Lotus Flower

A fellow bobbin lace maker, Pam Crouch, was gifted some Lotus thread and she wanted to make a bobbin lace lotus flower with some of it as a thank you gift in return.    This thread is not an ideal material for bobbin lace, it is made of long, super fine, fluffy fibres, and mainly used to weave fabric, and proved to be problematic to wind onto a bobbin.  The original idea was to make the whole piece in lotus thread, but this proved impossible.  We created this pattern so that the unwieldy threads could be used as passives (warp) and a cotton thread used as the worker (weft).  

Pam's Lotus flower using Lotus Thread as a thick passive thread. 

This pattern was made first as a lotus flower motif, then again attached inside a bangle which helped to maintain the structure of the lace without having to use stiffener on this delicate thread.   

To create 25 kg of silk thread takes 100 tons of lotus stem. Unlike real silk, which is a protein fiber,  lotus silk is a cellulose plant fiber.  Lotus silk was first used to weave monastic robes as an offering to Buddha images or Buddhist monks, but is now also used for a variety of clothing.  Due to the complexity and labor-intensive nature of weaving lotus fibers, lotus silk is considered one of the most expensive fabrics in the world.

Lotus thread next to a 30wpc cotton thread. 

It was only when I was designing that I saw how much like a bug it looked when turned upside down so I call it my Lotus Flower Bug. A couple of big sequins for eyes would completely change the look of this piece of lace from a delicate flower to a fun insect.  Now I have thought it, I cannot unsee the bug!

My own making of the Lotus Flower, using cotton thread and beads. 

The sharp eyed amongst you may also see the where the idea for the Swirly Turtle design started!

The .pdf is available to download from my Lesley's Lace facebook page in the Files tab.