Forgotten Needlework
Russell Miller
pushing 80, and has just accepted a job teaching needlework! I saw a
row of circles attached to a plastic (guitar pick?) that turned out to
be a tatting shuttle. She told me that tatting was just one more lost
art in the world of needlework. By the time we left this lady's house, I
was tatting! But this lead me to wonder, what are the other lost arts in
needle work? Does anybody here know of a type of needlework that is no
longer practiced or taught? I'd love to see a revival of these! BTW, I
had to go to 4 stores before finally finding my own tatting shuttle at
Michael's. Surprising enough, neither two local fabric stores, my LNS
nor Wal-Mart carried them!
Maureen In Vancouver, B.C.
--
Maureen Miller
Mauree...@shaw.ca
F.James Cripwell
Within our Guild, I am sure I could find someone, or a lead to someone,
who knows how to do anything that has to do with a needle with an eye in
it. As to tatting being a lost art, your DM's friend is quite wrong;
there are lots of people who tat.
--
Jim Cripwell. And Oh! my darling, Oh! my pet,
Whatever else you may forget,
Gilbert & Sullivan In yonder isle, beyond the sea.
The Gondoliers Do not forget you married me.
Rosemary
walked through a class in order to get to a meeting(wasn't butting in, only
access to inner hall] and there was a row of ladies sitting at long tables
working away at lace. Looked really complicated with lots of shuttles?
bobbins? I don't know the correct name on each piece of work.
"Russell Miller" <russm...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:3D2DBBBB...@shaw.ca...
Sheena
"F.James Cripwell" wrote:
>
> I seriously doubt that there are *any* "lost arts" in needlework.
> Within our Guild, I am sure I could find someone, or a lead to someone,
> who knows how to do anything that has to do with a needle with an eye in
> it. As to tatting being a lost art, your DM's friend is quite wrong;
> there are lots of people who tat.
>
> Russell Miller (russm...@shaw.ca) writes:
> > I drove my DM to her friend's house the other day. Her friend is
> > pushing 80, and has just accepted a job teaching needlework! I saw a
> > row of circles attached to a plastic (guitar pick?) that turned out to
> > be a tatting shuttle. She told me that tatting was just one more lost
> > art in the world of needlework. By the time we left this lady's house, I
> > was tatting! But this lead me to wonder, what are the other lost arts in
> > needle work? Does anybody here know of a type of needlework that is no
> > longer practiced or taught? I'd love to see a revival of these! BTW, I
> > had to go to 4 stores before finally finding my own tatting shuttle at
> > Michael's. Surprising enough, neither two local fabric stores, my LNS
> > nor Wal-Mart carried them!
> >
I can tat and I know several people who do, including one elderly man.
Sheena
Jacqui
> \how about lace-making. Any enthusiasts out there. Have never
> tried it but walked through a class in order to get to a
> meeting(wasn't butting in, only access to inner hall] and there
> was a row of ladies sitting at long tables working away at lace.
> Looked really complicated with lots of shuttles? bobbins? I don't
> know the correct name on each piece of work.
My very-nearly (16 days and counting!) mother-in-law makes lace. The
first time we met she made and gave me a beautiful bookmark in an
evening. The bobbins look fiendish to me but she assures me it's quite
easy to get the hang of. Perhaps one of these days I'll learn from her
- I grew up in a village where lace was traditionally made and always
regretted not learning it then. There are a few places she can get
supplies but on the whole it's harder to source materials than most
crafts, apparently.
Jac
Seanette Blaylock
things to say about Re: Forgotten Needlework:
>My very-nearly (16 days and counting!) mother-in-law makes lace. The
>first time we met she made and gave me a beautiful bookmark in an
>evening. The bobbins look fiendish to me but she assures me it's quite
>easy to get the hang of. Perhaps one of these days I'll learn from her
>- I grew up in a village where lace was traditionally made and always
>regretted not learning it then. There are a few places she can get
>supplies but on the whole it's harder to source materials than most
>crafts, apparently.
I know of a shop in Solvang that carries bobbin lace supplies [among
other goodies], and I'm pretty sure they can be reached online. Next
time I'm there, I'll try to remember to grab the info for you, if you
like.
--
Seanette Blaylock
WIPs: knitted hat/scarf set
knitted sampler afghan
crocheted sampler afghan
"Pure Elegance" needlepoint stocking [Dimensions Gold]
"Shimmer Snowflakes" felt applique stocking [Bucilla]
"Magic in Motion" cross-stitch [aka Merlin, Laine Gordon/Dimensions]
Sonya Cirillo
they tend to go in circles. . . First cross-stitch will be popular,
and there will be a ton of magazines, books, patterns, supplies. . .
then gradually it will 'die' back and something else comes forward,
for a time, right now it's knitting. Who can say which is next??
Each time one of the needle arts comes forward into the 'public eye' -
it seems to benefit immensely. . . like macramé - it had a small
popularity explosion a year or so ago and what resulted was exquisite
jewelry done up with light weight thread and seed beads - lovely stuff!!!
Another thing that's different now is with the internet - the world
is available. Before, once a craft faded from the public eye it
could be almost impossible to find the supplies - now with a search
you can almost always find the one or two folks still carrying the
supplies!!!!!
Sonya Cirillo
Russell Miller
items by searching here than I ever knew existed! Well, almost :) VBG
Maureen In Vancouver, B.C.
Sonya Cirillo wrote:
> ...........
