lace better. Also, it is often not essential to have a completely plain background. I often use mulberry paper with its inbuilt colour variation or one of the 'rag-rolled' paint effects scrapbooking papers. Have a look at my arachne webshots and as well as the mulberry paper, you will see one of my Torchon pieces has a purpose made backing of many shades of blue, chopped up threads, with some copper coloured Lurex as well. This was spread out between two layers of soluble fabric and machined over to hold it together. It turns a slightly unusual piece of Torchon into one of my most admired pieces. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Threads for Lace - a must have
Suzi, The more I read of your shall I/shan't I buy this thread or that, the more convinced I am that what your *need to buy first* is Brenda's book Threads for Lace 3. This would answer all your questions and solve all your problems and dilemmas as to which thread to buy and which one is a substitute for another. It also allow you to use up thread that you may already have by explaining to you what size you alter your pricking to so the thread and pricking work together. Brenda gave you a very technical formula for working out the length of thread on a spool, but I would add the comment that unless 1) you are making a tablecloth edge or another enormous project of that sort, 2) it is a *very, very* thick thread or 3) the thread comes in tiny skeins (in which case it will most likely be sold by length not weight anyway - like embroidery silk), then the spool size will be enough for what you want to make. In over 25 years the only thread I can remember needing a second spool of was an acrylic knitting type yarn of about 4ply thickness (whatever that is in US English) and I was making a Tshirt! If you are working in more than one colour the above applies even more, because you may only be winding a few pairs in each colour. I don't even consider how much is on a reel because I know there is always enough - as my enormous part-used-reel thread stash will testify. The fibre, thickness and colour are what I base my choice on. Most of my students have a copy of the Threads Book; the only one who refuses to have her own copy, because she doesn't need it, is actually the one who needs it most! The very first time I was showing (and selling) the book in class she said No, she wouldn't have a use for it and within an hour had fished out a new pattern and the few threads she has and asked which she could use instead of the recommended one! Jacquie in Lincolnshire. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] 'Antique' spangles
I have found the is it, isn't it discussion about the (possible) Haskins bobbin very interesting but would like to add my tuppence worth about the spangles. Perhaps the first lesson to bobbin 'forgers' should be - make a completely random spangle with thick wire, using beads, buttons and shells and leave a big ugly join that catches on everything :-) because then it must be old. However, I would like to make the comment that at first inspection, to me it looked respangled simply because as someone else said the spangle is symetrical. However, on checking in the Springett's book, so are quite a few of the ones illustrated. And the beads do look authentic. There is no reason why some of the 19th century lacemakers shouldn't have had the same preference for tidy spangles that we do today. You may now throw your hands up in horror, but one of the first things I do when I get a new old bobbin is to see if I can live with the spangle. If I can't, I have no qualms whatsoever about taking it off and redoing it. Often they are too big for my taste, or have wire that catches in things. I normally use at least some of the same beads and don't mind at all if the spangle is not symetrical so long as the size/shape is right. Any beads I don't use are kept apart from my modern ones and used for old bobbins I buy without a spangle. And the reason why I am happy to do this is because when I think how often I have needed to mend broken spangles in less than thirty years of lacemaking, (I think it's highly unlikely that any of my bobbins still have their original spangle from new) I find it difficult to believe that a bobbin at least five times that age is still with its original beads and wire. Especially so when I think how much more work that bobbin probably did in its youth than my bobbins. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] wool lace weight thread
Suzi, I would like to back up everything Tamara said. A definition of what makes lace weight wool depends entirely on what scale lace you are making. If you want a Torchon scarf made in wool, you'd probably use an ordinary medium-weight knitting yarn and have the pricking adjusted to suit the wool size. There are quite a lot of people doing this sort of lace making. As you are talking about 41wpc, I quess you are wanting to do a fine lace. Do a google search for ring shawls to see some very fine lace knitting. I think it's possible that knitting may be a better way to use very fine wool, because the yarn is being stressed less. Bobbin lace with any wool requires very good and very even tensioning as there is more stretch in wool than in cotton/linen. So, if you pull some bobbins harder than others, although it may look the same while still pinned out, once the pins are removed the more stretched threads will contract back to their optimum length But even more important is DO NOT TRY TO PRE-SHRINK WOOL. Your whole aim with wool is to never let it shrink! Once a piece of knitted lace is finished it is usually blocked out on a frame to stretch it to the size it should be, ie each stitch is stretched back to the size it was on the needle. With bobbin lace, the fact that it has had pins in it holding it in shape/size while you were working it may make this a bit less important, but I think that I would be inclined to do lots of samples, experimenting with things like how long it needs to set on the pillow before you unpin, whether it needs a very light steam press while still pinned down (this would also affect what your pricking is done on and inked in with!), how it handles off the pillow, wash a piece very gently to see if it is still satisfactory. Although time consuming to do this research, compared to the time doing a complete project which may not end up as you planned it, it is time well spent. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] wool for bobbin lace/tussah silk
Have a look at the silk yarns sold by Texere, some of these described as tussah silk, there are several pages of assorted silks and silk mixes. Not so many in colour, but it is easy to dye, either as yarn or finished lace. I use their Regency silk for fine-ish lace, and this does come in colours. This link should take you through http://www.texere.co.uk/cgi-bin/SHPLoader.cgi?yarns.php?category=4 Also just spotted they have a viscose machine embroidery thread at a good price and lots of colours. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Buttonholes and Blankets and needle lace stitches
