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Lessons in Bobbin Lacemaking
Bobbin lace is one of the oldest crafts, dating back to at least the sixteenth century and possibly earlier. During the eighteenth century, bobbin lace design and execution attained the ultimate in beauty and richness. The linen threads were incredibly fine and the consummate skill of the lacemaker wove them into unmatched works of art.
Modern lacemakers — even beginners — can learn this age-old technique with this easy-to-follow book. An accomplished bobbin lacemaker demonstrates step-by-step the techniques for creating beautiful lace edgings, doilies, collars, belts, bookmarks, and more. With Ms. Southard's expert advice and helpful hints, you'll find it easy to add the elegance of lace to pillows, handkerchiefs, bolsters, fans — almost any apparel or household item.
After outlining a history of bobbin lace and introducing readers to the materials and recommended supplies, the author gets down to specifics. These include how to make a simple braid, an edging, how to turn a corner, how to begin without directions, how to make laces on a flat pillow, and much more. In addition, special sections explore projects to make, how to wash bobbin lace, and how to create bobbin lace designs.
With this book at your side, you'll soon discover the immense rewards and satisfactions to be had in mastering the art of bobbin lacemaking and creating heirloom-quality lace for yourself, family, and friends.
Modern lacemakers — even beginners — can learn this age-old technique with this easy-to-follow book. An accomplished bobbin lacemaker demonstrates step-by-step the techniques for creating beautiful lace edgings, doilies, collars, belts, bookmarks, and more. With Ms. Southard's expert advice and helpful hints, you'll find it easy to add the elegance of lace to pillows, handkerchiefs, bolsters, fans — almost any apparel or household item.
After outlining a history of bobbin lace and introducing readers to the materials and recommended supplies, the author gets down to specifics. These include how to make a simple braid, an edging, how to turn a corner, how to begin without directions, how to make laces on a flat pillow, and much more. In addition, special sections explore projects to make, how to wash bobbin lace, and how to create bobbin lace designs.
With this book at your side, you'll soon discover the immense rewards and satisfactions to be had in mastering the art of bobbin lacemaking and creating heirloom-quality lace for yourself, family, and friends.
- GenresNonfictionCrafts
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1977
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July 24, 2021
An excellent book, in addition to ten lessons on the various Torchon techniques, it also has a lesson on working on a flat pillow and a lesson on other types of laces than Torchon.
Important note. One peculiarity of this book is that the stitches are different than in other texts - so the half stitch here is TC (twist, cross), and then she uses cloth or linen stitch for the whole stitch (CTC), and calls "whole stitch" the sequence TCTC. Other texts have the half stitch as CT, and call refer to the sequence CTCT as "whole stitch and twist". So this different terminology is to bear in mind when jumping between books. It is also unusual in other respects, as for instance tallies are worked using bobbin n4 as weaver, rather than the more usual bobbin 2 or bobbin 3, though it is not incorrect (at least Practical Skills in Bobbin Lace states that any bobbin would do).
Each lesson includes multiple samplers, with full instructions. The very many samples mean that progress to the next technique is slow, but nothing prevents jumping ahead!
As compared to my favorite books (The Torchon Lace Workbook: A concise lacemaking course--the basic skills fully explained, with prickings and diagrams for 27 finished lace products. and Torchon Lacemaking: A Step-by-Step Guide) this is a little bit drier, so arguably a bit more old fashioned in terms of teaching style, and visual learners might struggle, but still it is a very good text to have.
Important note. One peculiarity of this book is that the stitches are different than in other texts - so the half stitch here is TC (twist, cross), and then she uses cloth or linen stitch for the whole stitch (CTC), and calls "whole stitch" the sequence TCTC. Other texts have the half stitch as CT, and call refer to the sequence CTCT as "whole stitch and twist". So this different terminology is to bear in mind when jumping between books. It is also unusual in other respects, as for instance tallies are worked using bobbin n4 as weaver, rather than the more usual bobbin 2 or bobbin 3, though it is not incorrect (at least Practical Skills in Bobbin Lace states that any bobbin would do).
Each lesson includes multiple samplers, with full instructions. The very many samples mean that progress to the next technique is slow, but nothing prevents jumping ahead!
As compared to my favorite books (The Torchon Lace Workbook: A concise lacemaking course--the basic skills fully explained, with prickings and diagrams for 27 finished lace products. and Torchon Lacemaking: A Step-by-Step Guide) this is a little bit drier, so arguably a bit more old fashioned in terms of teaching style, and visual learners might struggle, but still it is a very good text to have.
Displaying 1 of 1 review