> Another thing that's different now is with the internet - the world
> is available. Before, once a craft faded from the public eye it
> could be almost impossible to find the supplies - now with a search
> you can almost always find the one or two folks still carrying the
> supplies!!!!!
>
> Sonya Cirillo
>
> Russell Miller wrote:
>
> > I drove my DM to her friend's house the other day. Her friend is
> > pushing 80, and has just accepted a job teaching needlework! I saw a
> > row of circles attached to a plastic (guitar pick?) that turned out to
> > be a tatting shuttle. She told me that tatting was just one more lost
> > art in the world of needlework. By the time we left this lady's house, I
> > was tatting! But this lead me to wonder, what are the other lost arts in
> > needle work? Does anybody here know of a type of needlework that is no
> > longer practiced or taught? I'd love to see a revival of these! BTW, I
> > had to go to 4 stores before finally finding my own tatting shuttle at
> > Michael's. Surprising enough, neither two local fabric stores, my LNS
> > nor Wal-Mart carried them!
> >
> > Maureen In Vancouver, B.C.
> >
> >
--
Maureen Miller
Mauree...@shaw.ca
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen
Passementrie . I myself saw it in an old book and taught myself to do
it and years later met one woman who did it as well,,
I also know that several years ago one could get a grant in Paris , if
one was willing to learn how to make all kinds of cords and tassells
mirjam
PaulaB
Cord- and tassel-making are all the rage here now, if classes offered
at shows and magazine ads are any indication. I have heard of the
other technique but can't remember what it is - please refresh my
memory! (p.s. check your email.) Paula B.
Dianne Lewandowski
"lost" needlework arts. But many are struggling to survive. Tatting
had really gone out of favor but is enjoying a little resurgence at
the moment. I'm truly surprised more people don't do it.
I see so much simply awful polyester junk lace on clothing and
household goods, and cheaply made "craft" crocheted thingies that I am
truly surprised, considering how quick it is to do a piece, that more
women don't learn how. None of this is "hard". Much of this is
simple to take with you: 1 ball of thread, a hook or shuttle or
knitting needles. All of this great to do when the light is not
bright enough.
There are some "esoteric" embroideries. Piecework had an article
about a Swedish openwork embroidery, simply beautiful, that is rare to
see.
sometimes a "peculiar" artform isn't truly "lost" but has ventured
forth in another genre. By this I mean: Many of you do band samplers
with fancy drawn thread work. Much of this drawn thread work was and
is practiced on other "types" of embroidery, such as Schwalm or old
Hedebo.
The reason so many of you here think that a number of these "arts" are
lost is that you lack a good reference book, and haven't been around
anything other than what you currently practice. Lots of us here at
RCTN do many other types of embroidery . . . some of it quite
stunning. You won't find these "arts" at the local crafts store. :-)
These stores cater to the mundane, common "stuff".
Dianne
Karen C - California
(Dianne Lewandowski) writes:
> Tatting
>had really gone out of favor but is enjoying a little resurgence at
>the moment. I'm truly surprised more people don't do it.
Weeeeellllll, we *are* an "instant gratification" society, and their only
contact with tatting may have been GGM's ultra-fine threadwork (which takes
forever) around the edge of a Sunday hankie (99% of us use Kleenex, these
days). It *is* possible to tat with any fiber, even inch-thick rope, but if
you've never seen that done, you may not think it's possible. (Like anything
else, the fatter the fiber, the faster it works up -- you can make a tablecloth
with Speed-Cro-Sheen in a fraction of the time it would take with thread.) The
ever-present lace collar-and-cuffs sets of the 1880s are simply unnecessary in
our PermaPress lives, and people just don't see the point in learning to make
something they're not going to use.
I like tatting. I did a lot of it when I was stitching pillow cases. Great
portable project -- slip the shuttle in your hip pocket and whip it out when
you get stuck in line. (There are basic laces that can be made with only the
shuttle thread; more complex ones will require you carry a ball as well.
They're smaller than a golf ball, with a hollow center so quite easy to smash
flat and put that in your jeans next to the shuttle.) Once you get into a
pattern, absolutely mindless, too, just like a repetitive border.
I haven't done pillowcases in years. I don't wear lace. Lace doilies and cats
don't mix. I stopped tatting not because I didn't enjoy it but because I had
no use for the end result. I found another "hip pocket project".
> I am
>truly surprised, considering how quick it is to do a piece, that more
>women don't learn how. None of this is "hard".
Of course it's not HARD. Our illiterate foremothers did it. They designed
their own patterns, too, because there were no printed chart books back then.
Part of the problem, I think, is that the XS pieces everyone compliments me on
are the 200-hour pieces. The average SoccerMom/CareerGal/SuperWoman these days
doesn't envision that she's got a spare 200 hours in her life (yeah, we here at
RCTN have figured out that 10 minutes waiting for carpool and an hour sitting
at DD's ballet class every Tuesday adds up real fast, but most women haven't).
Because the one I worked on at the office was a 100-hour piece, maybe my
co-workers didn't realize there is such a thing as a 3-hour quickie; they
didn't see me working on that stuff. Just the sheer investment of time sounds
frightening (even to me!)
As a nation (and I'll let those of you outside the US comment on your own
cultures), we've convinced ourselves that busybusybusy is the ultimate
lifestyle. If you're not rushing everywhere and doing 27 loads of laundry a
day in your spare time, there's something wrong with you. A real woman does
not have time to sit down; she's on the go 24/7.
