Ooo Antique Lace!

It was nearing four o'clock and a lot of the stalls were packing up. We were just about to go into the Earl of Lonsdale for a snack and a drink when I spotted lace. Lots of lace. Just hanging out, unassuming, next to the union jack key chains. 

I nearly had a heart attack as I got closer.

There was just so much of it, and all in such amazing condition. Some were so, so old! There were scads of victorian lace, a surprisingly large amount of 18th century lace and even a fair few going back to the 16th and 17th centuries. I asked where they acquire it and the man said his mother goes to lots of estate sales and fairs in small towns.

There were so many examples that one could be picky. I found quite a few with no brown spots and barely any holes. To the casual eye, they look almost new. I bought mostly 18th century bobbin lace, though looking back, I should have picked up some mid-19th century lace to trim my new 1860's bonnet. Damn. 

So take a browse. I have listed them with the labels that were put on by the owner. I haven't really had a chance to go and check my lace books to see if she was 100% accurate, but I'm going on good faith she knows what's up. Needless to say, they are all hand worked. Enjoy!

Collar and cuffs.
The whitework is finished but they have
never been cut out. The selvage has pencil
marks indicating it is from a professional
workshop in France. The work is
absolutely meticulous!

This picture and the one below show the backside.

Lace!

Well, it's almost lace. It's really a lace footside, which is the straight edge of english lace, but it's a start. The wavy, decorative edge is called a headside. 

For my very first attempt at demystifying lace, I started with the footside because it seems the simplest. A good way to start. I followed a pattern from Jo Edkins' Lace School. It's a great lacemaking website. Way more informative than any of the books I have purchased.

This pattern uses six pairs of bobbins.

This footsides pattern uses six pairs of bobbins. More complicated lace can use up to 50 pairs. That's 100 bobbins! That's one crowded pillow. Speaking of the pillow, I found my roller pillow at Lacis. The bobbins are english bobbins from Mielkes Fiber Arts. For the thread I am using 60/2 white linen thread from William Booth Draper.

The beginning few inches. The frays are from
starting with proper looped bobbins, but
I screwed up, so I cut that part away.

Further along, I had to move the pattern down
the pillow. In hindsight, I should have made
the pattern go all the way around the roller.

So far I've gotten the hang of this easy pattern pretty well. Basically all you do is cross the bobbins right over left, or left over right, secure strategically with pins, and keep going. It goes very fast. I'm itching to try something harder when I run out of thread on these bobbins. Very exciting!

Bespangled Bobbins

My budding collection of spangled bobbins.

Lace making has always seemed a bit of a mystery to me, and therefor challenging, so how better to understand it than jump right in? 

I recently bought a few books on lace making, and after browsing a bit, never being one to think something is too hard to give it a go, I dove in and ordered supplies. I plan on focusing my attention to English bobbin lace. There are many different types of bobbins for many different types of lace making, but English bobbins have spangles, which makes them infinitely more fun!

Some examples of English bobbin lace: 

Surprisingly, even the most intricate of patterns are made only with variations of either crossing the thread, or twisting it. Click here for a better description of how lace is made.

Honton bobbin lace on hand made net. Mid 19th century. Christie's.
Honton lace was used as Queen Victoria's wedding lace.

Midland lace aka English Maltese lace.
From Jo Edkins' Lace School. 

Torchon lace aka Beggars lace.
From Jo Edkins' Lace School 

Spangles are the beads attached to the bottom of bobbins. English bobbins are drilled with holes to facilitate attaching the beads by wire. The loop of beads has a purpose, aside from looking pretty. It stops the bobbins from rolling on the pillow and the weight keeps the threads evenly taught.

Traditionally, lace makers seem to be rather superstitious. Lots of beads have meanings, much like charms. A snake or serpentine design is said to ward off evil spirits, as is a button. Here are examples of each. Images courtesy Lacefairy.

A "fancy dress" bead used as a charm.

A bead with a serpentine design.

Below is a "Kitty Fisher" bead, named after the famous 18th century actress (who found Lucy Locket's pocket). This bead is usually grey with blue on white and red on white dots, roughly resembling a face.

Im assuming the blue dots are Kitty's eyes?

While I wait on my pillow and thread to come, I tried to find some beads that were traditional, but I just fell in love with the cupcakes and mice! I also chose a very pretty four leaf clover bead, some carved jade and lots of cloisonné. Some of my favorites:

I hope to be able to make at least some modest lace, because how fun are these bobbins! I'd love to collect antique ones, but I refuse to collect things I can't use. So I better get practicing! 

I should note, unfortunately, all the really beautiful  18th century lace, like alencon and argentan are actually needle lace, not bobbin. I'll elaborate more on this another day, as well as more info on bobbin lace and how it's actually made. But for now I'm just smiling about the bobbins :)