I was always taught, by our dressmaker-teacher mother, my school dressmaking teacher, and by my college teachers when I was doing a fashion course that all buttonholes are done with buttonhole stitch. This is a knotted stitch, worked by putting the needle into place and then taking the thread from the eye down around the point before it's pulled through so there is a second loop on the stitch. When this is settled onto the cut edge of the buttonhole it forms a sort-of knot, which makes the edge far more hard wearing. A tailored buttonhole has an extra thread laid aound the buttonhole, from the straight edge around the rounded end and back to the straight end. The stitches are worked over this and then it is pulled to make sure there is no stretch at all in the buttonhole, before being snipped off. In the round end of this buttonhole there would also most likely be a small hole punched before sewing, so the shank of the button had a space to sit in. With proper hand sewn buttonholes, a horizontal buttonhole has a rounded end nearest to the opening, where the button will sit but vertical ones have two square ends to give extra strength and the button sits in the centre of the slit. A slot for a gathering tape such as in a waistband, has two round ends because the tape slides through the slot rather than pulling against it. Blanket stitch is the simpler stitch, where the thread just loops under the tip of the needle on each stitch and is in the same family as fly stitch, chain stitch and feather stitch. Needlelace uses both sorts, but the books refer to them as buttonhole stitch and twisted buttonhole stitch. The basic stitches are blanket stitch and the patterns are achieved by the different spacings. Some needle laces however use buttonhole stitches but because the stitch is being worked in rows not over an edge, the extra loop around the needle forms a twisted bar on the stitch instead of a knot. Holly Point is one of the best known laces using a twisted stitch. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Bone/ivory lace bobbins on Antiques Roadshow
The crux of the matter here is that the bobbins in question are Victorian Midlands bobbins, made by probably low-income, village bobbin makers. It is known that quite a few of these people probably made the bulk of their income from their bobbin and their skill is absolutely undeniable. If they had had access to ivory then they may have used it to make bobbins. But they most likely never saw it to buy or the finances to buy it if they had. And why would they have wanted too. At the time we are talking about there was plenty of large leg bone available from cattle and the heavy horses who were the power in agriculture, and the bone bobbins they made must have been stunning when they were new and bright. There are ivory bobbins around from this era, but they were made in India (where ivory was available to carvers/turners) and the design of them is distinctly different as the turners were not exposed to the lacemakers and so the ornamentation is what they consider aesthetic with no restraint as to whether it may be functional. This ivory/bone discussion is on a similar line to the pewter/silver decoration one, but that is more easily argued as the metal used to fill carved out grooves etc has to be melted and poured in. The melting point of silver is so high that both wood and bone would combust as the metal is poured on! The only way silver can be used to decorate bobbins is in the form of wire or studs. But is the argument is looked at from the other side, the same logic can be applied as the ivory/bone problem, ie the village turner wouldn't have easy access to buy silver, or the spare funds, or the far more complicated equipment needed to melt and handle at the dangerously high temperatures needed. Finally, the bobbins had to be sold at a price the lacemakers could afford, and the vast majority of them were doing it as a job, to earn money, not for fun and interest as we do now; would they want, or be able to, pay even more to have their expensive, fancy, luxury bobbin made of ivory and decorated with silver. Jacquie in England - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Bone/ivory bobbins
One possibility that has not yet been mentioned is that England had a number of its men in the Indian subcontinent at some point (the Raj). It is not inconcevable that some of these men had ivory and exotic wood bobbins made for gifts to sweethearts and family back in England. Certainly, a lot of the workboxes and their fittings came from India. Might not sailors and whalers carve bobbins out of narwhal, whale and walrus? They would be quite rare, but they should exist ... All this is documented as happening, but it is highly unlikely that these bobbins would then look exactly like the ones made by the local English bobbinmakers. As I said in an earlier post, there are bobbins made in India from ivory, but they *look* Indian - or at least not English. And because the bobbin makers weren't getting direct feedback from the lacemakers some of the ornamentation was impractical. And the numbers of these overseas or hybrid bobbins is tiny compared to the thousands that were made for and used by the working lacemakers. The batches of bobbins that turn up on the TV programmes are normally 'ordinary' Midlands bobbins, which is why we feel so confident in saying that these particular ones are bone, not ivory. I am willing to be corrected as I don't see a lot of TV, but I don't remember seeing, or hearing about, any Honiton, Malmesbury or Downton bobbins. Perhaps they tended to stay more local to their source and usage, and without the beads were more easily overlooked and thrown away in house clearances. For that matter, the same applies to Bucks thumpers. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Lace classes
Before we advertise elsewhere, I would like to let the Arachneans know that we have a couple of vacancies in each of two courses at the end of this year. These full board, residential courses are held in a 3 star, Best Western hotel in Dover (England). The first is the weekend of 6th, 7th and 8th October, with Pat Read, studying Milanese and other bobbins laces. As the title suggests most students work on Milanese but Pat will teach most bobbins laces. All abilities are welcome. The second weekend is 17th, 18th and 19th November, with Bridget Cook, and the class is called Lace with an International Flavour. Again most bobbin laces can be studied, with a lot of the students working on Russian and Idrija. This class is also the place to be if you want to design lace, as Bridget can help you with most types. Once more, all abilities are welcome. Please contact me off line if you would like further details sent as a PDF file. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Lace without a corner