My co-president of a volunteer group had a full-time day job, evening speaking
engagements, three kids, one husband, no maid, and still heard a lot of
arguments from women with fewer commitments who simply could not envision
shoehorning an hour of volunteer work into their schedule. Migawd, they might
have to publicly admit the shame that there was an hour of flextime in their
schedule that wasn't already over-committed!!! "Yes, but" her kids must be
older and more self-sufficient than theirs (3 boys under 8 ... I don't think
so), "yes, but" she must get a lot more help at home than they did (DH worked
more ridiculous hours than she did), "yes, but" there must be some reason why
she has ever-so-much-more free time in her hectic life than they do.
The only thing she had was more of a desire to schedule it in; there were
plenty of times she and I were talking strategy via cordless phone at 11 PM
with one of us baking brownies and the other mopping the floor while the
laundry was running, or she'd pick me up at my office on her way to a lecture
and we'd hold our meeting in her car in the only "spare" 20 minutes she had
that day, and then I'd get my daily exercise by walking home from wherever she
dropped me off (less expensive than joining a gym and walking that same
half-hour on a treadmill).
It's not just those of us who sacrifice 40 hours a week to career -- I've seen
SAHMs who swear they don't have a spare minute to sit and stitch. Amazingly,
when her mother's life depended on it, she suddenly found plenty of time to
sit, despite *even more* things to do. Her parents' home was larger than her
apartment, so after her family moved in with her parents, she added more
cleaning plus yardwork to her chores, plus nursing both her elderly parents,
plus driving her kids to visit friends they used to walk to, but DM absolutely
wouldn't do her exercises unless someone sat with her for the 30 minutes, 3
times a day. Magically, 90 minutes a day appeared for that purpose, and once
she realized she was just sitting doing nothing, she did retrieve the birth
sampler she'd started 14 years earlier "before she got too busy".
She finally understood what I meant when I told her "work expands to fill the
available time" -- I could adequately clean a 1 BR apartment in 45 minutes on a
Saturday morning, because I had better things to do; extrapolating, she
should've been able to do a 3 BR apartment in 3x45 (a little over 2 hours), but
managed to make it occupy all her waking hours. (Sure, my table was just wiped
down, while hers was sanitary-sterile, but realistically, when is the last time
you needed to perform surgery in your kitchen?!)
--
Finished 7/5/02 - "Footprints"
WIP: Angel of Autumn, Calif Sampler, Holiday Snowglobe, Guide the Hands (2d
one)
Paralegal - Writer - Editor - Researcher
http://hometown.aol.com/kmc528/KMC.html
Merry Widow
I make tassels using a variety of materials and create trims by crocheting,
tatting and bobbin lace. Does this qualify as passementerie? Please tell
us more about the technique.
MW
"Mirjam Bruck-Cohen" <mir...@actcom.co.il> wrote in message
news:3d2fa7eb...@news.actcom.net.il...
Merry Widow
I tried several times to teach myself how to tat and had no success,
just a lot of frustration. Then someone showed me how to needle tat and I
took to that like a duck to water. I think part of the reason some of the
needlearts are not done on a large scale is that it is difficult if not
impossible to find classes in any but the 'popular'. Another reason is
some people just don't want to take the time to make something themselves,
I've shown some friends how easy it is but they lament that they "just don't
have the time". I think it is not that they don't *have* the time but that
they don't want to *take* the time. They'd rather buy readymade and have
the use of the item right away. . I've pointed out to friends that doing
it yourself can also save you money. I saw some Christmas stockings at
Neiman Marcus last year selling for $168 that I was able to duplicate for
under $10.
MW
"Dianne Lewandowski" <dia...@heritageshoppe.com> wrote in message
news:3d3065ab...@news.netnet.net...
KDLark
>plenty of times she and I were talking strategy via cordless phone at 11 PM
>with one of us baking brownies and the other mopping the floor while the
>laundry was running,
I know what you're saying, Karen, but I definitely don't intend to end up on
the phone at 11 PM while I'm baking brownies. You say earlier on that people
who have
>convinced ourselves that busybusybusy is the ultimate
>lifestyle. If you're not rushing everywhere and doing 27 loads of laundry a
>day in your spare time, there's something wrong with you. A real woman does
>not have time to sit down; she's on the go 24/
...are wrong, but if you're mopping at 11:30, well, you ARE busybusybusy, even
if you're doing it in order to volunteer time to a worthy cause.
There truly is only so much time to a day! When you add something, something
else gets laid aside. Deciding which things to keep and which to chuck --
that's something everyone makes their own decision on. Just my opinion, of
course.
Katrina L.
Sonya Cirillo
partially so that I'm busy all the time :) While waiting for the
washing machine to get done is a good time to cross stitch. . .
while waiting for the rice to come to a boil, is a good time to
get several rows done on a sock. . . while waiting for DD to come
out from track practice that was suppose to be out at 4:30 and a
half hour latter - still no sign is good for . . . . :) see needlework
was invented to keep us all busy 24/7
When I first became a SAHM - my mom predicted I would be bored in
a month - after 6 years, I have *more* to get done than ever before!!!
Partially because I keep adding new crafts/needlearts - and they *all*
demand their fair share of time :) (plus DH is growing - or should
I say spreading - so his sweaters are all getting too short. . . must
squeeze time in for a couple new sweaters, before it gets 'cold'. Of
course, a Texans idea of cold is much different than a Hoosiers!)
Sonya
Karen C - California wrote:
<snipped many interesting thoughts>
Tia Mary-remove nekoluvr to reply
>....I make tassels using a variety of materials and create trims by
crocheting,
>tatting and bobbin lace. Does this qualify as passementerie? .......
