A Bobbin Lace Book Mark

Slowly but surely I have been working through a bobbin lace book I have on Bedfordshire Lace.

This is pattern 6a in the book, and it took me a total of fourteen hours to work, not all at once I might add.

I have been working through this book for some time now, and another lace maker that I know has advised me not to use it because of the shoddy work shown in the book. Well, I love the patterns and designs in this book, and I was not going to be put off. I have not had a problem with the book, until now.

I started this book mark back in November 2017 at my local lace group. I had spent the afternoon winding bobbins, then was just beginning to set up to start when it was time to come home. I packed everything up well, or so I thought, came home and put my lace pillow away. I was about to go on holidays and would not have time to touch it for a while.

It was not until after New Year that I got time to pull it out again, and this is what I found!

Obviously I had not secured everything well enough for the short distance I had to travel home. No, my Fluffball of a Sasha Cat did not get into it and have a play. It was packed away where she could not get to it. In my years of making bobbin lace, I have never had a pillow in such a mess! It took me some time to sort it out and make it neat again so I could work.

OK, so I was all set up to start my book mark. I started reading the instructions in the book, and it was like reading double dutch. I was so confused! I had started two other bookmarks similar to this before, so I ditched the book instructions, pulled out the notes on those other book marks, and figured the start of this one by myself. Once I got the start sorted, I was off and running.

The pricking was drawn up on a 5mm grid, and I used DMC Special Dentelles thread to work the lace. The thread was possibly a little too fine for the 5mm grid, but I am happy with the result. Next time i might try a Perle 12.

A Bobbin Lace Hankie

Behold, my new lace edged handkerchief!

It's been a very long time happening. from the first day I contemplated making it, until the day it was finished, it has been nearly eight years. Mmmm..... that is a long time, but there are prickings to draw up, handkerchief linen to source & buy, decisions to be made about thread, threads to source & buy, decisions about how big to make the pricking, then sourcing and buying a lace pillow to work it. Then we get to the actual working of the lace itself, which took me about two years. I might add here that there have been plenty of other projects happening over the same time frame.

Lets start at the beginning. Quite some years ago I acquired a book called 'Bedfordshire Lace-making' by Pamela Nottingham. When I looked through the book, my toes began to curl in absolute delight. Another lace-maker I knew also had this same book , and as it was set out in lesson format, we decided to work through it together. I might add here that that challenge has long gone as life has got in the way for both of us. I have still continued on in my own time though.

For the lessons up to this point, I had only done samples, and I was tired of making samples. I wanted a finished project, so I decided to make this edging into a handkerchief .There was lots of learning involved, from using slubby linen thread, to making even tallies ( yeah right!) and working six pair crossings to make those little flowers. Then there was the joining. The little flowers were certainly a challenge, and there are no two alike. Someone told me it is just as in nature.

I was advised to use a linen thread, but in reality I may just not ever use it again. The slubs made it difficult to tension, especially in those tallies. It also snapped a lot, meaning there are joins in my edge everywhere. I was told that linen thread is the traditional thread used in Bedfordshire lace, but recently I was told that a lot of Bedfordshire lace makers now use cotton thread. Mmm...... something to think about for the next one.

There are 224 tallies in this edge. I have been told that I have to make 1000 before I can get the right. I think I have a few more to go. The next ones will be in a cotton thread I am sure.

Once the lace was finished and joined, I then had to mount it to my linen fabric. I had a few different suggestions as to how to do it, but chose something called 'Nun's Stitch' to mount it. I had to find out how to do it, then learn how to do it, but in the end it was easy, and it gave a little pinstitch along the edge which is pretty.

It may not be perfect, but the mistakes and inconsistencies in it show that it is hand made. I am extremely proud of what I have done. It is my first ever bobbin lace handkerchief edge that I have done and there will be more. Watch this space!

A Bobbin Lace Edging

I've been making some very slow progress on my lace edging. It's an edging from the Pamela Nottingham book of Bedfordshire Lace making.

Started quite some time ago with the drawing up of the pricking and planning on how it was actually going to be worked. It took even more time to get started on the actual piece, and even more time to work!

I'm on side three at the moment and coming up my third corner, ready for the last leg to the finish. The join is scaring me a little, but I have had some help from an on-line group of lace makers who are very free with advice and help. As a result, the last corner and final join are not so scary any more.

So watch this space to see the final product. it may still be a while yet though.

A Bedfordshire Lace Bookmark

This little bookmark is a Bedfordshire lace one. It started as something to take to my lace meeting. I had ( and still do) a handkerchief edge on a pillow that I really wanted to do, but the pillow is a little cumbersome and uncomfortable  to use at lace meetings. Something about the height, it is a block pillow, and high at the front. My other pillow is a cookie pillow, and nicer to work on, so I dug out the pricking for this bookmark and thought I would make another one. The pattern came from an Australian Lace magazine, summer 2005, and is by Olwyn Scott and Robyn Hueppauff..

I had made this bookmark before, about three years ago, and thought there would not be an issue. So I quickly gathered my supplies and off I went to lace. As I started to set up my pricking and sort out bobbins, I thought I had bobbins with thread left from a previous project, and thought I would use them. The thread in the container with the bobbins was a cotton one, so I assumed all the bobbins in with the thread would have that thread wound on them. As I started to set them up and begin to work the lace, I could see that there were two different threads. One was a linen, complete with slubs, and the other was a cotton. Would it matter if the bookmark was worked in two different threads? One way to find out!

