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.

Always in My Heart

The Grand Finale of the Hug of Hearts, the 25th following a series of 24 little hearts which used many different techniques, the 'Always in My Heart' heart.  

Full Heart 

Frame Heart

A 14cm heart which can be altered by removing sections to reveal different size picture frames.  This can be made as one full heart, a small center heart, a nine pin edge and honeycomb heart, two sizes of heart shape opening to frame a precious picture, a frilly or smooth edge featuring a 9 pin edge which can be omitted. The choice is yours.

Video of the frame start, working in one direction  https://youtu.be/HIQt80HiWK4

Video of the half stitch circles  https://youtu.be/zb6mzkNdLrc?si=39YP8YudFnvvmN5b

I made this using Egyptian cotton thread, but any 28-30 wpc thread or colour is encouraged.   Takes about 80 pairs to make it in one piece.   The outside frame, worked in one direction takes approx 24 pairs. 

Techniques include  9 pin edge. Honeycomb. Bedfordshire buds. Plaits. Picots  Windmill crossings. Leaves (tallies). Adding in and taking out pairs into trails. 

The .pdf is available from the Lesley's Lace facebook page under the 'Files' tab. 

Hug of Hearts 24. The Torchon Heart

 24 - The Torchon Heart.

This Torchon Heart is a blank canvas to use your own choice of stitches or spiders.  I chose the ‘Heart’ spider of course!   

 Jenny Brandis Lace video on making the Heart Spider here -

https://youtu.be/0kFXnKz_fnI?si=ueFXsuzVfh6qxqXw

Choose your own edge techniques.     The Torchon grid is increased in the two larger hearts and these can fit spiders with more legs. 

The edge is worked in both directions.  The ground can be used for any stitch you fancy. 

Seed beads were added on the inward worker, with two twists added to the outward worker without a bead.  I used one thick, red sparkly crochet thread and 3 white standard thread pairs (making two pairs when worked in both directions) to make the two outer passives, and four pairs white standard thread pairs after the beads or twists.  This gave me white cloth stitch to take in the white pairs from the ground and throw out evenly without disturbing the pairs above the beads.

The boxes to fit spiders can be any size you like, I chose to make mine as large as possible.  Use the bottom pin of the valley as a top pin for a spider to make the largest possible box. 

 

   

Hug of Hearts 23. Sunshine Heart

 23 Sunshine Heart

This Sunshine Heart features half stitch and plaits.   The edge is worked in both directions.  18 pairs (8 yellow, 10 edge pairs).   Start at the pink lines. 

The first two yellow pairs to be added (hang around the pin)  are the worker and a ground pair.  This pattern needs to be started at this point.  

The following half stitches are added by laying a new pair from a temporary pin outside the work, work half stitch through it with the worker at the end of the line.  The worker from the edge and the worker from the sun ctc pin ctc then return to their own sections.  

Leave out pairs as shown for the rays, taking note of the two laid out at the same pin to make the plait.  The plait is carried a short distance in the edge, use each pair as a single bobbin for this short distance, it helps keep the yellow band narrow.  

Make enough twists to fill the single pairs working outwards through the plaits, these need to be tensioned well before they are taken into the edge or they will bend. Windmill crossings are used at the joins.    Use any other techniques you may prefer, this is just a description of what was used for this particular making. 

I would like to make this one with a zig zag edge in the yellow thread to make it even more sunny!  I can always the zig zag on later by repinning this piece to the original pricking and adding the braids. 

Thread used are standard Egyptian cotton machine quilting threads, any make will do and results can vary according to the thread. Use thicker threads on the larger hearts or increase the number of pairs to fill the spaces.  I added the extra sizes to encourage experimenting with other threads, room to add beads, use up some crochet threads, sparkly thread, yarn even! 

Please show your own hearts and lace made from my patterns on the Lesley's Lace facebook page, or, if you are shy, just send me a message.  I love to see what people make from these little offerings. 