I had learned that passementerie was trim made with cording or other heavy
type material. The cording is laid onto fabric and twisted, looped, knotted,
etc. and sewn down in the formed design to fabric. What comes to mind is the
cording trim -- usually black -- on the front of a woman's suit jacket that
looks like celtic knotwork or maybe the loops and stuff like in Oriental frog
closures. Does that make sense?
Been a looooong time since I had my fabric classes. Just looked the term up
in the dictionary and all it says is trim made with gimp, cording, etc. Wonder
if there is anything about it at Google?? CiaoMeow >^;;^<
.
PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^<
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their
WHISKERS!!
Nothing is complete without a few cat hairs!
Visit my albums @ http://www.picturetrail.com Username is tiamary (no caps,
no spaces)
Mirjam Bruck-Cohen
I think making tassell has a speciall name , I remember reading about
it ,will have to check if can find my source.
Passementrie is a method of adding a decorative `touch`
trim that has `loops ` and other `sculptered` mainly round forms
attached in a decorative way to a garment or another cloth .
It works best with a flexible braid [ In older times they used a
tubular cotton or silk braid , now you can get ready made braids in
other man made mterials , each with it`s own colors and other
characteristics [boobles loops eyelashes etc,,, ]
Decide where you want this decoration , and make a `pattern` of this ,
from brown paper , Draw yoor pattern , since you are using a flexible
braid , you migh want to draw a series of interlocking loops [ a bit
like a row of Needle pine trees row .
just imagine this are loops
-$---$---@---$---$---@---8----8----8.
line must be CONTINOUS .
When you are happy with your design , make a second line that will be
at the same distance all along , so that you know how wide you want
your braid to be . , trim excess paper , leave about 2-3 cm around
pattern ,
prepare a threaded needle with sewing thread in same color as braid,
knot it to the the braid about a 1 cm from the end , now sewthrough
this place and Wrap the thread tightly around the braid closing it`s
end , push needle through the wrapped part , and cut off the excess 1
cm of the Braid , DO NOT CUT sewing thread ,now put this wrapped end
on one place of your drawn loops , shape the braid with your fingers
so that it lays on the paper drawn line , when the 2 braid parts cross
, and using the same threaded needle , sew through both parts , = by
this anchoring the loop , strengthen with a knot but do not cut thread
now lay the loop on the pattern and push your needle through the braid
layers and through the brown paper, and bring your needle up a short
distance further through paper and the braid pull it out and and now
push it back into the braid and the down the paper, move over a part
and push it again into braid + paper , i found it was easier for me to
work those like a Big X over and under the loop , but the original
article where learned it from made straight paarrallel lines . secure
the loop unto your paper until you get with your needle to the next
crossing of loop lay your braid in the second loop, sew the crossing
finishing with a tight knot , secure loop to pattern , until next
braid crossing ,,,, and thus you may go on and on ,, You might choose
to combine 2 different braids each need separate sewing ...
now when you have your pattern finnished , start strengthening /
sewing around the meeting / crossing points . now if you give a little
tug and see that braid keeps it`s [ drawn form] turn over the paper
and cut away the threads under it , you now have a ready made braid
with a pattern , turn it over put sewn side on wanted cloth pin in
place !!!! and slip stich it on it`s place !!!
I am sorry i can`t give you pics .
I try to make a loop form here
XX
X X
X X
X X
X X
XX
X X
X X
X X
XX X X XX
X X X X
X X X X
X X X X
XXXXXXX XXXXXXXX
XX XXXXXXXXXXXXX
imagine that this is one continous braid
My first info came from
Decorative Techniques, The art of Sewing , By the editors of Time
-Life Books , 1976 .
mirjam
Merry Widow
I am certainly going to give this a try. After I take care of some of the
projects that are stacking up in my craft room. I should finish one project
before starting another, I know, but I get these ideas and....well, I'm sure
you know what I mean.
MW
"Mirjam Bruck-Cohen" <mir...@actcom.co.il> wrote in message
news:3d30eec7...@news.actcom.net.il...
Leticia Echavarria
idea ????? Part of the fun of stitching is having WIP's, I think it keeps
you on your toes - ha !!!
Dianne Lewandowski
<merry...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> I tried several times to teach myself how to tat and had no success,
>just a lot of frustration. Then someone showed me how to needle tat and I
>took to that like a duck to water. I think part of the reason some of the
>needlearts are not done on a large scale is that it is difficult if not
>impossible to find classes in any but the 'popular'. Another reason is
>some people just don't want to take the time to make something themselves,
>I've shown some friends how easy it is but they lament that they "just don't
>have the time". I think it is not that they don't *have* the time but that
>they don't want to *take* the time. They'd rather buy readymade and have
>the use of the item right away. . I've pointed out to friends that doing
>it yourself can also save you money. I saw some Christmas stockings at
>Neiman Marcus last year selling for $168 that I was able to duplicate for
>under $10.
>MW
>
There's nothing you can do with a shuttle that you can't do with a
needle, and the needle came first. The shuttle is just the "hoity
toity" aspect of it. :-) It took me 20 years to teach myself to
shuttle tat. Finally found some directions (took 3 books at one time)
that I could follow. But I needle tatted the first time. If you were
to ask me to tat something, I couldn't. Learned 2 or 3 years ago and
never did it again. But it IS a lovely artform.
Your comment: "some just don't want to take the time" is probably
correct. There's a lot of resistance in the general population to
needlework. And, we're living in a culture (at the moment) that is
busy (*very*) doing nothing. Running around with cell phones out of
their ears, racing here and there, and for a lot of it, accomplishing
absolutely nothing.