I think that Brenda has been talking about gathering round the corners all along, not mitreing, as it's easier and quicker to do neatly. Rochelle, if you think about it, the bit extra to make sure the lace will go around the corners sitting flat. has to be enough so the lace goes past the end of the hankie a distance equivalent to the width of the lace, turns 90 degrees, and goes down the next side of the hankie (again a distance equivalent to the width of the lace) before the footside actually reaches the hankie again exactly as Donna said. Whether you plan to mitre or gather the width of the lace increases the hankie size by twice that width. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Lace-in relay
Sheila's post gave me the idea that perhaps sometime we coild have a lace-in relay - perhaps on the UK National Lacemaking Day in September. With several organisers around the world we could keep it going for the full 24 hours until it comes back home. Six people doing four hour stints, or eight at three hours. But do we have a wide enough spread of people around the time-zones to make it work? Just an idle fancy that it would be weird to know that for a full 24 hours, someone somewhere in the world is making lace. That is probably often the case anyway, but we don't know about it, so it doesn't count. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Lace relay revisited
I have been amazed (and flattered) at the interest my idea has produced! I spoke to the Lace Guild this morning about the convention and mentioned the relay while I was on the phone. If it looks as if the event is a possibility, and if it looks as if National Lace Day is a potential date, then they would be interested in having a note about it to go in the next edition of Lace - copy date 10th February. I am happy to submit this but need *permission* from the group as a whole. For example, do we want to encourage new members to join arachne so they can join in. If approved of, eye catching phrases for the copy would be greatly appreciated as would a concise description of how the event will work in practice - it may not be the biggest lace day ever numerically but geographically it will be and so has the potential for much publicity. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Lace-in relay
In a message dated 03/02/2006 01:37:09 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: This is really a great idea! I'd even host a special guild meeting at my house to do this. Sounds wonderful! Laura Sandison Lace! in New Mexico, USA I think this should have come to the list, but you all know what happens when you hit reply... Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Thread appeal
I have had an SOS from one of my students who is making a garter for her daughter's fast approaching marriage. She is using Madeira rayon 30, colour number 2001. I didn't realise when she started that a) it wasn't a new reel and b) she has had it for ages!! She has a long way to go as she is using the lace to edge a smocked centre panel (ie 2 x 65) and has phoned me in a panic as she has run out of thread and surprise, surprise, it is a discontinued colour. Her faith in me being able to perform a miracle is very flattering, so I just hope that someone can support this impression she has of me :-) It is a very pale random-dye thread, ivory background with pale pink and blue areas. She is using it as the main thread with bright pink gimps and heart workers. Daughter is a pink-addict. If anyone has a reel, or even part of a reel, that you could spare I am sure she would replace it with an available colour of your choice. Many thanks, Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Thread appeal - a result
The power of Arachne strikes again. Before you all rummage to the bottom of your thread stash, Jacqui Southworth has contacted me to say she still has three reels in stock. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] heirloom sewing and lace insertion
A few days ago someone was asking about heirloom sewing and what we thought might be meant by an insertion lace (at least, I think that's what was asked). Looking for something else, I just came across this web site: http://www.lydias.com/qheirbasics.html which may answer your question. Please let us know how you got on and if you were able to help the person with the sewing interest. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] redrafting pricking
The most important line to correct is the footside (and maybe the catch pin row); draw a straight line along and prick your hole next to the dots but on the line. If you do the same to the head side curves, it might be all you need to do. As someone else said, the Bucks ground is supported by the leading thread in each row and direction (if you work it correctly) so uneven ground pin holes are not crucial. If you are unhappy about the thought of not using them at all, use them but take them out a lot earlier than you normally would; perhaps only two or three rows on. (But I do mean just the ground pins, not the catch pins or footside pins or any catch pins alongside the pattern itself.) This will then allow the supporting thread to do it's work unimpeded by uneven pin spacing. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Another Tonder Book
I have got a boxed set of prickings and book entitled 33 Tonder Laces by Meta Tonder, but with two copies of the book. It was printed in 1954 and as with most books back then covers all the basics, and the first patterns are Torchon. The Tonder patterns don't go to a very complicated level - anyone that has done basic Bucks would be able to do. There are some much wider patterns in the set and illustrated worked in the book, but no instructions for them. I have no idea how this book compares to the Technique of Tonder Lace (I suspect it is more basic), but perhaps someone could comment if it would be any use to you. As to the other one, I would think that $451 is what the seller *thinks* is the going price. It is still for sale! As is the one at $197. The Ebay price at $72 is the only one where money has changed hands so is therefore more realistically the going price; it's the only one that's gone. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Tallies
