Threads Review. DMC and Cantu

I tested two different threads, and two different styles of bobbins on these free egg Idrija Lace patterns by Tina Koder Grajzar created for the Festival idrijske čipke - Idrija Lace Festival

The left side egg, the flowery one, is made with DMC Cordonnet Special no 70 which tested at the same wraps per centimeter as the Idrija 30 thread. Designed for crochet rather than bobbin lace, it is a firm thread, maybe too round to create the blending of the fibers in the trails, the individual threads were noticeable compared to the Idrija thread which snuggles up nicely and leaves few gaps.

The Cantu thread making the leaf design egg is one often used for tape laces. Made by Coats, it tested at the identical 30 wpc. The twist on this thread is the opposite way, which meant it should have been wound onto the bobbins anticlockwise and the cross twist cross would be worked as twist cross, twist. I wound clockwise and used ctc as I normally do, the threads wanted to either undo from the bobbin, or didn't release to let out more thread. Again, not as willing to sit without space, being a slightly rounder thread.

I also experimented with the bobbins on the left, about the same size, maybe a little heavier than the 13.5cm Idrija bobbins I like to use but, despite the decorative turning on the whole length of the handle, they worked well and reassured me that it is not vital to have the correct bobbin for each style of lace (just an excuse to get more bobbins!)

The pattern is available on the Idrija Lace Festival facebook page Festival idrijske čipke - Idrija Lace Festival

Wriggly Bauble

Inspired by the Idrija Lace School's first book, I used some of the techniques I learned in this Wriggly Bauble design.  The first technique was a curve, so I used that for nearly all of this design.  

The outline for this design is the same as previous baubles I have released as patterns, I just redesigned the centre area. 

Eight threads laid side by side should fit inside the lines.  If you choose a sparkle (thicker) pair, place them in the center, 3 passives, 2 sparkle, 3 passives.  The outer edge pairs all turn into workers at some point so keep these the same. 

The tail of this one is new, instead of sewing the ends to the start, I moved the join to the bottom point of the outer edge which is made last.  Pin the threads 3 inches away from the start pins and work around to the same point where you cut the bobbins off with 3 inches of thread left on the pillow.  Use whichever method you prefer to tie the two lots of thread together to make a tassell, add beads, ribbon, more threads, whatever you like. 

The little seed beads around the edges and the centre beads need to be smaller than the width of the bar they sit on.  I made a video on how to add them.  You do not need to add these beads, just make the bars in the usual way.   

To make the bar to fit a bead I altered the joining point.  Add twists to reach the other side of the bar, not just the centre. On reaching the opposite side of the bar, I placed a magic thread loop into the finished bar, added the bead onto the magic threads, pushed it onto the bar, fed a loop of the worker into the loop of the magic thread and drew it through the end of the bar, above the bead.  Feed the waiting worker bobbin through the other worker bobbin loop and tension as shown in the video.

The bars are usually made by putting enough twists on the worker to reach half way across the bar, place a pin, tension, add the same number of twists and return to the trail.  When reaching the other side of the trail,  add the same number of twists, remove the pin, sew into the previous bar, add same number of twists and continue the trail without replacing the pin.    

https://youtu.be/dDgbyA3Wllc?si=LDJrNN3AqAEsHLHO

The insides of the curves are not pinned, they use a simple turning stitch which swaps the worker with the last passive.  The working pair which is left behind is given a single twist.  Be careful not to pull the curve out of shape by tensioning too fiercely at the pin or bars at the outer edge.  I made a video on how to make these curves.

https://youtu.be/70PDKoBazF0?si=rfj1fcMMXMhcHV1p

 

Sequins Between Trails

Placing sequins between two narrow trails creates a much wider edge with a lot of sparkle.

Video here   Sequin Edge in Bobbin Lace
This is a slightly different way of adding the sequins between two paralell trails to make a sparkly edge. The vertical pair stay in the center, so a feature colour can be used to go down the middle of the sequins. The horizontal pair work across the sequins, being taking into the trails at each side in turn and worked along with the passives until the next horizontal pair is needed. The extra pair worked along with the passives does not make much difference visually but it is suggested that it is the same colour as the trails, unless you wish to make a feature of the crenellated effect that the journey of the horizontal pairs makes.

This is the alternative, and more common way of adding sequins in an edge, with the pairs working diagonally and just bouncing off the trail edges. Details and video in earlier posts.