Hug of Hearts 22. Painted Heart

22 Painted Heart 

This little Painted Heart was made a while ago and had got squashed in the folder so I thought I would have some fun with it and make a new one later in traditional white.

The tallies were put everywhere I could fit them, my original intention was to make the top two curves in green threads to be the leaves of the flower below, but they can be any colour you like.

Derwent® 'Inktense' blocks were used as my colour, they are intended to give ink like colours and to be colourfast on certain fabrics. I wet the heart before painting. For delicate colours, dilute the paint well, you can build up the colour with repeated layers. I used straight from the block, giving the strong colours. I washed my lace afterwards and, although I had hoped that the colours would be more gentle afterwards, they did remain quite vibrant, though they looked better blended. I much prefer the diluted, layer building method.

Video here - https://youtu.be/dDdmVaOHcyM 

My apologies for when some of the heart went out of shot, I only make videos in one take and unedited video so I couldn't unpaint the heart to try again! It does correct itself so keep watching.

Please do post your hearts on my Lesley's Lace facebook page, I do love to see your own versions.

A .pdf is available on my Lesley's Lace fb page under the Files tab

Hug of Hearts 21. The Pawprint Heart

 21 Pawprint Heart

This Pawprint Heart features half stitch ovals, the outer pair is made in cloth stitch (ctc).   Choose your own edge techniques.  The edge is worked in both directions. 30 pairs.   

I only managed to make the first draft of this little heart before I ran out of time.  See my Blog for updates.   I set myself what I thought was a realistic time schedule to make one heart a day.  This hadn't taked into account making the videos, blog posts, pattern sheets, rewinding bobbins and posting to facebook.   I will post a better version, but by that time, this one will have been shared and folks won't know that I can make a better pawprint!  

The plaits are more suited to the 6cm size than the 4cm size where they bunched up too much.  I would use single threads, and add extra threads for the ovals at the pin while working them.  

I worked from left to right, starting the left oval and, where it needed to make a kiss stitch with the next one, I paused the first one and started the second and so on.  The worker was used to connect to the outside ovals by twisting a few times, being taken into the oval worker at the pin, then returning to the edge. 

I would have like to try a fluffy yarn on the outside of the edge to give this little heart a fluffy look. Maybe an eyelash yarn, or tinsel yarn would have worked?   I will add the photo to this post when I have made one. 

Please do experiment with your own ideas on these patterns, and also please post your results, whatever they are, on my Facebook page, I love to see how other lacemakers alter and improve these little offerings!

Hug of Hearts 20. Cross Tally Heart

 20 Cross Tally Heart

Choose your own edge techniques. I chose a rather thick gold passive pair to replace two of the normal passive pairs.   The edge is worked in both directions.   Care is to be taken when making the crossing.  Use support (temporary) pins whereever you think you need help.   

These long tallies have two pairs of thicker thread held at angles to the edge to maintain the shape,. These two thicker pairs act as the outer passives, the pair to the weaver is the center passive. Option 2 could be to use one thick thread on the outer passives, and two thick and the partner to the weaver in the center .

This Cross Tally Heart features two long ‘square’ tallies which are sewn where they cross at the center. I made a sewing at each of the four corners.  A single, center sewing through the underneath tally may have been enough, making sure it connected with the center passive, maybe by placing a magic thread here in advance.  I made my tallies at the same time, placing the sewings as I went along but this created a nerve wracking time as I tried to maintain the tensions on two long, unsecured tallies.  I would make one, then the other in future. 

The weaver pair is tied off at the end of the tally, and taken back through the tally, either with a magic thread, or with a sewing needle after unpinning.  Watch your tensions!    I used 18 pairs. 

Hug of Hearts 19. Rainbow Rolled Edge Heart

 19. Rainbow Rolled Heart

This heart features the threads left over from the number 11 Rainbow Arch Heart.  

A two pair edge was started in both directions, an extra 2 twists were added between the four passives to help keep the passives to the out and inside of the trail. This adds a bit of stiffness to help hold the rolled edge. 