And you said it all: doing it yourself saves TONS of money.
Dianne
Dianne Lewandowski
{in general, Sonya excused} busy, busy, busy and accomplishing very
little. Our culture just thinks we need to "look" busy. I worked
long hours, had a relatively clean house and never mopped floors at
11:30 at night. True, we schedule in what we feel is right for
ourselves. But we're terribly overscheduled, I believe, because it's
become our "culture". Karen's right about that.
We need to put our phones away and smell the roses.
Dianne
Karen C - California
The really odd thing about this part of our culture is that our foremothers
aspired to be Ladies of Leisure, so they *would* have time to sit down! So,
we've taken what they considered to be a goal and turned it into a
short-coming!!!!!
Once upon a time, the only way to keep a family afloat was for everyone to work
full-tilt, all the time; a woman might sit while watching her stew pot or
tending the sheep, but she'd be frantically knitting socks, mittens, hats,
other necessities of life, trying to knit faster than the kids outgrew them.
Then came the Industrial Revolution. One of the reasons for all the frou-frou
in the Victorian Era was to demonstrate that your wife had the time to sit and
make all these frivolities. Clothing was store-bought, so the focus changed
from knitting essential like socks to non-essentials like doilies.
History runs in cycles. We're currently in the portion where "keeping up with
the Joneses" requires two salaries and busybusybusy is a virtue. However, with
post-9/11 trend toward "nesting", we may be moving back to the part of the
cycle where (like 100 years ago) the ultimate goal is to have the time to just
sit around the house enjoying each other's company, and the way to show off
one's wealth is not to buy the 5000-square foot house and the two Lexuses but
to show that your wife has nothing better to do with her time than to spend 100
hours beading a lamp shade.
Russell Miller
http://needlepoint.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.historicneedlework.com
through 'about.com' and it's for an historical needlework guild. I
thought it was a great page. It looks like maybe nothing will be lost
as long as these people have the willingness to continue as they are.
Maureen In Vancouver, B.C.
--
Maureen Miller
Mauree...@shaw.ca
Anna Begins
merry...@earthlink.net says...
> I've pointed out to friends that doing
> it yourself can also save you money. I saw some Christmas stockings at
> Neiman Marcus last year selling for $168 that I was able to duplicate for
> under $10.
>
>
Using things already in my stash, I've made a wedding present & card for
a work colleague, and a cushion cover & two coasters as a birthday gift
for my sister (along with a card)
Total outlay was less than £5 in total - £1 for a frame from a car boot
sale for the sampler, £1.25 for the cushion filler and £1.98 for two
boxes of herbal teas to complement the herbs stitched on the coasters!
Plus stitching is more fun than shopping!
--
Anna
We are all travellers in the wilderness of this world, and the best we
can find in our travels is an honest friend.
- Robert Louis Stevenson
Darla
<russm...@shaw.ca> wrote:
Maureen, Nordic Needle carries a small selection of some very nice
tatting shuttles, IIRC.
Darla
May the light always find you on a dreary day,
When you need to be home, may you find a way.
May you always have courage to take a chance,
And never find frogs in your underpants! -- Unknown
Anna Begins
<A4ECA1D7747C53A3.169893EC...@lp.airnews.net>,
cir...@localline.com says...
> One thing interesting about this - is I've added various needlearts -
> partially so that I'm busy all the time :)
It's one of the reasons I do it ... my commute is 40 minutes each way,
and if I didn't stitch, what would I have to show for my time? All I'd
otherwise be doing is reading some lightweight fiction or staring out of
the window...
Yes, I'm busy. I have a full time job. I run a home, I have pets :). I
have a heavy volunteering commitment that is emotionally demanding, as
well taking 25 hours a month plus...I have a SO in another continent ...
but I *have* to stitch. I usually do around 15 hours a week.
But ... I have priorities in my life. I'm not Superwoman. I don't want to
be, and I think the pressures put on women to be (especially mothers) are
insane.
So perhaps it's part of my personal rebellion against this tyranny of
expectation that I quite happily sit and stitch whilst I can see the dust
on my shelves and hear the sounds as new lifeforms generate in the
fridge. .... <g>
Dianne Lewandowski
I've investigated this group a year or so ago. Anyone else familiar?
Am I off base here? Memory sometimes doesn't work.
Also had a heck of a time loading their site. Pics are too big. :-)
Dianne
Dianne Lewandowski
shade!
I've been watching HGTV occasionally, lately, because we're doing
renovations and I peek in to get some color/design ideas. I've caught
some of their "fantasy" house tours. Baseball players with homes so
big they have basketball courts in them. Now, I wish I had their
money. :-) But really!