Spring Leaves Bookmark

Spring Leaves is an older pattern I created back in 2022.  I recently came across it again as an unworked drawing and wondered why I hadn't already made it.   Bobbins were wound and pillow prepared, but as I was figuring out how to lay the threads in, I had a distinct feeling of déjà vu.  I searched through my lace folders and found I had already made the bookmark! 

I would like to make this one again someday, with different veining and maybe using a coloured worker to create green leaves and soft yellow buds. 

For the .pdf pattern, go to my facebook page 'Lesley's Lace' and look in the Files tab. 

Blossom the Whale

A new addition to the Adventurous Aquarium series of patterns, Blossom the Whale is named after the tiny flowers in the ground. 

Size 11.5cm    28 Pairs approx. + 2 pairs perle 8.  Thread DMC Broder Machine 30 (27-30wpc)  Techniques - Blossom ground,  Half stitch, cloth stitch trails, sewing bars. attach bead for eye.   Sew flipper on right side at end.  

The Blossom ground can be made using the Honiton, or Bedfordshire techniques with a 4 or 5 pin crossing. A simpler version is to make two picots on the plait before making a windmill crossing and make another two picots after the crossing on the same plait. 

Start working in both directions with the coloured Perle pairs used as extra passives.  These can be replaced with standard threads.  The crossings at the plaits could be used to add sequins if they have a decent center space for the extra thread.  The blossom ground is started first with some of the plaits being carried through the trail and used for the curves of the tummy. 

I also experimented with the same pattern by using half stitch instead of the blossom ground, and cloth stitch and twist for the tummy and tail.  Be adventurous, let me see what you make with my patterns by posting them on my Lesley's Lace Facebook page.  

Ripple Fish - Pointed Corner Technique

 Ripple Fish 

Another addition to the Adventurous Aquarium set of free patterns available on this blog, my Lesley's Lace facebook page and with a few technique videos on my YouTube channel.  The Ripple Fish uses an Idrija style corner which gives a nice strong point.  

This pattern uses one pointed corner technique on every turn.   The pointed, or acute angle corner uses two sewings and four fixing stitches (sometimes called turning stitches in some laces). A fixing stitch is shown on a pattern as a circle around a join.  A sewing is shown as a pointed thread linking to a previous thread.   The sewings use temporary pins which are not replaced after the sewing.  To make a sewing, draw the thread of one bobbin through the temporary hole using a crochet hook or similar. Pass the second bobbin through the loop of the first bobbin and draw through and snuggle up to the trail. This is shown in the YouTube video of making the Pointed Corner.   https://youtu.be/ZimQzkBlMLI

Many corners suffer with the passives pulling away from the top pin, this version uses fixing, sometimes called turning stitches at the point which fills the space and stops the threads pulling away from the pin.   If the passives feature specific colours along the trails, they will get mixed up in this technique, so, decide if you want that to be a design choice, or double up the twist in a fixing stitch to keep the passive colours in order as you work the corner.  

The open spaces in this fish can be filled with a ground of your own choice after the fish is completed.  I chose to leave them open to echo ripples of sunlight coming through the water on the fish scales. 

Download - .pdf of the pattern from the Files tab on my Lesley's Lace facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/groups/907516516997481/

EDIT I have now added my previously gifted Seaweed patterns following requests for the background green seaweed!

Wriggly Tree

This Wriggly Tree uses the simple curve technique used in Idrija Lace and other tape laces.  

The inside curves are not pinned but use a turning stitch which leaves the worker behind on the curve, with a twist on, and uses the last passive to act as a temporary worker.  Start at any point, I chose part way down the trunk for my start. 

If you choose a starting place in a busy spot, you find that the eye is drawn to the design, and the knotted ends are not as obvious as when you choose a simpler, and often easier, place where the eye is drawn to the knots. 

Originally this was designed as a Christmas tree, but lends itself to a fun way to practice making curves.  The edges can be made with a standard two twists around a pin, using 5 pairs, or using two workers which both go around the pin, changing places each time.  

The corners of the trunk, and the very tip of the tree I used a right angle corner, but these can be redrawn as curves and work the whole piece using just the one technique. 

Size 8cm.  Pairs x 5 or 6 pairs depending on edge stitch.  Thread : Idrija 30 which is a 30 wraps per centimeter  100% cotton thread. 

Techniques : Idrija Curve and a right angle corner at the top. See my Youtube channel for video on the Curve technique

More info on how to work my patterns -   https://www.youtube.com/@LesleysLace and join  ‘Lesley’s Lace’ Facebook page.

Kelpies - Mythological Shape Changing Horses.

I thought it appropriate to release my Kelpies design in the Chinese Year of the Horse.  

