Halloween lace

 

As we celebrate Halloween at the weekend, I thought Halloween lace would be a good theme for this week’s blog. Black lace is associated with the spooky and the gothic and I bought the gloves and mask for different Halloweens over the years. As you may realise I find the combination of black lace and the gothic hard to resist!

The gloves are made of machine lace in a very open weave pattern and depict spiders and their webs. They are almost elbow length and are quite delicate as they are mainly machine net. I do like them but I think if I were making Halloween gloves I would make them fingerless, as they could then be accessorised with long, blood red, varnished finger nails, and they would also be easier to make.

Although the mask is made of a very lacey pattern it is quite firm. It was made by embroidering the design on to special material using an embroidery machine. Once the embroidery was completed the material underwent a chemical process that removed the excess material leaving only the embroidered lace.

So far we have gloves and a mask, but Halloween is also the perfect time to wear a black lace veil. I made several black lace veils for an exhibition a couple of years ago. This one is called ‘Creeping dread’ and suggests the miasma of dread seeping through the gothic bride’s veil. It is made of black net and is embellished with silk paper and iridescent beads that sparkle purple, black and green in candlelight. The net is gathered onto a comb decorated with black ribbons and flowers to reference a bridal veil.

Another in the series is called ‘Gothic veil’. It is made in the same way as Creeping dread, but this time the embellishment around the edge is lace embedded in silk paper suggesting that the lace is decomposing and slowly seeping up the veil. Like all gothic veils It is best seen in candlelight so I have photographed it with a spooky light behind it so you can see it more clearly. 

Whatever you are doing and wearing at Halloween I hope you have a magical time.

Bayeux tapestry in lace

 

The Bayeux tapestry is currently being exhibited at the British Museum in London so I was fascinated to discover this lace version from the early twentieth century. This lace rendition is not an exact replica of the original but a summary of the main events in the famous embroidery. It was designed by a company in Paris as a filet lace pattern for Lady Viola Talbot, who was described in the January 1908 edition of Needlecraft Monthly Magazine as ‘one of the most expert workers in our times of filet lace’. The patterns were made for Lady Viola on the understanding that they were ‘not given or lent to anyone else’. However seven scenes are reproduced in the French Album of Filet I and excerpts from two are shown here.

The Bayeux tapestry is not a tapestry but an embroidered scroll depicting a period in history when a Norman duke invaded England in 1066 and killed the newly crowned King Harold to become king himself as William the Conqueror. The panel above begins with the scene where Harold is supposed to be swearing an oath to support William’s plan to claim the throne of England on the death of Edward the Confessor. Harold seems to be doing so quite straightforwardly in the lace version, although he seems more equivocal about the whole idea in the embroidery.

Another interesting difference between the two panels can be seen in the fighting scenes. In general, the lace design is much more static than the embroidery and this is most obvious in the action scenes. In the image where the Norman horsemen attack the English shield wall, the embroidery shows the horsemen on the right and the English on the left, the opposite of the lace version, but also surrounds them with dead and falling soldiers suggesting the horror of the battle.

This part of the lace shows Harold returning from Normandy to the court of King Edward, who now looks old and frail. While the scene below depicts Norman soldiers burning homes prior to the battle. Once again the embroidery seems more lively than the lace, with a woman and her child escaping the burning building in the original but the lace version just depicting a woman with her arms outstretched.

Filet lace is a type of darning on net that was undergoing a revival in the early twentieth century. It is based on the square grid of the net and this may be the reason why the design appears more static than the free-flowing embroidery of the original Bayeux tapestry. To produce this complicated pattern in filet lace would have required great skill and time, and although Lady Viola was an expert I do not think she ever actually made this lace Bayeux tapestry, which is a great shame as it would have been lovely to see it the lace and not just the design for it. 

Black lace capes and mantles from 1904

 

Black lace capes and mantles seem to have been fashionable at the beginning of the twentieth century. These images appear in a catalogue from the Nottingham company of Samuel Peach which was famous for its lace curtains, household linen and lace clothing. These black lace capes appear to be fashionable day wear rather than evening or mourning clothes. I say that, because the women modelling them are also wearing extravagant hats, which look more suitable for the day rather than the evening and none of the capes appear plain or subdued, which I would expect from mourning wear.

