Well, I've done it again. My aunt called me a few weeks back, asking me to tat her a necklace. I made her a black one last summer and this time she wanted a brown one, tweaked a bit. When I made the first one, I had used a pattern as the jumping off point and then made some changes. I wanted to make sure that I had changed it enough and wasn't infringing on copyright. But I couldn't find the original in my binder if patterns. So I spent quite a bit of time on the web, looking for it. And as I searched, I found a few patterns that talked about Bruges crochet or Bruges lace. I thought, hey, I can do that. So I got a few patterns and instructions. And I practiced.
And in my searching for Bruges patterns, I found instructions for hairpin lace. And a pattern for a shawl that I really wanted to do. So I made a makeshift hairpin lace fork and got busy. It isn't difficult, really. But there isn't much instruction around. I even found a loom, much more up to date than the fork. I made a bookmark. Nothing spectacular, mind you, but not bad.
Well, while I was researching these new techniques, I saw a piece of bobbin lace. And I remembered Margie Haire, the mom of my best friend in 6th grade. Sister Haire made beautiful lace. She is the one who got me into card making and rubber stamping, by the way. I never saw her make lace, but I did see her pillow and bolster, bobbins and lace. I think the bobbins she used are called spangles, the ones with the beads attached to the ends. I loved them... Big surprise.
I googled bobbin lace and there weren't many hits. So I got to thinking, maybe this is another "lost art." And you know how I love those lost arts. If it's obscure, then I think it would be fun to do. More than that, I think it is my responsibility to learn how to do it and teach others. I found a book at The Friends of SC Library about bobbin lace making and I bought it.
The problem is... I don't want to spend a lot of time and money on something that I can't do. And one of the patterns I saw was 10 pages long. Am I going to be able to keep things straight in my head to make anything? The patterns all look like Greek to me. And a package of bobbins (not the spangles, just boring plain ones) was like $20. Not too expensive, but I have a lot of hobbies to finance. And, like I said, I hate to waste money on something I won't take to. And I would have to make a pillow. Work and supplies.
But I hate to quit when there is a challenge placed before me. And Easter is coming up. And Mark is going to be gone the whole week before Easter, which means I am doing all the Easter basket shopping. By myself. So I did some more research and I found a beginner's kit. It has all I need to see if I like it. And it is costing me $33, including shipping. So in a few weeks, I will be able to make lace.
I found a website that called bobbin lace making pillow lace making, so I googled that. And I found a website that had tons of hints and instructions. It seems to me that there aren't a lot of patterns available, but a lot of talk about how to make your own patterns. So I guess that is what we do. We, like I am already a lace maker.
Hopefully I will take to it. I have all that tatting thread I bought that is more suitable for doilies than jewelry, but I don't want to tat doilies. Too much chance of messing up with that small thread. And it would take FOREVER! But it may be easier to do on a pillow. Then I could make doilies for my girls for their trousseau.
Anyway, this is my crazy craft life. I think I may have possibly bitten off more than I can chew. But I am pretty excited to try!
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