Lace - making

[titania]

lets_dance, please, please, please post some pics when you're done and (if you can) post some tips and pointers on how you went about making it too...

I'd prefer to make lace than play video games...

 

[DJCNOR]

I've made lace. Bobbin lace, needle weaving, and tatted lace. lace has the reputation of being fragile, but here's the thing. Machine -made lace is fragile. Handmade lace is anything but fragile. After all it's more or less a construction of organized knots. Why do you think museums have samples of lace that are 500 years old? Fragile? A good number of people still do it here in England as a hobby type activity or as an artwork. i do my tatted lace with beads and metallic thread, and make jewelry.

 

[gius]

^how is machine one weaker? i thought the technique in making it would be the same.

Sorry this took a while It was being marked and I just got it back.
Here is a sampler I created. It's my experimental chaotic lace...The technique is pulled thread embroidery. It's made of thick wool... I made the mesh-like fabric first and then added the lace after. Titania, you might want to try this... It's quick and easy when the threads aren't too many and so fine.

 

[gius]

Needlelace pt. 1

Okay, here is a tutorial for needle lace, as Titania was curious about it

For the outline... you can use many things, like braid or lace tape or shaped wire or hoops, etc. Here i am using yarn. It's called the 'cordonnet' method. To make needlelace, what you need is an outline of the design (the contours) and then you use the lace stitches to fill the spaces inside.

1. put fabric through embroidery hoop (to act as a base)
2. create an outline with the yarn/thread. Make sure to 'double' the outline... You will see that in the photo #3
(*when you make your outline, make sure the ends of the yarn aren't at a corner...like for example, don't have the end of the yarn at the corner of a square--it will make your outline uneven in the end when you finish it)
4. Stitch the outline on to the base fabric. Keep the outline thread taut and make the stitches a bit close together, so that the yarn doesn't have the chance to float around loosely.
5. Finished outline. (You can create an outline of a heart, of stars, etc.)

I hope my instructions are clear... It's past 2 am already now, so I am off to bed, but I will scan pages for lace stitches in the morning! Till then mes enfants!

 

[titania]

gius!

It sort of makes sense... I'm gonna write this down and really read it. I almost missed that little link to your pics underneath step 5! They help a lot. And your pulled thread embroidery is so beautiful! I'll try that over my break...

Thank you so much!

 

[gius]

Needlelace pt. 2

Ok I'm back... So, to begin to fill the outlines in with needlelace, you take your new thread and knot it on to the outline thread. Basically the lace stitches are all loops ("buttonhole" stitches)....

1st photo - shows the kinds of stitches you can make and their names
(it also has instructions on how to use lace tape as outlines)

2nd photo - basic loop stitches
You can vary the design of the lace just by the spacing of the stitches or how many times you loop around previous stitches.

3rd photo - cloth stitch... This stitch creates a more dense fabric

4th photo - bars and picots

all pictures from Reader's Digest--Complete Guide to Needlework

 

[SomethingElse]

Oh thank you, Gius! I've been reading about lace from various regions, and the designs are indicative of origin in many, many cases. One design that I like in particular is the Maltese cross:

lacefairy.com

 

[gius]

Needlelace pt. 3

^you're welcome. ooh the design look sso complicated, SomethingElse I think it looks like needleweaving, the things besides the florals. Are you going to try to make it?

Last part of making needle lace...
When you start to fill your outline with lace stitches, take your new thread and tie a knot at the outline thread. Make sure not to pierce the background fabric, so...you could try using a tapestry needle for this part since they are blunt.
In this picture, you can see I am starting from in between the doubled outline threads.

Here is the finished stitching...

the stitch I used is a "wheel filling"

Next part: Now you have to finish the outline thread with buttonhole stitches (see buttonholed bar post #26 for the stitch). This is so your stitches stay in place... You can see there are a lot of hanging threads in the photo. You can keep them till you finish the outline and weave it in...then cut the excess.

And the finished piece!
(steam + iron to flatten the lace)

Sorry if my instructions seem scatter-brained...Feel free to ask any questions!

 

[5AvenueMarceau]

I feel such a sham now, I've made lace but an incredibly easy way that makes me feel lazy now now I've seen gius beautiful work. We used a plastic sheet that disintegrated in water, put it in a special embroidery loop (I think it was plastic too for non-slip) and then set up the machine for embroidery and that was that! I have no photos unfortunately, but I made a snowflake type pattern with silver and cream thread.

 

[gius]

I feel such a sham now, I've made lace but an incredibly easy way that makes me feel lazy now now I've seen gius beautiful work. We used a plastic sheet that disintegrated in water, put it in a special embroidery loop (I think it was plastic too for non-slip) and then set up the machine for embroidery and that was that! I have no photos unfortunately, but I made a snowflake type pattern with silver and cream thread.

Haha I like making lace that way too It's not lazy at all. You can make some interesting things quickly and use it to combine fabrics... Did your piece end up drying hard? I think if you wash it completely, it will fall apart since the 'glue' is what holds it together
I heard there are so many different kinds of these sheets though
The one I used is called 'solvy' and you have to make sure you have enough layers of thread so it keeps its form

 

[5AvenueMarceau]

/\ Yea, it might have been the same thing as I washed it off completely but it didn't fall apart, because I had to use a huge amount of thread and be very careful about making sure I had gone back and forth over the threads connecting the design enough before washing off the sheet.

My college had bought loads in bulk, which makes it cheaper than I could ever buy it in smaller quantities so I'm going to try and either buy some, or swap for a great waterproof silver ripstop they keep trying to buy off me (I have 3m left from my coursework).

 

[DJCNOR]

Lace types-bobbin lace

Something else,

The lace sample you posted is almost certainly an example of bobbin lace. If you ever get a chance to see someone do this, spend some time watching. It's amazing. I have about 30 bobbins, and it's tough enough to keep those in order, but some patterns take hundreds. Each bobbin carries one thread, and the pattern is built by knotting the threads with one another at precise points. The even distances that make the pattern are managed by having the pattern pricked on a strip of paper. You place a pin at the next meeting point for two threads and make the knot just after the pin. It's a very slow process, but the resulting lace is very tough.

DJCNOR

 

[sparklygirl]

From Wikipedia:
[/list]Is there anyone here who has made their own lace?? I've always wanted to make my own lace to use for clothing and jewellery and what not... Just not sure where to start . Any contributions will be much appreciated .

Not only do I make my own lace, but I also run the world's largest online guild for the type of lace I make - it's called tatting and it's very easy, just two stitches and all you need is a $5 shuttle and some thread. It's take-anywhere, I used to make it on the bus...

http://www.etatters.com

 

[xirja]

Like Miyake was know for pleats, are there any designers known for lace?

 

[calinsetbisous]

I used to make lace cause my grandma made it and they had a class at school.
It took me a night to make a bookmark as im quick but it can take ages to make anything big.