As Sue hasn't answered yet, it's a bit like a detective story so here's my guess at the solution. When I read her post, after the initial Huh? I assumed that she meant that she'd worked the *filling* Beds style rather than Russian. In other words she'd used more than 2 pairs and done windmill type crossings or whatever as distinct from just two pairs following round the filling doing sewings as needed. But having said that, when I was doing Russian lace with Bridget Cook she taught me that the Russian tallies are worked with an extra turn around each end thread. In other words if you work your tallies as ctt, it would actually be ctt,tt. But she also said they are worked with the three passives help up off the pillow in one hand and the other thread woven through. The final thing she said was that once I had tried them that way, I would always want to do them like that. Wrong. The tallies themselves are fine and the extra turn around the end thread is easy enough to control but I didn't like the crampy feelings in my hand holding the passives because I've only got small hands, and once I'd managed to get a suitable grip on the three bobbins there was no way I was going to let go. I will find out in April as I'm off to Moscow for 9 days with the group organised by Jacqui Barber, making lace at the Institute for Decorative Arts with Tamara Blohina. The trip has been a long time in creation (it was first mooted at the Lace Guild Convention at Scarborough in 2004) and I am only just about believing it's really going to happen. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: Handy and inexpensive lace tools
The outer threads need to be *much* wider apart than the finished width of the leaf (or square tally for that matter) - about two or three inches at the bobbin. The resulting angle from bobbin head to lace is what forces the weaving up into the leaf. To be able to do this you need a space clear on the pillow so you do the leaf first, as soon as the pairs are available, rather than working the ground/plaits either side of it. If this isn't possible, occasionally you may need to push some pinheads flat to the pillow. The basic rule which applies whichever method you use to actually do the tally, is that you only tension the worker bobbin after you have a firm tension on the passives, and you relax the worker before you relax the passives. It is usually helpful to have the worker thread a good bit longer than the passives; you can see at a glance which one it is and you are less likely to accidently pull at it and collapse the tally. From observation of many students over the years, uneven edges are more likely to be from the worker not tight enough as it turns around the passives rather than it being too tight. So long as the passives are held firmly, you can tension the worker as much as you need to, to get a neat edge. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] lacemaker car sticker
I still have a Lacemakers do it on a Pillow sticker in the back window of my 26 year old Mini Clubman Estate that I 'inherited' from Mum when she died 18 months ago. It's looking a little frayed at the corners (but then so's the car, which I take to rallies in the summer!) so if anyone knows where I can get a new one from I would love to know. I'm sure it will be the same as Carol's was, blue with white writing and a lace design at one end. We also had some limited edition Croydon Lacemakers do it on a Pillow made at the time these came out - or I might even be right in saying that the Croydon ones came first. Jacquie. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: lacemaker car sticker + how to
The ones we are talking about aren't bumper stickers, they go inside a window (which is why it has lasted about 20 years), so the sticky side is the right side. The UK doesn't seem to do much in the way of bumper stickers. I could do a photo of it for you so you have an idea of what it looks like. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Bobbin Lace mascot
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: The same can be said of the hedgehog, the mascot of bobbin lacemakers. There are BL people who have no interest in hedgehogs. There are no curators who pay attention to the BL mascot. I didn't know that the hedgehog is meant to be the mascot for bobbin lacemakers. Have I had my head in the sand for 25 years or is it only the mascot of American bobbin lace makers? But this has explained a small mystery to me that I had been vaguely curious about! In other words, why there is a cartoon about a hedgehog in the IOLI Bulletin. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] 's Gravenmoer lace
According to the International Lace Dictionary, aantal is number and speld is pin. Obviously the ...en ending will alter the meaning somewhat. As Sue says, the number given definitely equals the count of the footside pinholes of one complete pattern repeat. What I'm trying to work out why this is considered to be an important enough piece of information to given up-front, as the lacemaker can see quite easily that it's a short/medium/long repeat just by looking at the pattern. Does the precise number of pinholes make a lot of difference. It was traditionally worked on a block pillow so the length of the repeat doesn't affect the working a lot. Perhaps the end use of the lace (this count only seems to be given with the traditional patterns) governed whether it was a short repeat or a more ornate pattern. Jacquie in England, still waiting for summer (or even spring!) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re:OIDFA-congress
In a message dated 06/06/2006 16:54:49 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: This tasted wonderful but the portions were huge and in the slowly coming darkness you couldn't see clearly and at the end I had eaten too much. That is absolutely the best excuse I have ever heard for eating too much. I'm glad you had a wonderful time; I would have liked to have been there but thought Moscow and Montreal were enough for one year. See you in Holland in 2008? Jacquie in Lincolnshire. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] WHOOPEE
My letter from Quebec still hasn't arrived, my first email fell upon stony ground, and the reply to yesterday's is still in cyber space so Malvary phoned for me and I am in the Cluny de Brioude class. A replacement pack is being sent to Malvary (and mine will now probably arrive tomorrow) and the equipment list has been emailed to me. What a wonderful list - usual stuff - just love it. See you all there, Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Lace bobbins on Flog It! revisited
Don't worry Jean, one of my students spotted that at the first showing and wrote an indignant post, covering both the ivory/bone issue and this very false idea that a profeesional lacemaker would have either the need or the time to be looking at the spangles. She got a slightly less condecending reply than you did; maybe by then they'd had several comments and realised that perhaps we knew more than the expert. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] To starch or not to starch, that is the question....