This page in the catalogue is headed capes and mantles and I was interested to discover the difference between the two. My dictionary says a cape is a short sleeveless cloak while a mantle is a loose sleeveless cloak, so not a great deal of difference. However, from looking at other fashion plates, a mantle seems to be much less structured than a cape and in many cases looks like a wide shawl worn round the shoulders and knotted at the front over the bust. Therefore these images all seem to be capes rather than mantles, although the captions in the catalogue use the terms interchangeably. The image above is described as a silk lace cape with the pattern richly embroidered with silk braids and cords and lined with silk. This suggests that it consists of machine-made silk lace on a base of silk material, with the lace pattern highlighted with cords round the main motifs. The collar is made entirely of lace and forms a pretty neckline rather like a ruff.

This cape is described as light and dainty and is made up of lace fabric and silk. The yoke is trimmed with lace and embellished with sequins and it is tied in a bow at the neck with a large satin bow. This model can be supplied in two different lengths; either 19 or 27 inches deep. The shorter version cost 18/- and the longer one is 24/6.

This piece is described as both a cape and a mantle. It is made from machine-made lace fabric which has been embroidered to add silk cords and braids to the main parts of the design. It is also trimmed with lace all around its edge forming lovely ruffles at the hem and neckline. Like the other styles it is finished with a wide satin ribbon tied in a bow at the neck. It, and the cape with the ruff-like neckline, both cost 13/9 so they are cheaper than the cape with sequins. They all seem very glamorous and are obviously fashion items, perhaps designed for an afternoon tea appointment, rather than being outer wear to keep you warm on a walk.   

Ninepin edgings in bobbin lace

 

Ninepin lace is made up of a series of plaits and picots. It is the traditional edging on the headside of many Bedfordshire lace patterns, which are characterised by cloth stitch trails, plaits, leaves, tallies and picots. There are many variations of ninepin. The image shows a basic type, consisting of a plaited loop, which links in to the footside on each downward point, and is stabilised by a continuous plait running parallel to the footside through all the loops.

The plait is made with two pairs of bobbins, by crossing the second thread over the third (the cross) and then passing the second and fourth threads over the first and third (the twist). This crossing and twisting is then continued until the length of plaiting is complete. Where two plaits meet they are crossed in the same way using each pair of threads as a single thread. Picots are made on the outer edges. In the main image five picots are made on the top part of each main loop, but in this image two picots have been made and the loops are wider and shorter making a more solid edging.

The ninepin on the upper part of this image is a basic style but the lower part of the image shows a variation which follows the same basic pattern with the addition of three larger loops of plaiting at the apex of the main loop.

This variation includes one main loop intersected by two wider and lower loops crossing it and each other, with one picot at the top of the main loop. There are many other types of ninepin, including versions with two main loops overlapping each other or an outer and inner loop intersected by a long joining plait. The plaits linking the loops may also be replaced by leaves or tallies to make a more solid join, and the number and placing of picots can also be varied.

Ninepin lace makes a distinctive and beautiful edging to any piece of lace and even a small section can be added to a design to provide a highlight along a straight edge or an attractive link across an indentation.  

 

Weldon’s magazines: Bruges bobbin lace

 

I’ve been lucky enough to be given some issues of Weldon’s practical needlework magazines from the early twentieth century (thank you Sue!). The advertising notes that each magazine ‘is devoted to one subject of fancy work’. There are over 350 different titles and 21 of them cover various types of lace. Weldon’s clearly published a wide range of monthly magazines covering domestic subjects such as needlework, dressmaking, millinery, cookery and ‘fancy work’ which included knitting, embroidery and various types of lacemaking. They also produced Weldon’s Ladies Journal every month which was a more general interest magazine and published stories, letters, and household hints as well instructions and tips for domestic crafts.

The issue I’m looking at deals with some of the pillow laces and describes how to make Bucks, Beds, Maltese and Bruges style bobbin lace. The magazine includes illustrations, patterns and instructions and suggests that Bruges lace is the easiest type to make because interesting designs can be made by just using cloth stitch. The lacemaker is therefore able to ‘perfect herself in one stitch before going on to the next and makes quicker progress in consequence’. Having been given that advice I am going to focus on Bruges point lace for this blog and the photo shows the pricking Weldon’s gives for the starter pattern as well as two worked examples. The instructions are thorough and the illustrations are clear but the lacemaker is expected to master whole stitch, straight and pearl edgings, gimp threads, removing and adding pairs, gaining on a pin, sewings (for which a fine crochet hook is recommended rather than a needle or pin), and raised and rolled work in this first motif. Just as well she only had one stitch to learn!

