Oversized lace

I’ve been making this oversized ninepin lace edging out of string (it's 8 inches wide) for an exhibition at the Crypt gallery in July called ‘The fabric of memory’. I will be showing large images of lace and fabric and oversized pieces of lace and fabric to complement them. Working on such a large scale has been interesting. I’ve had to scale up my bobbins to carry the amount of string required. I’ve been using tapestry bobbins and sticks of bamboo and I’ve found that keeping a short thread between the bobbin and the work is the easiest way of working. I’ve also used false picots rather than traditional Bedfordshire ones as they are easier to manage in string. Tensioning the lace has been tricky too because my pins are small in comparison to the work, but using larger pins or nails would have destroyed the polystyrene ‘pillow’ I’m working on. I’ve had to work one small section at a time, mainly so I don’t get backache, and also because the lace takes up so much space on the pillow. So much for all the technical problems – the lace is almost finished and I hope it looks good in the Crypt in July.