A couple of thoughts on this thread. First, regarding removing pins, please may I buck the trend and make a plea that when you are working Honiton, Milanese, Duchesse and other laces of this type and scale, you don't take out alternate pins. My reasoning for this is as it is quite possible that the lace will be on your pillow for a while, if you observe carefully you will see that the edge ends up with a slight dip where pins have been removed. Along edges that are sewn to another, the pins can all come out. Anyone that the Perryman/Voysey book New Designs in Honiton Lace can see this effect; on page 51, look at the top of the right hand leaf or page 85 on the front edge of the bonnet, skirt and sleeve. I'm not picking on this book particularly, I just had it in reach and it has very clear photos :-) If your pin heads are too large to allow all the pins to lie flat, push down alternate ones and then the remaining ones so they sit flat on the first. Even if all your pinheads are flat to the work you should still use a cover cloth or slider to protect both the lace you have already made from the friction of the bobbins and the thread from the pins. Secondly, if you are working on a block or roller pillow on a courser lace, where you are unpinning the back as you work, stop and think how long those pins have been in. A narrow Torchon may be having the back unpinned within an hour or two of being worked, so in that case it seems pointless to leave the last couple of inches to 'set'. As far as starching goes, one of my friends made an exquisite Torchon table cloth in cotton thread, partly with me and partly with Pat Read. The rounds were sewn together on the pillow as the work progressed (this ensures the joins are at the same tension as the rest of the work) and although all care was taken to avoid folding the lace more than necessary, as it was finished she spoke to Pat for advice on pressing or blocking it. To her delight, Pat volunteered. What she did was to mark out the size on a piece of old sheet (with a waterproof pen so it is a permanent record that can be used again when the tablecloth is washed) and the pinned it out right around the edge through the sheet into ??? (I must ask Pat what she did pin into. On the floor into carpet? Maybe she has a large soft board of some sort, but this cloth must be 4' square). Finally she gently sprayed the whole cloth with starch. Not a lot, just enough to dampen it slightly. It still drapes and is not 'stiff' but has a pleasant body to it and it looks wonderful. It is now stored around a hard cardboard tube (from a carpet warehouse) inside its piece of sheet, ready to be given to grand-daughter in due course. So there is a half way point between the 'soak it and dab it off' sort of starching that we need for some 3D lace, and not starching at all. I suggest that if you think your lace might need starching, you do some experiments. Make a length of bandage in the same thread on the same grid and try different types and amounts of starch. Keep notes so you have a reference for future use! And don't forget that starch (as distinct from some/most stiffeners) will wash out if you are too heavy handed, so no permanent damage will be done. Jacquie in Lincolnshire where it's about to rain, but it is the first day of Wimbledon today so it is to be expected! - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Machine Embroidery - long
Among my collection of Singer sewing machine instruction books is one called Singer Machine Embroidery. In the foreward is says It will be noted also that in this treatise we are writing only of the ordinary Singer family sewing machines, and do not deal with trade embroidery machines (sometimes referred to as the Irish embroidery machines), as used in workrooms and factories.. It isn't dated but from the style of work shown I suspect it is 1930s, possibly early 1950s. The book is divided into three parts, the first is work using the presser foot and the second and third are without. Within those parts the work is split into 25 lessons starting in part one with borders done simply with variations on zig-zags and meandering lines, through applied braids, ribbons and wool. Next similar borbers are worked with cable stitch (thick thread on the bobbin, working on the back so the thick thread ends up on the right side). Finally applique with felt and American cloth and quilting are covered. All straightforward so far! In part two the pressure foot is removed, (and the pressure on the machinist increases) the fabric goes into a hoop, and now the book explains you will need a treadle machine or one fitted with an electric motor as both hands must be free. Starting with simple darning stitches the lessons rapidly take you through drawing line pictures, background stitches (what we now call 'vermicelli') onto embroidery on net. In passing it shows how to make a looped edge very similar to that on Carrickmacross lace. On we go past shadow applique work, monograms and 'tinsel thread embroidery' to 'wool embroidery' (couched in such as way as to make the wool give a satin stitch like appearance without the machine stitches showing) to more advanced quilting. Part three is the degree course! In this satin stitch is taught, ie zig-zag, but remember these are straight stitch machines. The zig-zag is done by zig-zagging the fabric under the needle. The satin stitch is shown worked in leaf shapes (over an under padding layer of stitches) and flowers and also used as long and short stitch to give colour graduations. Next is cording; satin stitch worked over a cord outline and used both as a line in its own right and for edging applique. Getting serious now, the same technique is used for Broderie Anglaise (you knew you'd find lace eventually if you were patient) and for edging what is simply described as 'lacework'. The book assures me that Lace stitches made with the aid of your Singer are not nearly so difficult as might be supposed As I have enough trouble keeping my foot treadling while my hands are doing completely different things (patting my head and rubbing my stomach is easy-peasy by comparison), I am not convinced, but there are photographs of openwork fillings and 'workaround' centres in circular holes. All in all, every time I read through this book I am left openmouthed with admiration for anyone who has achieved that level of control of their machine. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Sewing Machines
In a message dated 03/07/2006 02:48:55 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Buttonholes were made by hand too. - No Buttonhole attachments in them thare days! :)) - and the hand made buttonholes are STILL better than the machine made ones!!! :)) This one I would disagree with as I have two or three different buttonhole attachments, (certainly dating back to the 1920s, probably earlier) that fit on my old hand and treadle straight stitch Singer machines. In the same way as I described yesterday for working the zig-zag needed for satin stitch on a straight stitch machine (ie the material must move in relation to the needle rather than vice versa), they grip the material and move it. But I do agree that a hand made buttonhole is better that a machine made one. Doesn't mean I do them though, now I have my lovely Husqvarna. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Thing on Ebay