The second pattern is a border for a handkerchief with separate prickings for the corner motif and the edging. This pattern introduces half stitch as well as plaited connecting bars, a spider filling in the centre of the rose, and leadworks. I’m impressed by how competent the novice lacemaker was expected to be but, at that time, women of all classes would have had at least a basic understanding of needlework. Fancy work was also popular, as attested by the number of Weldon’s magazines, suggesting that most women had practical skills. Also by this time, people like the Tebbs sisters in London had written their books on The art of bobbin lace so there were other lace manuals to turn to if the reader needed more help. I’m certainly enjoying reading these old magazines as I’m sure their original readers did.  

Belgian war lace tablecloth

 

This needlelace image of St George fighting the dragon is part of a tablecloth made for Queen Elisabeth of Belgium as part of the Belgian war lace initiative. The project was set up in 1914, at the start of the First World War, to provide aid for the Belgian population. As a result of the German invasion and occupation of Belgium, the British had established a naval blockade to cut off German supply routes, but this also led to a shortage of food imports. In response, the Commission for the Relief of Belgium (CRB) was set up. This body, with the help of thousands of volunteers, organised the importation of food aid and provided a basic meal of soup and bread for millions of people over the four years of the war.

As part of the relief work, lace committees were set up to buy lace from local lacemakers but, by 1915, a shortage of thread from Ireland and Britain was limiting the amount of lace that could be made. It was then that the CRB rules were amended to allow the importation of a certain weight of thread and the export of the same weight of lace to France, Britain and the USA for sale. This provided the thread the lacemakers needed and opened up new  markets for the sale of the lace. The Brussels Lace Committee (BLC) oversaw the entire lace project and employed about 45,000 lacemakers as well as professional designers.

The tablecloth was designed by the well known Belgian artist Isidore de Rudder and incorporates images of four saints. St George and St Elisabeth of Hungary represent the Belgian King and Queen and St Gudula and St Michael are the patron saints of Brussels. There are also references to battles in which the King took part and the coats of arms of 16 Belgian cities particularly affected by the fighting.

The borders include ferns and wildflowers referencing the forests and fields of Belgium. As well as seaweed to remember the breaching of the dykes at the River Yser in 1914 which had halted the German advance. The outer border of the tablecloth includes medallions of flowers and mushrooms symbolising qualities such as rebirth, humility and immortality. The tablecloth was made at the convent lace school in Erenbodeghem and presented to Queen Elisabeth by the BLC, at the end of the war, on her return to Belgium from exile. It is now held in the Royal Museum of Art and History in Brussels.  

Wedding veils that conceal and reveal

 

These wedding veils are part of a series that conceal hidden thoughts and reveal them only to those who can see the clues. The one in the image above is called ‘Paper trail’ and was inspired by Thomas Hardy’s novel Tess of the D’Urbevilles. It references the note that Tess wrote to Angel Clare on the evening before their marriage and slipped under his door, telling him about her past, in case that knowledge would cause him to change his mind. Unfortunately he did not find the note, but Tess was relieved because she thought he knew about her past and still wanted to marry her. It is only after they are married that she realises her mistake and, sadly, when she confesses her chequered past to him he rejects her.

The disintegrating paper in the veil represents the overlooked note and the hidden secrets it contained as well as reflecting on the fragility of her marriage. Although the veil appears to be delicate and beautiful, like Tess herself, it hides within its folds intimations of decay and the unravelling of the marriage and her life. The confusion caused by this scrap of paper initiates a paper trail that ends in Tess’s trial and sad end.

This lace veil entitled ‘Fragmented memories’ is inspired by a nineteenth century author rather than a particular novel. It is a veil for Charlotte Bronte, the author of Jane Eyre. At the age of 38 she married Arthur Nicholls, who had worked with her father as a curate. However, before that she had had an intense crush on Constantin Heger, a schoolmaster in Brussels, where she went to study for a while. When she returned to England, she wrote to him obsessively, much to his embarrassment, and the displeasure of his wife, and he had to ask her to stop writing to him. Constantin tore up all of the letters Charlotte wrote to him, but his wife collected the pieces and sewed them together so she could read them.

The veil references that time in Charlette’s life, by including torn pieces of a letter on to the lace edging of the veil. They are linked by a line of stitching to record the way they were stitched back together and to suggest that they remained part of Charlotte’s past life as fragmented memories.