Coloured pairs are added to one side. Windmill crossings (ctc using the two coloured pairs doubled up as a single pair pinned in the middle) with the single pairs of white help to hold the curves in place.  The single pairs on the 4cm probably need 4 twists between the colours and 8-10 from the longer ones at the top.  Keep the tension on these top white pairs or they will be wobbly when you remove from the pillow. 

Sew the coloured ends into the inside pin of the opposite side, make a little plait to carry the colour to the outside edge where they will wait.  

Finish the white edges and tie off.

Return to the coloured pairs.  Choose the top colour or red. sew into the edge pinhole.  Make a whipping stitch with one of the 4 red bobbins around the other 3, (similar to a blanket stitch in embroidery). Continue to next pin where orange thread is waiting. Sew the red and orange into the pinhole, lay the red back into the bundle with the other three orange threads and use the new orange worker thread to whip the 7 threads together till the next pinhole.  Repeat with the rest of the colours, throwing out one of each colour, keeping about 14 in the bundle.  You can use more or less than this, depending on how thick you want the roll to be, but at the end, you will need to throw out a lot more in a short space so consider this as you choose the pairs.  You need at least one of each colour, preferably one with the most thread on. 

I kept the colours in order and in control by using a small bobbin holder, only taking out the colour I needed.

As you approach the beginning, check that one end of the spectrum will join the waiting red, or first colour.  If you need to increase the colour changes, simply swap the whipping thread earlier and make the sewing in the middle of a colour, to create slightly smaller lengths of colour. 

At the red, throw out 3 threads gradually, and whip over the narrow red roll, remove three more threads gradually and work over the orange roll, remove more threads as you change colour so you never have more than the maximum you chose to make the rest of the roll.   When you only have 2 left, knot into a pinhole and using a sewing needle to hide the ends when the piece is off the pillow. 

There are several different stitches used to make rolled edges, choose one and be consistant.  There will be a video soon and I will update this post with the link.

Awaiting video of changing colours in a rolled edge. 

Hug of Hearts 18. My Moon and Stars Heart

 18 My Moon and Stars

 

'You are my sun, my moon and all my stars' A line from an E.E.Cummings poem gave me the name for this heart.  The Sunshine Heart will finish the quote. 

This Moon and Flowers Heart features a long crescent heart held in place with tiny picots made from the outer passive from the inside of the tally. 12 pairs.  An extra twist was made around the pair of passives making the outside curve.  This helps keep the weaver threads spaced more evenly.

The tally is made with 3 pairs, one pair on each side, and the other bobbin to the weaver making the middle thread. This helps to keep the shape.  It is important to keep the passives laying towards you as the crescent shape is made.  A support pin on the inside of the curve, at the side, not in the tally, can help keep the shape as you work.  The worker pair comes out from the edge, goes around the pin with the outer passive. 

The star is cut from a 10mm round sequin.  You can add more criss cross pairs if you have smaller stars and would like to add more into the design.  Choose your own edge techniques.  The edge is worked in one direction. Magic threads were added to make the final join easier.   

Hug of Hearts 17. Tally Trio

 17 Tally Trio Heart

This Flower Trio Heart shows how just changing the start point of a tally can alter the amount of petals on a flower and how easy it is to pop a couple of picots in anywhere!  Choose your own edge techniques.  The two samples show 4 and 6 petal flowers and 2 different edges.   16 pairs for both the 4 and 6 petal minimum.  

I started the heart on its side, so I made one flower completely first.  This meant I could carry a plait in with the passives and reuse it to make more tallies.  One plait crosses or joins the point of the valley to be used on the other side.  My aim was to use as few pairs as possible by working the most economical path. 

Hug of Hearts 16. The Snowflake Heart

16. Snowflake Heart

Silver sparkle thread is used throughout this little snowflake heart design. Each pair of Gutermann Silver glitter poly thread is worked alongside a white cotton pair.  This helps to reduce the risk of warping when the pins are removed from finished piece due to the elastic nature of some of the polyester/ metallic type threads.