Hurrah, at last I can make a definite diagnosis of an unusual 'thing' on ebay. It is a 'set-up' for a circular sock knitting machine. When opened out wide it sits inside the cylinder and the bends at the ends of each wire face inwards. The wool is threaded into the machine and a long end pulled through. This end then winds in a zig zag from the set up to needle and back all the way around the cylinder. A weight is hung onto the 'ring' at the end of the handle and away we go. I have 6 or 8 of these as most of the makes of English machines used them. They were made with different numbers of wires as the cylinders can have from 54 to 120 slots for needles, but in fact as it is only necessary to wind around alternate needles to start knitting and you can wind around each wire more than once, the number of wires is not very important. I also have some set ups that aren't collapsable but they tend to have got more damaged over the years, because the wires are sticking out all the time. I don't think it could be used for Teneriffe type lace as a) the wires bend into the centre, not out and b) there is no way to lock it open. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Lace Guild Website Update
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: However the content may be of interest to those teaching lacemaking to young people elsewhere. And not only to young people. The pattern given is perfect for adults as well, and has all sorts of different uses for the lace shown. Plus it makes an excellent advert for the Lace Guild. Thank you, Jean, see you soon. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Wonderfil thread, winding bobbins and conversion charts
In a message dated 29/08/2006 23:00:59 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: If you wind correctly by rolling the bobbin into the thread it shouldn't make any difference whether it's a Z twist or an S twist thread. It's late at night and I am too tired to look up the link to Jean's site so I may be repeating what she says there, but just as important as winding the bobbin onto the thread is making sure that you are unwinding the thread off the spool, rather than pulling it off the top. So either have the spool horizontal or high-ish relative to your hands if you use a vertical spool holder, and *make sure the spool turns as you take the thread off it.* If the spool isn't turning, you are pulling the thread off one end and either untwisting or extra-twisting the thread. Jacquie. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Lacemakers in Catalonia and Springett's contact
I have had a conversation with a (hopefully) future student who is shortly off to Catalonia for three months. She will be about 45 minutes drive from Gerona. Can any Arachnean suggest a lace contact for her. She has made lace in the past but not for some little while. She is hoping to brush up her skills while away, ready to join the class after Christmas. She is also looking for a video/DVD of lacemaking to work from, but has not been able to track down a contact number for Christine Springett. I'm fairly confident that one of the UK Arachnes will be able to help me with this one. Many thanks, Jacquie in England - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Lace with paper string
After all the chat about this subject I finally got up off my backside and retrieved the one that I made. As I thought, I didn't knot the ends at all, except where I joined the workers. As I picked up the threads I ran them along behind the string for a very short distance (maybe two there and backs with the workers) and then cut them off. My reckoning was that if it was going to be stiffened with glue, then nothing was going to move very far. At the moment it is still waiting for its frame, and I thought it would be safer not to fiddle with the paper string until it was framed, so it has been kicking around for at least two years now and there is not the slightest sign of any of the ends working loose. I stiffened on the pillow, with the proper Moravia 'starch', diluted 50% as recommended, but ALL the surplus blotted off as soon as I was sure the threads were well soaked. By doing this, there was no evidence of any having gone through the blue film covered pricking to the pillow, and no clear patches of dry glue in the spaces. I also agree with Brenda that the Moravia starch is a VERY expensive way of buying PVA glue. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Bobbins
A short while ago someone, Jeri I think, posted a request that we add our location to our posts. This will often make it easier to get a relevant answer to a query. This request from Lynn is an excellent example of why this is helpful. What I would like to know is, are there any places on the internet that have bobbins that if you buy in bulk they are less expensive. I was about to write that if she wants a basic bobbin that SMP is as good a place as any for 50s and 100s, or she could try Tim Parker who also does a good price for a bulk purchase. Both of these suppliers have a website and do an excellent postal service. But then my brain switched on and I realised that Lynn is talking dollars, so is presumably based in the States (or Canada), whereas both these suppliers are in England. Although it may still work out a good deal, you also have to factor in the exchange rate, credit card foreign currency charges, that there will be extra shipping and possible import duty, so my guess is that she was thinking of an American supplier. Jacquie, in a wet, wet, wet Lincolnshire, England. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Lace joining - magic thread
Cut a longish piece of thread (12); white is best as it doesn't leave coloured marks on the pin hole as you pull it out! Tie the ends in an overhand knot. Hang the pair(s) on at the pin hole as needed and pass the loop end of your magic thread into the centre of the pair(s) and out under one side. The reason for using the loop end is that this is the equivalent of the hook on a crochet hook and will pull the sewing through from underneath as you finish, in the same way a hook would. Use a pin to hold both the knotted and loop end to the back of the work. Make sure that you haven't pulled the pairs away from the pin as you do this; leave a little slack in the magic thread. As you work around you will need to move the pin and thread out of your way, probably more than once. This is one reason for having a good length magic thread, the other being that it is far less fiddley when you actually use it for the sewing. When you are ready to do the sewing, sort out the appropriate magic thread and make sure it is sliding freely. Put one bobbin of the pair through the loop but don't pull it all the way through; you will find that the bobbin thread will pull through much more easily if the magic thread settles about halfway along the 'leash'. Pull on the knotted end of the magic thread and the bobbin thread will follow through the hole. Snip off the magic thread knot and pull it out of the bobbin thread loop. Pass the other bobbin of the pair through the loop as usual and fasten off as required. I hope I've remembered all the tips I pass on to my students. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Arachne pin - UK
Malvary and I got ours from Roseground Lace Supplies, I think at the Bristol Lace Guild AGM which is a couple of years ago. At that time she had maybe two or three left, but I did tell some other members she had them so they may all be gone. It would be worth a phone call or e-mail to find out. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Irish Crochet collar