So I continued on my merry way. It got started, worked a bit, then left for some time while life got in the way. Next time I picked it up I snapped a thread. Mmm........ I could cope with that. Just add in another one and knot later. Famous last words! If I snapped one thread, I snapped a hundred! I know that linen thread has problems in dry air, and I have been told to lay a damp cloth over my work to create humidity. So that's what I did. Most of this bookmark was worked in high summer in air-conditioning, so every afternoon when I packed it away for the day, I would lay a cover cloth, a damp tea towel, then another cover cloth, so creating a layer of humidity.

Although I had made this bookmark before, I still had to remember lots of things. It's been good practice for my tallies, and I had to remember how to make picots, ( thank goodness for reference books!) . Then there were issues with colours of thread to colours on the pricking, as well as issues with pins. I have also learnt how unforgiving half stitch is. Never mind, it is finished now, and the only person I have to please is myself.

Now watch this space for my handkerchief edge that will be coming soon, sometime hopefully this year.

A Lace Bookmark

Behold, my latest finish! A Bedfordshire Lace bookmark.

This little book mark started as a filler. I really wanted to continue my lessons from Pamella Nottingham's " Bedforshire Lacemaking" book. I am up to lesson 5, and rather than just doing a sample like I had done with the other four, I wanted to make a finished piece. So I decided to continue the edge around in a square, and when finished, I would mount it on some handkerchief linen. So I made my pricking, and  tried in on for size on my lace pillow. Immediately I could foresee problems. Yes, the pricking did fit, but it was flat, and my pillow is dome shaped. I could cut the center out to make it fit better, and as the edge has a scalloped footside as well as a scalloped head side, the finished  lace could be moulded flat when I mounted it to linen. Mmmmm...........  But the edge of the pricking came very close to the edge of my pillow, and I knew this would drive me crazy when working it. So I invested in another pillow, a bigger  square one with 9 blocks that I can swap around as needed. This would take time to arrive, and I wanted to do some more lace now!

So while waiting for my new pillow to arrive, I looked through and found this book mark pattern. Could I do it? I thought I could, it was plaits and tallies, and I knew how to do those, so I went about making my pricking.

Step 1. Make pricking - note to self - to consider the colour of thread to be used up against the colour of the pricking when choosing the colour of the contact. Remember to use a contrasting colour !

Step 2. Wind bobbins - how many do I wind? Oooops - not mentioned on the pattern, I would have to work it out!

Step 3. Work out the working order and how to start so I can calculate how many bobbins to wind Mmmmm........... next question - this wasn't on the pattern either and I had no idea how to start!

Luckily I am a member of a few on-line lace groups, so I put the question out there. One of the ladies on this group very kindly sent me a diagram and some notes to help get me started. My thanks go out the her ( she knows who she is). As a result, I could work my book mark above.

It is far from perfect, but I am proud of it. My tallies are different sizes, but they did get better as I progressed. My picots are all wrong, but hey, they are there. I was having problems with them and could not get the tension right. Then when I showed it to some real lace-makers, some comments I received had me going back to refresh how to do them. It was only then that  I realized that I had done them wrong. No winder they didn't tension right!

Oh well, it is finished and very usable. It has served me well in being a filler while waiting for my new pillow, as well as giving me some good practice and revision lessons. Now this one is finished, and my new pillow has arrived. So my handkerchief edging is happening as I write. Watch this space!

My First Bedfordshire Bookmark

One of my personal challenges this year was to start learning Bedfordshire Lace. Anyone who wants to see my progress so far can check out my bobbin lace pages.

The bookmark above is my latest attempt, and my first attempt at designing this type of lace. That is if you call it designing. It is just an edge pattern that has been mirrored with some extra tallies & plaits down the center. I also experimented with some different picots, and some DMC stranded thread. It will be a while before I use either of these elements again. I found the stranded thread a little too soft for bobbin lace, though I would not rule it out altogether as there are some great colours available. As for the picots, these were just simple ones, and I like the twisted ones I did before much better as they hold their shape better.

Anyway, the book mark is finished, and now I can move onto the next piece

Bedfordshire Edge 4

I have finally finished another sample of bobbin lace. This time it is Pattern 4 from the Pamela Nottingham book "Bedfordshire Lace Making". I have tried a different thread, Finca No 60, & at first I thought it was a little fine, but now that it is finished it looks OK. It is after all just a sample, and gives me an idea how different threads react, and work up. On the right fabric, this edge could look very pretty.

I tried so hard to get the pins in the right place on the footside edge, but still managed to miss one. I also thought I took special care with my picots not to get them caught around other pins, but missed one of those big time. I'll have to look for other ways to keep check on these points. Any ideas out there from other bobbin lace makers?

A Parcel At The Door

Look what arrived at my door yesterday. This beautiful book on Bedfordshire Lace. Now I have plenty to keep me busy & inspired. Mail order is wonderful.

Beds Sample 3 - The 9 Pin Edge

I have just this minute cut my latest bobbin lace sample off my pillow. This one is the 9 pin edge which is pattern 3 in my "Bedfordshire Lace Making" book. It was easy enough once I got started. ( Starts are a real problem for me) Revision of plaits, picots, 4 plait crossings & footsides. Though this footside is a little different to those I have done before, done with cloth stitch instead of whole stitch. I still need to remember where to place the pin in the footside, only missed once in this sample, though I noticed a few more times I'd missed & fixed them real quick while working the lace. There a few joins in this piece too. I'm getting better at hiding those as well. Pattern 4 here I come.