The outer edge picots were made with two pairs around the pin. I used glass head pins because they are slightly thicker than my lace pins and make a better shape picot hole.   The picots were made into the existing pinholes which meant I didn't need as many passives so I used white/glitter/white passives and started with a false picot to work in both directions.  If you want to keep the full width border, simply place the picot pins a little bit outside of the existing pins.  The workers are also a white/glitter pair combination

Each of the six snowflake points are sewed through the center sequin and thrown out when they reach the the opposite edge.  It sometimes helps to push a crochet hook or similar through the sequin hole at the start just to widen it a little when using thicker, or more threads than usual. 

The small legs are made using the trail to carry the threads along with the passives between making their windmill join with the longer legs.  This join caa be made by swapping one pair from each plait, but be careful that there are still 2 sparkle and two white pairs per plait. 

Picot dots are placed evenly along the plaits in the center filling, if you can't make them, simply miss them out.  You can use thicker threads for the six main legs instead.   Put in as many picots as you can but be careful that they are tensioned along the plait so the legs don't buckle when the pins are taken out. 

A .pdf is available on my Lesley's Lace fb page under the Files tab

Hug of Hearts 15. The Posy Heart

 15. The Posy Heart

This colourful heart uses tallies which hide a different colour inside.

I made a simple half stitch edge with a cloth stitch pink as the inner passive, this helps to hide the run off when taking the thrown out pairs into the edge.  

The pink thread was used as the worker to make the tallies, the white thread is hidden inside.  At the edge, the pink thread is discarded and a green thread added to be the worker for the leaf tallies.

5 pairs pink, 2 pairs green, 17 pairs white. 

I will make this one again, but with Magic Threads.  All the pink threads will then be only seen in the petals, and the green (hidden inside the petals) will create green stalks.

Find the .pdf file on my Lesley's Lace facebook page under the Files tab. 

Hug of Hearts 14. Clematis Heart

 14. Clematis Heart

This Clematis Heart likes to get its face into the sunshine so I made this eight petal flower climbing up a little bit of trellis.  This pattern is made with plaits, picots and leaf tallies.  Choose your own edge techniques.   This one features a two pair edge (pin under 4). Made with 20 pairs of white cotton.

Working the eight tally crossing shown here (2 versions)

https://youtu.be/8IWHr8ywx_4?si=wmbPpUBtohWnsNUF

https://youtu.be/OC45Io2pARU?si=YgIWCyi7fxO_WIpj

To make the colour changes without having to throw in and out colours for such tiny distances, I made this piece in white cotton, then turned to my art supplies and chose 'Inktense' blocks by Derwent® to add colour.

To keep the colours muted, I wet the lace and only dabbed on the tip of the paintbrush to let the colours bleed into one another.  To help fix the colour, I iron over the damp tissue till dry.  They always dry more muted than I expect, but the process can be repeated for more vibrant colours. 

I describe the method here  https://lesleyslace.blogspot.com/2024/02/painted-adventurous-seahorse.html

See my Lesley's Lace facebook page for the .pdf to download from the Files tab. 

Hug of Hearts 13. Rainbow Tassel Heart

 13 Rainbow Tassel .

This heart uses the same wide border pricking as number 9 in the series, the 'Wide Border' but uses cloth stitch and twist rather than half stitch, and uses more passives.

Two pairs of white workers and 14 pairs of rainbow passives made of 2 of each of the 7 rainbow colours.  Work in both directions, I like to start at the top left curve.  Place a pin in an outer pinhole, hang the two worker pairs around and twist twice (making the simple winkie pin edge).

Place a temporary pin between the pinhole edges just under the worker pin.  On this pin hang open (also called rainbow style!) in order, and following the spectrum if making the rainbow. No twists on these pairs.  The rainbow can go either way, start with red on the outside, or the inside, just keep to the spectrum.  Of course, there is nothing to stop you using whatever colours you wish, throw in some sparkle too if you like. 