Feeling that this seller may as well live to regret being so unpleasant to Clay, I sent the following to her about the collar. I look forward to her response As a responsible e-bay seller, interested in accuracy, I'm sure you would appreciate me telling you that while this vintage collar is very attractive, it is NOT Irish crochet. It is machine embroidered chemical lace in the style of Irish crochet. Please feel free to add this correction to the item description. Jacquie from Lincolnshire, but in Croydon for the time being as Dad is a bit poorly. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Reply from Ebay seller
And not even original as she sent exactly the same response to me. My reply was on similar lines, but I was very hurt by her aggressive reply as most sellers thank me for helping them target the right buyers. I also asked what she meant by bblace as it was obviously a typo :-) Don't know how I'll sleep tonight for fretting about being reported. Jacquie in England - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Moisture to threads, another method
Another way to do this, as taught by Pat Read and it certainly works well in the UK centrally heated homes climate, is to make a layer as follows. Cover cloth over the lace, followed by a face flannel wet and then rung out as dry as you possibly can. A top layer of a towel. This can be left on over night, but even a half an hour is enough to make a real difference. I saw this demonstrated many years ago on a Honiton weekend with Pat (she didn't always teach mainly Milanese!) where a student new to fine thread was really struggling. From the Friday evening to the Saturday morning coffee break she must have had at least 10 broken threads and was about to give up completely. Pat sat at her pillow to do yet another weaver's knot and get her going again and in the process another 2 threads broke (s embarassing when you're the teacher!). At this point she decided that it wasn't the student being heavy handed but a previously badly stored, newly bought reel of thread, and made the above described sandwich over the lace. Off they went to coffee and to our amazement there wasn't another broken thread on that pillow for the whole weekend. I wonder if that lady ever made any more Honiton. BUT, from my experience this treatment only helps when you are having 'broken' broken threads. The more common breaks are the type where the thread pulls apart because you haven't noticed it coming untwisted. I haven't found that the humidity in the thread makes any difference to this problem, but would love to be convinced otherwise. The only solution to this I have found is just to be very observant of the thread and retwist the ply as necessary. Jacquie in Surrey (at the moment) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] 'Lace' flowers
I am currently reading a book set in the reign of King James (of England and Scotland), and in one of the descriptive passages some hedgerow flowers are described as 'gypsy lace'. I assume that this might be referring to cow parsley, also known as Queen Anne's lace, but that is actually slightly immaterial to the way my brain took off. As in King James's time we are presumably pre the Queen Anne in question (although his wife was an Anne and I have no idea which Anne the flower refers to), then perhaps it couldn't be Q A's lace, so it makes sense that it has a different country name, but what my convoluted thoughts suddenly landed on was Is there a record somewhere of when flowers where first known as 'something' lace, because in the same way as it couldn't be Q A's lace until we'd had a Q A, then it couldn't be anything lace before we had lace. And I am wondering when lacey things took a big enough hold on the people giving nicknames to flowers for them to see a connection and call the flower 'something' lace. Before the flower was called 'something' lace it must have had another name, and the 'something' lace name must have been more appropriate with a good number of people for it to hold the popular imagination. Enough rambling for now, it looks as if it might actually be sunny today, so 'white rabbits' to you all and I'm going to start enjoying June. Jacquie In Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Re: Jigsaws and honey
In a private post from Malvary (my sister) she made the comment Your question about Queen Ann Lace certainly generated a lot of messages but didn't really answer your question Yes, I noticed that! What I was more interested in is there any way to work out when plant names first became lace somethings, ie before that lace wasn't a part of the public consciousness. And although I was very interested in finding out that it may indeed be the Queen Anne in the book I'm reading, there must be quite a jump from her courtiers saying Oooh that plant looks just like our Majesty's lace, and country people calling it Q A's lace. So, are there for example, any ancient herbals (if that is the correct name for the documents covering the use of plants) which pre date the development of lace so they referred to plant x as one thing, whereas later ones (at some point in the 1500s presumably) started calling the same plant as lace something, then that could be an interesting pointer for when a wider awareness of lace left the courts and lacemakers and became part of general acceptance. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Jigsaws and honey??? should be lace flowers
The observant among you may have wondered why the subject of jigsaws and honey appeared. It was because I picked up the lace flowers element from a three part post from Malvary, but didn't change the subject line. The jisaws bit was a comment about an on-line puzzle site and the honey bit was a question about how thin you cut orange peel to preserve it in and flavour honey. The answer for anyone interested, is as close to the surface as possible, ie only the oily orange bit. No pith. Put it in a jar, cover it with liquid honey (or warmed solid honey) and leave. After a couple of months the honey will be orangey and the peel very sweet and soft. Lovely in a stir fry. It keeps for years and if the honey solidifies, just warm it gently in the microwave or in hot water. I tend to spoon the honey out from under the peel (which 'floats') to keep the flavour as long as possible. The lace bit was covered in my previous post so please excuse me! Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] E-mail addresses
I don't understand what the problem is, Surely 'Chat' looks the same to everyone that has it as a digest, as I do. Pardon me Jean for choosing one of your posts to demonstrate, but this is the format I see at the top of each entry: Date: Wed, 30 May 2007 08:27:33 +0100 From: Jean Nathan [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [lace-chat] Afternoon tea/high tea Where's the problem in that? If I want to write a reply to arachne chat, I hit reply, and check the subject matter is what it needs to be for what I'm writing about. If I want to write to Jean personally, I copy and paste her address. Jacquie, preparing to be shot down in flames. - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Queen Anne's lace