I am planning to make this one again, it has been some years since I made the original and I didn't make any notes!   If you are patient, there may be an updated pattern with pinholes and techniques described more fully but I wanted to get this out now, at the start of the Year of the Horse.

This Kelpie horse head trilogy pattern was inspired by the beautiful sculptures in Scotland.  Kelpies are shape changing aquatic creature who possessed the strength of ten horses.  They were chosen to honour the heavy horses which pulled canal boats, carts and even coalships. The mythology of these creatures is a little more naughty than nice but they are worth a look.  

 https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/The-Kelpie/

There are four fillings, and you can swap them around as you wish, or simply make one to stand alone.  Each of the heads take different numbers of bobbins, and use different techniques.  Some can be made by  sewing in the fillings after the outline edges are made.  I always prefer to make a piece all at once.  

There are few pinholes marked, I have left it up to the lace maker to choose how close you wish your threads to be.  The number of passives for each trail is found simply by laying your chosen thread in pairs between the two lines.  To line up the sewings of the heads to the center, I would suggest drawing a zigzag around the edge of the center and the base of the heads to fit your choice of spacing. 

The suggested thread is approx 28 to 30 wraps per centimeter, DMC Broder Machine for example. 

The size, taken from the widest measurement which is an eartip to a mane tip is 19cm.

The center motif can be made alone, and the heads sewn in, or sewn on afterwards.  I made all 4 pieces first, finishing with the center motif still pinned to the pillow, then repinned the edge trail of the horses so I could make the sewings.  

There will be a .pdf on my Lesley's Lace facebook page under the 'Files' tab.  Do let me see your Kelpies by posting on my facebook page, I do love to see how lacemakers adapt and often improve a pattern. 

Lace Bobbin 'Old Dears' have a Spa Day!

These bobbins were destined for the bin.  Rescued despite being seen as past their best and of no further use.  Their only crime was that they carried the marks and dust of abandonment and old age.  Worn smooth by decades of making bobbin lace, their loveliness was hidden by the dust and grime of many years of neglect. Such is the nature of abandoned things, to be lost in a forgotten box, thrown in an attic, shoved to the back of a cupboard.

Before

Today, some of them enjoyed a treatment at the 'bobbin spa', and now look willing to jump back into action.

 

All of these hold threads and work well. Would you throw any away?

I used what I had to hand.  These are not prized possessions, rare collectables or prime examples of a famous wood turner's art, they are tools so I only intended to make them useable again, despite their damage and neglect. 

All of them were dull and dusty, looking shabby and dry, well past their best.  I can understand why someone would see them as having no further use, but, if new lacemakers are prepared to learn bobbin lace using clothes pegs, pens, and even barbeque skewers in place of bobbins, why not let these 'old dears' have a new life?

The main issue is the heads.  Many of the heads are chipped, leaving an incomplete top head (on a double headed bobbin).  This is not necessarily a problem, I tested many of these by winding thread on and seeing if the hitch would hold as it was unwound during work.  Maybe there is a teeny bit of an uneveness in the unwinding, but the top head is worn so smooth it doesn't catch or rub the thread so, unless it wouldn't hold a hitch, I left the tops on.  If the top wouldn't hold a hitch, I removed the top and sanded and buffed smooth the bulb of the head so that the hitch would simply move down and be made at the top of the thread like most single headed bobbins (Honiton or bolster bobbins only have one head). 

If the top was only chipped a bit, but rough, I sanded then buffed the area using 400 grit sandpaper followed by 3,000 grit sandpaper, you can use a fine nail file followed by a nail buffer which is incredibly fine and gives a good result.

To clean the body, I made use of my husband's fretboard cleaner which is a special lemon oil designed to clean the fancy wood on a guitar neck.  There will be specialist cleaners and resoratives for this sort of job, but I used what was to hand.   I poured a little of the cleaner onto a tissue and used a stencil brush to work into the grooves to flick away the accumulated dust and grime.  I quickly wiped the bobbin to remove dirt or excess oil and left on tissue to air off for a few hours.  This commercial preparation of lemon oil does evaporate in time, but it can be drying so I didn't want to leave the bobbins coated with it for longer than necessary.  Worth reading the instructions!