Take another temporary pin and twist the passive pairs from one side around the pin and push it into the pillow. This should hold the tension while you work the first side. You can start from either side.  

Work through using cloth stitch and twist (cross, twist, cross, twist). Tension at the end of each row. Make a few rows and return to the pairs waiting at the other side.

Video starting in two directions at the start, and at 12 minutes, how to work the valley. 

https://youtu.be/JSZQpS1I3wA

Remove both the temporary pins.  Keeping the passives in order, place a twist on each pair.  Work the cloth stitch and twist as on the other side and continue.  At the valley point at the top, where the passives are split, divide them equally-ish and work half to the extra middle pin, the rest will go around the top of the middle pin as shown in video.

The join at the bottom can be made how you choose.  For this one, I chose to include a tassel.  The colours need to join in turn to keep the spectrum in line so I made this video.  

Video working the tassel   

https://youtu.be/K2WKI5ibcRg

See my Lesley's Lace facebook page for the .pdf to download from the Files tab. 

Hug of Hearts 12. The Starflake Heart

 12 Starflake Heart

This one started as a snowflake but I used a rather thick gold thread for the zigzag plait and the star became more visible than the snowflake!  The thread used for the sparkly plaits is a pair of standard 30wpc cotton worked with a pair of Gutermann Silver Glitter no 41 poly blend thread.  I paired these together because the glitter thread on its own doesn't behave very well, the cotton thread helps keep the picots and twists in order.  The star was made with an Anchor Metallic crochet thread, around 20wpc. 

The worker pair comes out from the edge with twists added to join the points of the star.  A windmill crossing with the star point, pin, and work back.  On the way back, put 2 twists on the worker, then make a sewing over the twisted worker just worked, a couple more twists, then another sewing, twist to the edge.  You can do as many sewings as you feel you need, these keep the two twisted ropes together, making a false plait.  You can also leave them as single pair twisted ropes if you prefer. 

The silver plaits join a the edge trail, work a windmill through the star and then make a little half stitch bud in the center.  An eight pair crossing would also work for the center.   The picots are two pair picots and each one needs a cotton and a glitter thread to make the picot. 

Hug of Hearts 11. Rainbow Arch Heart

11. Rainbow Arch Heart

This Rainbow Arch Heart features a full colour rainbow of thread.  Starting at the bottom point by turning the heart upside down on the pillow helped to create the little rainbow in the passives around the top curves, made as they were thrown out. 

 Choose your own edge technique. 

The arch is based on the Torchon spider 'arch' which can be made using different numbers of pairs.  This heart presented a tidy 7 pins so it just called out to be made with colours of the rainbow. 

Variations will alter the path of the top threads.  Half stitch is to be avoided because it will mix up the colours.  Some of the twists out to the trail can be moved into the weaved area, instead of one twist between the colours, try two.  There needs to be enough twists to reach the sides, too many and the lines will try and twist.  I used 6-9 twists on the small heart.   

Use a pin instead of the bead for a tighter arch. Start at the top and work down to the point for a different effect with the threads being carried along with the passives before they are thrown out. Tie off the exiting threads instead of running them along the passives for a consistant colour edge trail. 

Unfortunately I was too eager to finish and cut off the thrown out threads before I spotted a mistake in my finish at the top valley so it didn't turn out as well as I wanted.  My aim is to finish the 24 hearts before Christmas Day so I will return to remake this one at a later date. 

This took 24 pairs, using10 pairs for the edge working in both directions, and 14 pairs of colours, two of each.  I wound plenty onto one bobbin, and only a little on the other, this way I have a full wound bobbins which I can winding from one to the other a little at a time for rainbow colour effects in other pieces.  

Hug of Hearts 10. Trilogy Heart

 10. Trilogy Heart

Three little Bedfordshire buds just fitted nicely into this heart shape.  I also made one using roseground which used fewer pairs and gave a finer texture.  