I'm happy with my slightly less than 2000 square feet. It's all I can
manage! Can barely furnish that with nice stuff. But I am seeing the
finish line of the crocheted square tablecloth for the round Duncan
Fife table in the living room. Gee. That table used to be early
relative. Now, it's an antique. :-)
Dianne
On 14 Jul 2002 16:38:08 GMT, kmc...@aol.com.LuvXS (Karen C -
Sewuni
>expectation that I quite happily sit and stitch whilst I can see the dust
>on my shelves and hear the sounds as new lifeforms generate in the
>fridge. .... <g>
Boy am I glad to see that I'm not the only one!!!! =)
I too stitch on the train, and at the moment my inbound commute is about 1.5
hours because I take my daughter to summer camp on my way to the office. I've
gotten quite a few comments on my work. =)
And I would MUCH rather stitch at home than deal with laundry or dishes or
cooking or kids or ..... =)
Jennifer
s ew un i a t a o l d o t c o m
WIPs: Precious Moments "Because You Count"; two Memorial Flag squares;
Stephen King "Misery" converted from book art; Mirabilia "Lady of the Flag"
Aloha Opal
<russm...@shaw.ca> wrote:
>art in the world of needlework. By the time we left this lady's house, I
>was tatting! But this lead me to wonder, what are the other lost arts in
>needle work? Does anybody here know of a type of needlework that is no
>longer practiced or taught? I'd love to see a revival of these! BTW, I
I believe Bobbin Lace is a fairly lost art. I'm not entirely sure. I
did try to learn Bobbin Lace but I was unsuccessful. I do know how to
tat. I had a wonderful teacher. Unfortunately I haven't had much time
to tat!
>had to go to 4 stores before finally finding my own tatting shuttle at
You can find some great tatting shuttle online.
http://www.lace-bobbins.co.uk/tatting.htm
http://www.davidreedsmith.com/ David's shuttles are by far my
favorite. Lovely to the touch and very lightweight as well as being
very durable. I also like clover tatting shuttles which can be found
at http://www.herschnerrs.com
http://www.georgiaseitz.com/ Georgia's shuttles are simply lovely to
look at but I have a hard time working with them. She also has a great
book out.
You might also want to check out the numerous Tatting Communities here
on the internet. It's not quite the lost art that you might think :-)
HTH,
Opal
Anna Begins
sew...@aol.competent says...
> >So perhaps it's part of my personal rebellion against this tyranny of
> >expectation that I quite happily sit and stitch whilst I can see the dust
> >on my shelves and hear the sounds as new lifeforms generate in the
> >fridge. .... <g>
>
> Boy am I glad to see that I'm not the only one!!!! =)
> I too stitch on the train, and at the moment my inbound commute is about 1.5
> hours because I take my daughter to summer camp on my way to the office. I've
> gotten quite a few comments on my work. =)
Must be the British reserve... not one even looks at me - not even when I
get my sit stand out!!
> And I would MUCH rather stitch at home than deal with laundry or dishes or
> cooking or kids or ..... =)
>
Me too. :)
Karen C - California
make the knot in the "difficult" thread.
Start with speed-cro-sheen or kitchen string or something thick enough that you
can actually see what you're doing, rather than with fine tatting thread. If
you can get some variegated crochet cotton, that's good, because you'll clearly
be able to see which thread is which. Then color in the pictures in the book
so you can trace the path of each thread.
Zip-zip, you make the knot with the shuttle on the thread that's looped around
your hand. That's the easy part. Now comes the hard part: you have to flex
your fingers to change the tension on the loop so that the knot reverses from
one thread to the other. The knot "looks right" either way, but when you go to
close the ring we'll hear some very unladylike language if you haven't popped
it from the wrong thread to the right one.
I actually prefer to teach with two colors of crochet cotton, one on the ball
and one on the shuttle, making a chain, with the mnemonics that "if you see red
when you finish the stitch, you're going to see red when you try to close the
ring". "If the chain is white, you're doing it right." Once the student hands
me several inches of pure white chain, we drop the shuttle thread and make a
ring. If she's using the same technique she's just mastered of popping the
stitches from the easy thread to the hard one, the first ring will close
perfectly.
If she's backsliding, she'll know as soon as she yanks. But, at that point,
she's already mastered the stitch, uniform tension, etc., and it's a
psychological boost knowing that she *can* tat, it's only the additional step
of making a ring that's confusing her, rather than starting with rings and then
thinking that you must be doing everything wrong if the ring won't close.
Yes, I know, every tatting book starts you with rings, on the theory that one
thread is easier to handle than two. That's probably how tatting developed the
reputation of being difficult.
Realistically, how hard can it be? -- there's only one stitch to learn! (Yes,
there is something called a Reverse Stitch, but it's simply reversing the order
of the basic stitch -- to put it in XS terms, you do / first and then \,
instead of \ first and then /.)
Seanette Blaylock
things to say about Re: Tatting Shuttles:
>Realistically, how hard can it be? -- there's only one stitch to learn! (Yes,
>there is something called a Reverse Stitch, but it's simply reversing the order
>of the basic stitch -- to put it in XS terms, you do / first and then \,
>instead of \ first and then /.)
Uh, your notion of a "reversed" XS is what I consider normal. :-)
--
Seanette Blaylock
WIPs: knitted hat/scarf set
knitted sampler afghan
crocheted sampler afghan
"Pure Elegance" needlepoint stocking [Dimensions Gold]
"Shimmer Snowflakes" felt applique stocking [Bucilla]
"Magic in Motion" cross-stitch [aka Merlin, Laine Gordon/Dimensions]
Russell Miller
much S.A.B.L.E. either in needlepoint or crochet patterns so I can
re-invent the interior of my house! :) LOL
Maureen In Vancouver, B.C.
--
Maureen Miller
Mauree...@shaw.ca
Karen C - California
<seanette.spam...@impulse.net> writes:
> / first and then \,
>>instead of \ first and then /.)
>
>Uh, your notion of a "reversed" XS is what I consider normal. :-)
>
Actually, kiddo, mine, too, but I'm told that you and I are ABnormal, which is
why I typed it the way I did, rather than the way that made sense to me. :)
Anna Begins
kmc...@aol.com.LuvXS says...
