CHAPTER 1
EQUIPMENT, MATERIALS
AND GETTING STARTED
All bobbin laces are made with multiple threads, each wound on to a separate bobbin, and are worked on a pattern, known as a pricking, attached to a firm pillow. Stitches are worked with two pairs of bobbins (four threads), and are held in place as they are made with pins pushed through the pricking into the pillow. When the lace is finished it is released from the pillow by removing the pins. The style of the pillow and bobbins used can vary between lacemaking areas, while the size of the pins and the thread used will depend on the style of the lace being made.
The same basic stitch movements are used in all bobbin laces, but how the stitches are arranged varies from one type of bobbin lace to another. Bedfordshire is one of the continuous bobbin laces; that is, one that starts with all the threads needed for the full width of the lace. These threads remain in use throughout and the lace is worked in one direction.
Handkerchief edgings (Patterns 4, 8, and 13).
PILLOW
In the nineteenth century, Bedfordshire lace would have been made on a large bolster pillow tightly packed with chopped straw, and supported on a stand known as a ‘horse’ or ‘maid’. Although good to work on, this style of pillow is hardly practical for lacemakers today who want to take their pillows to lace group meetings and courses. Pillows now come in a variety of sizes and shapes – round, square, rectangular, with movable blocks or rollers, and can be either made from polystyrene (Styrofoam) or packed with chopped straw.
A basic pillow suitable for many of the patterns in this book can be made from a piece of high-density polystyrene (Styrofoam) about 40cm (16in) square and 5cm (2in) thick, covered with suitable fabric.
A round pillow, sometimes known as a cookie pillow, is useful for working small motifs. It can also be used for working long lengths but to do this the lace has to be lifted and moved up to the top of the pricking at intervals, as has been done with the narrow edging being worked on this pillow.
A pillow with movable blocks is often a better option for working long lengths, handkerchief edgings, collars or other large patterns than using a very large pillow. Where to place the pricking on the blocks needs to be planned beforehand but once that is done, it is then straightforward to move blocks so as to bring the working area into a convenient position.
Pillows with rollers are ideal for working long lengths. The pricking needs to be of complete repeats with the start and finish butted together, so it may be necessary to pad the roller for a good fit. The lace on this pillow is being worked without a card pricking – instead the squares of the fabric are used as a guide for placing the pins.
Whatever the shape, a pillow should be firm enough to support the pins and a suitable size for the pattern being worked – the bobbins should not dangle over the edge and the working area should be within easy reach. All the pillows illustrated are about 40cm (16in) wide. The pillow should be covered with a plain fabric in a dark colour. Two cover cloths of a similar fabric are needed, one to cover the lower part of the pricking under the bobbins and the other to cover the pillow when not in use.
BOBBINS
Most of the nineteenth-century East Midlands lacemakers would have used slender bobbins decorated with a ring of beads known as a spangle, although thicker bobbins without spangles, now known as South Bucks bobbins, were also used. However,