The two pairs of thick thread is not easy to hide in the finish at the end. If they are knotted, they would create a huge lump.  To avoid this lump, after the rest of the threads have been closed, I lay the the thick theads over each other and use a handy passive or worker thread to make a couple of little stitches to hold them together.  Trim the thick threads and this will be hidden at the back of the work. 

The center design can be made using a different colour by carrying some of the pairs in with the passives to return to the ground further on.  This would create a little coloured line in the edge, so be aware when adding colour. 

 

Hug of Hearts 9. Wide Border Heart

Hug of Hearts 9 Wide Border Heart

This Wide Border Heart features a wider border which can feature many different techniques.  Add beads, different stitches, chevrons, or even tiny rolled tallies.  Choose your own edge techniques and add your own choice of grounds or pattern for the center. 

 In the Hug of Hearts series there are 24 designs which can be adapted further with your own choices.    

The patterns are 4, 6 and 8 cm across at the widest point.  The 4cm suits a 28 to 34 wpc thread. Add more passives for finer threads, add some sparkle, colour thread for fun.  These can be fitted into bangles as decorations.  

The photos show a half stitch border (ctc, hs, hs, ctc), and a cloth stitch border with random beads treatment. In both pieces, I have made the join to one side of the bottom point on both.  

The beads were a bit on the large size for this piece, so I made two or three passes with the worker between each bead.  I used twists on the worker between each passive on the beaded heart, doubling them for the wider top curves to keep the edge strong enough to carry beads.  

In the half stitch heart, the outer and inner passive was worked cloth stitch (ctc) and the middle two worked half stitch to give a solid line before the pins. Nice and simple. 

The centers of this heart can also be used to add ground or fancy stitches. 

More info on my Lesley’s Lace blog  

There are some empty hearts in the set of 24, don’t be upset for them, they are just waiting for you to fill them with your choice of stitches. 

Add beads and tie off video

https://youtu.be/TfEMvyfAT9k?si=07pbEmpAqBGaGdCH

See Lesley's Lace Facebook page for .pdf  pattern in the Files Tab

Hug of Hearts 8. Picot Petals

8 Picot Petals Heart

This Picot Petal Heart features Picots on both the edge, and in the center with tallies and half stitch making the flower.   

In the Hug of Hearts series there are 24 designs which can be adapted further with your own choices.   See my youtube video for starting, edge variations, threads and alternative stitches demonstrated on the Border Heart.

The patterns are 4, 6 and 8 cm across at the widest point.  The 4cm suits a 28 to 34 wpc thread. Add more passives for finer threads, add some sparkle, colour thread for fun.  These can be fitted into bangles as decorations.  ~The picots on this pattern can be made just a little further outside the edge pinholes to give a larger picot, or a small picot using the existing pinholes. 

You can use a simple winkie pin, picot or a pin under 4 edge, the choice is yours.  Pairs - 18.  

Single picots can use a standard pin, the two pair picots I prefer to use a slightly thicker pin.  Test your thread to see how many twists you need for the two pair pin, I find 4 or 5 twists are ideal for my thread and pins.  Too few twists and the picots will have a double loop when the pin is removed, too many and the picot will be unsupported around the pin and may twist when pin is removed. 

Choose the end point of the heart.  This can be at the end point which is traditional and can be made several different ways depending on how the edge has been made.  If you like a worked point, then work around the point and pick a spot on the edge to close.  Many heart patterns start in the center of the top valley, this is a good place because it will always have a break in the flow to make the point and there is a little more room to hide the ends. 

Video on single picots here    

https://youtu.be/P--z4h_GRL0?si=p1J0pKNDWwbokwUp

This pattern begins with a false picot using the two edge pairs to make a picot before they work the ground.  Hang 2 pairs around outer pin, twist 4 or 5 times, cloth stitch and work through  the passives in both directions.  The picots are optional, you can make longer tallies. 

Tally Video here

https://youtu.be/Thc-6D7Y1ZE?si=JWyArfFfIGQKNbpe

There are some empty hearts in the set of 24, don’t be upset for them, they are just waiting for you to fill them with your choice of stitches.