> In article <n8o6ju8k2fiogitdh...@4ax.com>, Seanette Blaylock
> <seanette.spam...@impulse.net> writes:
>
> > / first and then \,
> >>instead of \ first and then /.)
> >
> >Uh, your notion of a "reversed" XS is what I consider normal. :-)
> >
>
> Actually, kiddo, mine, too, but I'm told that you and I are ABnormal, which is
> why I typed it the way I did, rather than the way that made sense to me. :)
>
You're not left handed too by the way, are you?
Seanette Blaylock
things to say about Re: Tatting Shuttles:
><seanette.spam...@impulse.net> writes:
>> / first and then \,
>>>instead of \ first and then /.)
>>Uh, your notion of a "reversed" XS is what I consider normal. :-)
>Actually, kiddo, mine, too, but I'm told that you and I are ABnormal, which is
>why I typed it the way I did, rather than the way that made sense to me. :)
:-)
Seanette Blaylock
to say about Re: Tatting Shuttles:
>> >>instead of \ first and then /.)
>> >Uh, your notion of a "reversed" XS is what I consider normal. :-)
>> Actually, kiddo, mine, too, but I'm told that you and I are ABnormal, which is
>> why I typed it the way I did, rather than the way that made sense to me. :)
>If you too are abnormal, then so am I ...
>You're not left handed too by the way, are you?
I *think* Karen is right-handed. I know I am. :-)
Linda D.
You might be surprised at how many bobbin lacemakers there
are... Here on Vancouver Island there are three active groups of
bobbin lacemakers, and there were several groups on the Lower Mainland
of B.C. as well, I don't know how many are still active.
Here's the URL for a large group of Lacemakers:
http://www.internationaloldlacers.org
I know how to make bobbin lace, still have all my bobbins,
threads. and pillows, but haven't made lace for awhile...
take care, Linda :)
On Mon, 15 Jul 2002 18:41:14 GMT, Aloha Opal
<op...@NOSPAMopal-rainbows.net> wrote:
>I believe Bobbin Lace is a fairly lost art. I'm not entirely sure. I
>did try to learn Bobbin Lace but I was unsuccessful. I do know how to
>tat. I had a wonderful teacher. Unfortunately I haven't had much time
>to tat!
><snipped>
>HTH,
>
>Opal
Vancouver Island, bc.ca :) (remove 'nospam' to reply)
See samples of my work at www.picturetrail.com/Linda56
Karen C - California
<seanette.spam...@impulse.net> writes:
>I *think* Karen is right-handed. I know I am. :-)
>
Karen isn't sure what she is. I write with my right hand, but I'm left-eyed,
therefore any sport is done left-handed. However, I switch-hit and have been
known to switch-throw and switch-eat; when our badminton class had an odd
number of people, I played doubles with my roommates ... the two of them versus
me and two rackets (I've also pulled off that stunt in ping-pong; the newbies
only *thought* I was giving them a fair chance <g>). I knit Continental (i.e.,
left hand does the work). The guy who taught me to play guitar was
left-handed, therefore......
By medical-record standards, if you write with your right hand, you are
right-handed.
Russell Miller
site. Thanks a lot. I don't have anything for lace making yet. Can
you tell me one thing? Do the bobbins come in a set of _______? Like,
one crochet hook, two knitting needles, needlepoint needles come in a
pack of 4 or 5, so do bobbins for lace making come by the each, or in
sets? Say I wanted to make a lace tablecloth (dreamer) :) How many
bobbins would I need? Am I making sense?
Maureen In Vancouver, B.C.
--
Maureen Miller
Mauree...@shaw.ca
Linda D.
Whoa...you probably wouldn't want to make an entire tablecloth
of bobbin lace...it would take *forever*, but what you could do is
edge a tablecloth with bobbin lace. It would still take a gazillion
hours to make, but it would be manageable :)
Bobbins come individually or in sets of 12. If you take a
look at my web page www.members.shaw.ca/deugau and go to the Misc.
section you will see some photos of my bobbin lace, the Torchon lace
pictures used 11 dozen bobbins and the edging about 9 dozen or so.
take care, Linda :)
(Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada)
Dawn Draheim
"Russell Miller" <russm...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:3D3507C8...@shaw.ca...
> Wow! This is great! I'll be up all night now looking around this
> site. Thanks a lot. I don't have anything for lace making yet. Can
> you tell me one thing? Do the bobbins come in a set of _______? Like,
> one crochet hook, two knitting needles, needlepoint needles come in a
> pack of 4 or 5, so do bobbins for lace making come by the each, or in
> sets? Say I wanted to make a lace tablecloth (dreamer) :) How many
> bobbins would I need? Am I making sense?
There really isn't a set number of bobbins, though the more
complicated the pattern, the greater the number of bobbins
you'll use of course. You nearly always use them in pairs
(there's a type of bobbin lace that will sometimes use a much
thicker thread as a sort of an outline or for emphasis. I think
it's called a gimp thread IIRC) and many places that sell them
will give you a small price break for a dozen bobbins. Just for
a point of insanity, one of the books I read on bobbin lace
referred to a parasol cover that was made entirely of bobbin
lace using **9,000** bobbins. So um....if you really, really
want to do that tablecloth....*winks*
I have patterns for an easy flower (it was my second lesson)
and a butterfly (3rd lesson :) ) that I'd be happy to copy off
and send to you, if you like, Maureen. If you wait a bit, I
could scan them in and send them that way instead (have to
wait 'til my DH hooks the scanner back up...just moved into
the new house on Friday and just yesterday got my 'net
connection back). I could also scan in the actual pieces
of lace, which I always find helpful.