One before a Spa treatment on left, one after a Spa day on right

Sometimes older bobbins have bands of pewter, sometimes with extra bits of design along the length of the body.  The quality of the pewter makes a big difference to it's longevity and many pewter decorations are long gone, leaving the deep grooves empty. Many different combinations of metals are used, and the combination can dictate which decorations will last, and which will crumble away.  Lead is also used in pewter, so sand and buff with care  A rather good article on pewter decoration on lace bobbins is available here

https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/webdocs/lb_plbbn.pdf

Lightly cleaned pewter band bobbins

The bobbins look lovely with their sheen and colour restored but I wanted to take them a step further.  I used a specialist antique and craft wax made by Liberon to give them a quick wipe over, rested for 20 minutes, then buffed to a sheen.  This helps to seal the wood and give it a little nourishment.  The wax is said to be fingerprint resistant!  The neutral option does not add colour, and only a satin sheen.  The clear option does intensify the colour and gives a glossier finish.  I didn't want to use any of the coloured options, not going to risk any getting on the thread.  Always check the safety information when using the oil or the wax.

To remove heads or tails which have been damaged beyond saving, I use a small, fine tooth, hacksaw.  I rest my bobbin on a piece of ethafoam which the bobbin can snuggle into as it is sawed.  Maybe there are special clamps but I wasn't prepared to squeeze a bobbin into a bench vice!  Some will just snap off, showing that they wouldn't have lasted long anyway. 

I made some little videos on some of the bobbins here 

https://www.youtube.com/@LesleysLace

Heart Wing Butterfly.

Keeping in with the recent heart theme, here's a little butterfly to play with. 

 

I used this pattern to experiment with making a tape lace, but not by using the traditional bolster pillow.  I used my favourite block pillow, which I work at an angle, and a circular block so I can turn the work easily.  I used my spangled Midlands bobbins instead of the continentals I have been using on the bolster pillow while learning Idrija lace.  A 15 x 8cm hemmed cloth is used to cover the pins as the thread moves over them.  I wanted to see if the tape laces could be made and sewn as easily with equipment which is more familiar to me.    

The butterfly measures 8 cm and used 7 pairs.

I started with the antennae, two twists around the first pin to fit a magic thread to help join the antennae to the edge of the wing later on. Single thread picots helped hold the plait in place around the curve. 

The body was worked next, with magic threads on the left, and hanging pairs on the right. Place pins close together for a denser filling.  Start with five pairs, making the center passive in half stitch.  Add a sixth passive and use half stitch on the two center passives.  You can alter the passives to cloth or half stitch in the narrow sections, leave any colour or glitter threads in cloth stitch. 

The corners were worked by leaving behind two pairs at the inside.  Work to the edge and back, leaving the worker and using the last passive worked out to the edge and back. Pick up the waiting worker and work to the pin and back, taking in the final two waiting pairs.  Because I used a glitter thread on the very outside, I used a temporary pin inside it on the point, the glitter thread has a slight stretch to it and can try and pull away from a pin used on the outside curve or point. 

The second side was worked the same way, with the pairs added by using the magic threads already in place.

Play about with different stitches and methods, throw in a few sequins, have fun!  Do let me see what you make by posting on the Lesley's Lace facebook page or group. 

A .pdf is available in the Files section of the Lesley's Lace facebook page. 

Swirly Turtle

 Swirly Turtle

I designed this little turtle to practice the Idrija corners and bar techniques.   I cannot call it 'Idrija' because the lace is a protected name, so I can only say I used those techniques as best I can. 

Five to six pairs.  Idrija 30 thread, or any good cotton at 30 wraps per centimeter.  The gold thread is about 16 wraps per centimeter, a crochet thread about number 20 perhaps.    Lay the threads inside the trail, if they fit nicely, then they are the right size.  If they go outside the lines, either reduce the size of the thread. You need a minimum of 4 passive pairs so lay 8 threads inside the lines.  

Start at the arrow shown near the tail.  This leads you to work the inside swirl before making the outer edges and avoids working over too many pins. 

I wanted to create a piece using lots of bars.  The tensioning issues created left me with asymetrical sewings, despite using the same number of twists, obviously I haven't quite got the hang of them yet!

The outside edge was made using two worker pairs, I had hoped that this would give a smooth, more turtle like appearance but it does tend to push the passives towards the inside of the trail.  I would prefer to use a thick passive thread and place the pin inside the worker and the thick thread.   There are lots of different edges, just use which one you like.   

The whole turtle is just one trail.  The center passive pair, the thick gold glitter, has two passives one side, and one passive the other, this meant I had to move a passive across to make the corners to avoid using the thick gold in the fixing stitches.

There are two sizes, the larger one allows for using a thicker thread, or you can just use more passives to fit the trail.  

There are no pinholes marked in this pattern, you can choose if you want the outer trail to be worked with pinholes closely worked, or spread out.  With the thick thread, the wider pinholes do work quyite nicely.