So the reference to using Queen Anne's lace for cow parsley (in a book set in the UK) in the 1500s was, as I suspected, incorrect. My instinct that is was incorrect was because lace hadn't been around long enough, and called 'lace' as a generic term, for the word and concept of it to have seeped into general usage enough for unrelated things it to be commonly compared to it. The next book in the series, starting in 1638, has the govenor of VIrginia wearing some 'worn, gold lace' which is fine, but elsewhere something is described as lacey/lacelike. Now, if it's an author's description that's OK, but if it's the thought of a character it might not be; it depends on how much that character might have been aware of lace. It is a man watching a fire, seeing the twigs burn to leave a skeletal lace of dried ash; perhaps a skeletal cobweb might have been be a better comparison to use. This example is borderline I know, and I am being a pedant to have spotted it, but it illustrates the way my mind was working when I saw Queen Anne's lace a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, thanks to Bridget, Bev and Robin for the historical input. Jacquie, in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Question about antique bobbins and spangles
Like Carol, I respangle mine using old beads but to my preferred spangle size. When someone looked at me in horror for doing this I pointed out that it is highly unlikely that most of these bobbins have their original-from-new spangle anyway. Probably most of my modern bobbins have been respangled at least once in their up-to 30 years of life, either because the wire broke or because I changed my preference about spangle size. For example, nearly all the ones with dangley bits have been respangled as I liked them when I was new to lace making, but as I speeded up they just got in the way so I changed to a smaller neater spangle. As I don't use my bobbins all day, every day, in the way that a professional lace maker would have done, and I have still managed to wear out a good few of my spangles, there is really no logic for us to assume that the old bobbins, with old beads, still have the original wire or even the beads that were original to that particular bobbin. Even when the books such as Wright's The Romance of the Lace Pillow were written in 1919, which perhaps give us our idea of what old spangles 'should look like', many of the bobbins were already decades old and could easily be on their second or third spangle, even if most of the beads were re-used. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] ISBN book help
Does anyone know if there is a way to search for a book worldwide using just its ISBN number? The reason why I'm asking is that I have just borrowed a book from the Lace Guild library which I would very much like a copy of, BUT it is a Russian one, in Russian. I have previously tried to do an ebay search for 'lace' using the cyrillic alphabet, but it doesn't recognise it or I didn't know how to get it to recognise it! The book has an ISBN reference, so where/how do I search for a copy of this book. Or a way to search using Russian script. I am going to post to both lace and chat as it is a lace book, but its not a very lace enquiry :-) Many thanks in advance, Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Lace car stickers
In the 1980s one or more of the UK lace suppliers sold a blue sticker to fit inside a car window, with the words Lacemakers do it on a pillow and a lacey design behind the words. It was about 12 x 2 inches. Mum had one on the back window of her 1980 Mini Clubman Estate, which I inherited whan she died a couple of years ago. I have recently sent the car to a specialist restorer to have it put back 'as new' and I have realised how dog-eared the sticker has become. I have been told that I can probably get a new copy transfer made, but this sounds like an expensive option on top of an already expensive exercise and we would have to make-up the missing lace at the corners. But as far as I can remember back she had this sticker in the car and as I am also a lacemaker it seems appropriate for it to still be there. Can anyone remember who sold these, or even better (miracles do happen occasionally) if anyone still sells them. Even a photo of one with the corners intact would help. And if I do have to end up having it made, is there interest from any other spiders for one of their own; usually with this sort of thing it's the first one that is expensive, duplicates are a sensible price. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] ISBN book search
Many thanks for all the suggestions - Shere'e's link to campusi found one of them for me at $66, but that's in the States so I've got probably another $10 shipping on top. Thinking about that one. The other book wasn't found and as soon as I go to the rare books search it asks for the title and author so I'm back to square one. I will speak to Rosemary at The Holiies on Friday and see if she has any idea where they came from. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Thanks and Request
Don't forget you can always check back to the archive for anything you have deleted. And the URL for that is... http://www.mail-archive.com/lace%40arachne.com/ Add that one to your saved searches and you won't need to worry again. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: resizing a pricking
Hi Brenda As a matter of interest, is there any way to tell at a glance which sort of enlargement any particular photocopier does? Am I reading your post right to think that if I enlarge directly through the photocopy facility of my scanner it will be linear, but if I scan it first then use the computer to enlarge it, it's area. Or is it not as black and white as that? Best wishes, Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[lace] Tweezers/tatting shuttle
I wrote to the seller explaining why this couldn't be a tatting shuttle and expressing interest in the URL for his research which led him to believe it was. In return he sent me another e-bay link for a sale which ended on 23rd May, where someone paid $20 for an identical item. No wonder he was hopeful. But at the bottom of this other sale there there was a note that someone had told him it was probably (probably!!!) not a tatting shuttle but tweezers, to pull out stray threads. No feedback has been left yet for that item so I wonder if the buyer got what they were expecting or not. The one we were looking at this week has now been withdrawn from sale, but as the seller has 20 pages of goods, with a lot of buy-it-now, I didn't feel inclinined to plough (plow for the US) through to look to see if it was now on offer as tweezers. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Re: resizing a pricking
So the safest thing to do is to measure after the enlargement and see if you've got what you were expecting, rather than believing that just because you asked for 200%, that's what you've got. Jacquie - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: [lace] Do you know this site ?
In a message dated 01/07/2007 16:58:15 GMT Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: http://www.museocaprai.it Many thanks, Tiziana. I don't know if I was doing something wrong but when I went to look at items (it's the Milanese lace I was especially interested in), the description of the item was in Italian, even though I'd asked for English and the main headings were English. Perhaps the details of the site aren't translated. Unfortunately the lace I was interested in was not photographed clearly enough to be able to enlarge it to see details. I'll explore a bit more as there seems to be a lot of lace in there. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