Dawn of the Dusk
Russell Miller
Dawn Draheim wrote:
>
............ I read on bobbin lace
> referred to a parasol cover that was made entirely of bobbin
> lace using **9,000** bobbins. So um....if you really, really
> want to do that tablecloth....*winks*
Well, um...........GADS! Maybe if I fall and break both my legs I'll
consider the tablecloth! I can't sit still that long!
>
> I have patterns for an easy flower (it was my second lesson)
> and a butterfly (3rd lesson :) ) that I'd be happy to copy off
> and send to you, if you like, Maureen. If you wait a bit, I
> could scan them in and send them that way instead (have to
> wait 'til my DH hooks the scanner back up...just moved into
> the new house on Friday and just yesterday got my 'net
> connection back). I could also scan in the actual pieces
> of lace, which I always find helpful.
I'd love to see anything you have along that line. Lace is just so
beautiful. Maybe I'll make scrunchie covers with the flower and
butterfly patterns for my kids hair. Yes, I definitely see the
possibilities! :)
Maureen In Vancouver, B.C.
>
> Dawn of the Dusk
--
Maureen Miller
Mauree...@shaw.ca
Anna Begins
kmc...@aol.com.LuvXS says...
> In article <q1r7ju8235tbajb6o...@4ax.com>, Seanette Blaylock
> <seanette.spam...@impulse.net> writes:
>
> >I *think* Karen is right-handed. I know I am. :-)
> >
>
> Karen isn't sure what she is. I write with my right hand, but I'm left-eyed,
> therefore any sport is done left-handed. However, I switch-hit and have been
> known to switch-throw and switch-eat; when our badminton class had an odd
> number of people, I played doubles with my roommates ... the two of them versus
> me and two rackets (I've also pulled off that stunt in ping-pong; the newbies
> only *thought* I was giving them a fair chance <g>). I knit Continental (i.e.,
> left hand does the work). The guy who taught me to play guitar was
> left-handed, therefore......
>
> By medical-record standards, if you write with your right hand, you are
> right-handed.
Well, I guess I'm left handed by that standard, although I *cannot* use
left handed scissors, and I use my mouse in my right hand. I use craft
knives (and kitchen knives) in my right hand too.
Sports (not that I've played much in years) I ted to swap hands. I can
shoot a rifle either way, too.
I stitch ambidextrously. I knit and crochet right handed - although my ma
says she can't bear to watch me do either, because she says I hold the
needles/hook so awkwardly. I simply cannot manage to co-ordinate working
the yarn with my fingers so (to get back to the topic!!!) I guess tatting
is out - I saw a woman once do it on the tram, and it looked *way* too
demanding in terms of co-ordination for me... (although she was doing it
in more than one colour, to produce a border that looked like cherries or
something...)
Trevor & Amber Ward
and locale. In "The Dictionary of Needlework," by Sophia Frances Anne
Caulfeild and Blanche C. Saward, London, 1882, Passementerie is defined as:
"The old name for lace workers, derived from Passement, the term used to
denote lace, whether made upon the Pillow or by the Needle. Also a French
term, employed in a collective manner to denote all kinds of lace and
ribbons, but especially to signify the lace or gimp trimmings of dresses."
Also,
"Passement. -- This term is one that lace was known by until the seventeenth
century in conjunction with Braids or Gimps. The common use of the word is
considered by some to have arisen from the fact that the first Pillow Laces
were little more than Open Braids, and by others that the lace trade was
much in the hands of the makers of Braids and Gimps, who were called
Passementiers. These men did not for many years distinguish the one work
from the other, and they then termed Needle Laces, Passement ą l'Aiguille
and Pillow Laces, Passements au Fuseaux, and laces with indented edges,
Passement ą Dentelle. The present use of the word Passement is to denote
the pricked pattern made either of Parchment or Toile Ciré, upon which both
descriptions of lace are worked."
I always thought of the cording trim you refer to as "soutache." The same
book contains:
"Soutache Braids. -- These are very narrow silk braids, varying a little in
their several widths, and having an openwork centre. They are produced in
many colours and employed for embroidery and the braiding of mantles,
dressses, &c., and are likewise known as Russian Braids."
Amber
"Tia Mary-remove nekoluvr to reply " <catwo...@aol.comnekoluvr> wrote in
message news:20020713233647...@mb-df.aol.com...
> >From: "Merry Widow" merry...@earthlink.net
>
> >....I make tassels using a variety of materials and create trims by
> crocheting,
> >tatting and bobbin lace. Does this qualify as passementerie? .......
>
> I had learned that passementerie was trim made with cording or other
heavy
> type material. The cording is laid onto fabric and twisted, looped,
knotted,
> etc. and sewn down in the formed design to fabric. What comes to mind is
the
> cording trim -- usually black -- on the front of a woman's suit jacket
that
> looks like celtic knotwork or maybe the loops and stuff like in Oriental
frog
> closures. Does that make sense?
> Been a looooong time since I had my fabric classes. Just looked the
term up
> in the dictionary and all it says is trim made with gimp, cording, etc.
Wonder
> if there is anything about it at Google?? CiaoMeow >^;;^<
> .
>
> PAX, Tia Mary >^;;^<
> Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their
> WHISKERS!!
> Nothing is complete without a few cat hairs!
> Visit my albums @ http://www.picturetrail.com Username is tiamary (no
caps,
> no spaces)