Wednesday 20 April 2016


Cultures of Repair Past and Present

Goldsmiths, University of London


  I was lucky to get a ticket to this event, which consisted out of a morning of lectures and a workshop in darning by Tom of Holland in the afternoon.
We started of with a lecture, by Vivienne Richmond, about a book of samplers from the Whitelands College Collection now part of the University of Roehampton.  Whitelands was the first all-women teacher-training college which was established in 1841.  Its stated purpose: 'to produce a superior class of parochial Schoolmistresses'.  As part of their training, they had to make a sampler of several ways of darning linnens.  Swiss darning was used to reinforce fabric by embroidery.  The example in the photo is about 2.5cm by 2cm.  The stitches are minute.






This elaborate Swiss darning has never been found on antique textiles, so it probably was just an exercise in fine needlework.
  We also had a talk by Lizzie cannon, an artist.  She takes items that are damaged or decaying and by "repairing" or empathising the decay, creates art. 


Wednesday 13 January 2016

Kantopleiding LOKK


I was looking for a bit more direction and something to aim for in my lacemaking.  Then the LOKK, the Dutch lace society, announced they are restarting the lace teacher program in a different format.  So I have decided to do this study, because you can study at home with or without a lace teacher.  The study is in modules and each module tells you what techniques you have to do.  So you can look for patterns, that have these techniques in them or you can design your own.
   On the LOKK website you can find what you have to do for each module, unfortunately in Dutch only.  I couldn't go to the meeting to find out, how much it is going to cost to have your work assessed, but that is a concern for a later date.  At the moment, only the basic module and the torchon modules are published on the website.  But these will give enough work to get on with.
  It also solves another problem I have, what project to take with me to lace meetings.  I don't want to take a complicated project with me, because let's be honest we all like good chat.  I find with Torchon , once I've started and done a repeat it's quite easy.
  So for my first pattern , I slightly changed a free pattern from the "Kantje van de maand" on the LOKK website (look under the heading "Patronen", you can find some lovely free patterns).
It's almost finished, my next project will be on the same pricking using different techniques.

Monday 15 September 2014

I have started a new project.  I always loved the design of the Old Flanders, Valenciennes and Binche laces.  And so to study these old laces I made an appointment to visit the Clothworkers Centre, this is the textile storage of the Victoria and Albert museum in London.  
  I studied four pieces of lace from the beginning of the 18th century.  All were classified as Valenciennes, although I wouldn't be surprised if some people would disagree. 
   My aim is to recreate some of these laces and to produce a pricking and work diagram.  The next step would be to design modern lace in the style and technique of the old lace.



First step;  I'm working on an enlarged photo, to work out how all the threads go.
  Unfortunately I realised it is up-sight down.  So I will start again.

Monday 18 June 2012

Saturday was our Mid Downs Lacemakers annual Lace Day.  We had Jenny Adin-Christie as our speaker.  She is a highly skilled embroiderer and works part-time at the Royal School for Needlecraft.  Her talk was fascinating.  She talked about her training and all the different work the RSN undertakes.  They do a lot of restoration work and special commissions.  My embroidery skills are almost nill, but I would love to do a course in fine whitework. Have a look on her website, her whitework is exquisite.
     
                              jennyadin-christieembroidery.co.uk                                                                        

I am currently working on a rabbit, to help Jean Eke.  She is writing a new booklet and I have tried out one of her patterns.  It is a fairly simple rabbit in half-stitch and tenstick, I am sure it would make a lovely 1-day workshop.


As you can see I am not only interested in lace.  I fell in love with the Fair isle knitting of Kate Davies.  This is my first attempt at Fair isle knitting.  The wool is proper Shetland wool.  I choose this pattern, because it is recommended for beginners and so far I am pleased with it.  The finished item will be a tea cosy. I love my tea, but haven't used a teapot for years.  My daughter was very surprised I was knitting a tea cosy, because she didn't even know we have a teapot.

Friday 9 March 2012

Horsham Museum

Me and some members of the Mid Downs Lacemakers visited Horsham Museum on Tuesday, to have a look at the lace they own.  The museum had kindly given us the use of one of their rooms and had the boxes of lace ready for us to look at.  A lot of the lace was machine made, but there were some really good pieces as well.  Like the piece of Mechlin lace in the picture above.  We think it started life as 2 lappets, but were later on crudely sown together to make a small scarf. The width of the piece is about 8cm.
We also found a Dutch lace cap, which was in the box of wedding veils.
The day went very quickly and we weren't able to go through all the boxes.  The museum was happy with our contribution and invited us to come again.

The piece of Duchesse, I was working on last year, is finished.


Wednesday 5 October 2011

Mid Downs Lace meeting

Last Saturday I went to the Mid Downs Lace meeting.  It was a unseasonal hot and sunny day and I was amazed how many members turned up.  Our speaker was Rosina Robinson and her talk was 'Lace through the ages'.  She gave us a lovely short history about making lace, unfortunately she ran out of time. 
  One of our suppliers on the day was one of our members, Janet France.  Not only does she make lace, but also makes beautiful pictures with machine embroidery.  I bought these two booklets with her handmade covers.  They will be lovely presents. 
  I didn't make any lace on the day, but wound bobbins for my next project.  The duchesse piece is almost finished.

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Back from holiday



I have spend two lovely weeks in The Netherlands.  The weather was perfect. 
Lace was a big feature this holiday, I could finally pick up some lace equipment I took over last year.  And I was able to go to the AGM of the LOKK, this is the Dutch lace society.


With the lace equipment came an almost finished piece of Torchon in linen thread.  It was such a nice design that I had to finish it.  I haven't worked with linen thread for a long time and this was a good reminder why I not.  Linen thread doesn't slide into place like cotton and silk.  You have to pull every thread seperately.
   I decided to send the mat to the lady,who made it, and I hope she enjoys her mat. 

The AGM of the LOKK was a lovely day.  In the morning we had the actual AGM followed by a powerpoint presentation of lace hankerchiefs owned by the LOKK.  These hankerchiefs were also on display.  In the afternoon we were given a simple pattern for a handkerchief corner.  Unfortunately I hadn't brought the right thread, so my attempt looks a bit thin.