Making a Bolster Pillow

I wanted to learn more about making Idrija lace and I needed bolster pillows to make the practice strips and little motifs from the book.  My 'emergency' kitchen roll bolster pillow would not have stood up to much repeated use but had served it's purpose in giving me the idea of what the new pillow shape would be like to use.

Beating the traditional fillings of sawdust or cut up straw tightly into a bolster pillow did not appeal to me, so, I improvised using modern materials. 

I cut a solid foam physiotherapy roller (60cm x 16 cm) in half.  The one I used is solid ethafoam, some are hollow down the center.  A little bag of sand, or stones could be rolled in cloth and placed inside the hollow, making it heavier and less likely to move when tensioning the bobbins.   

 

Video on YouTube here - https://youtu.be/RkanwYrIQAM

A piece of boiled wool blanket, my favourite covering for ethafoam/polystyrene pillows, was cut into a strip a little bit wider than the bolster, enough to go around twice.

The boiled wood blanket is similar to wool felt, but thicker and more robust.  You can boil wash an old wool blanket, but it needs to be thick to start with, not one where you can see the weave easily.  

Pin one edge along the roller, stroke around the roll so it sits tightly, pin on top of the first edge. Repeat and secure with pins.  Cut so the first edge and the last edge lay are on the same line.  Sew along this edge, making sure you catch both the first and last edge in the stitch to keep the tension on the wool.  Remove pins. Trim any excess from the edges.

Measure for Fabric

A.Measure from the centers of both ends.  

B.Circumference of the bolster and add 2-3 cm extra.

Making -

A.Fold along the edges to make a 1cm tube to feed a ribbon through to tension and tie at both ends. 

Wrap the cloth around the bolster with the ribbon tube at each end. Fold one edge over along the length of the bolster and fold the top edge under to make a clean join.  Sew along the join.  

Tension the ribbons, tie a knot or bow, tucking the ends out of the way. 

The basket is a simple household basket which holds two partly emptied microbead 60cm cushions to cuddle the bolster in different positions.  

The Idrija Lace School  

www.cipkarskasola.si

https://www.facebook.com/idrijalaceschool/

Turning a Square Corner and Working Bars - Idrija techniques - Video

Turning a Square Corner and Working Bars

Pattern worked from the book - Idrija Lace - Narrow Cloth Stitch

Using 5 pairs of bobbins, this practice strip was used to experiment with the amount of twists I needed for the interlocking bars between the trails. This is dictated by the thread used and the size of the pattern (not a pricking because Idrija patterns are never pre-pricked). To practice with the thread/pattern size can save a lot of frustration later.

Video here https://youtu.be/t4G3q9GQ26o?si=N079-KPpphMtJnUo

The position of the pin on the bar line is just a teeny bit to the first side worked because, when the other side of the bar is sewed in, the temporary pin is left out and the tension of the joining side pair slightly moves the center of the join. This is why both sides need to have the same number of twists, an unequal number of twists will result in one side being shorter and uneven.

The corner uses fixing stitches ( ctctc ) with the last passive and the worker before the pin. The pillow is turned and a second fixing stitch with the same passive and worker pair is made. Watch your tensions here, it is easy to leave a long loop at the corner if you don't tension all 4 bobbins. The next two passives are worked through (ctc) before the temporary pin is taken out, a sewing made with the worker pair into the hole. The worker is now laid with the passives, and the old worker which has been waiting aside on it's own, becomes the new worker and continues to work the 4 passives, and is used to make more bars further along the band.

I will have to make quite a few more to get comfortable with them, this video shows the experiments to get the right amount of twists and see what tensioning works best for me. It is easy to leave a section of lace, feeling that is is made correctly, according to the book, and not see that it has settled into a different shape due to tensioning further down the lace.

Pattern worked is from the book - Idrija Lace - Narrow Cloth Stitch  

Idrija Lace School website https://www.cipkarskasola.si/?lang=en

Sharp Point in Bobbin Lace + Video

Working through the books by the Idrija Lace School, I made little videos for our group to explain the different techniques.  Many look like they will provide valuable techniques for Muaiga lace making once the practices make them become second nature. 

Sharp points appear in many laces, not always with the neatest ways of making them.  I particularly liked this way of making them because the point, a weak area, became quite solid without being lumpy.  This technique can be adapted to work with more pairs and at different angles (with variations for asymmetrical angles).  Patterns with colour trails may need a bit more experience and some adaptations. 

Video here:-

Sharp points in Bobbin Lace

Pattern worked is from the book - Idrija Lace - Narrow Cloth Stitch

https://www.facebook.com/idrijalaceschool/ Idrija Lace School, 5280 Idrija, Slovenia