More Turkish lace

There are two types of Turkish lace, one made using a fine crochet hook in a looping technique and the other in a knotting technique using a needle and thread. The cherry design shown in the image above shows both techniques as the scarf edging was made using the knotting method and the earrings were made using a crochet technique. For the knotting technique, the needle is inserted under the main thread then the length of thread is wound round the needle to make the loop and knotted in place. The difficult bit is controlling the size of the loops so they form a graded series that look like leaves. The leaves of the earrings are made using a fine crochet hook to pull loops of thread through each other to make a more solid looking leaf.

Both these two scarf edgings have been made using the crochet technique. The yellow one includes beads around the edge of the large scallop, to weight the lace as well as to catch the light and add sparkle. The other edging incorporates white and green threads. The base green design would have been worked first and the line of white loops added as a second round of work along the top. All the edgings were worked straight onto the scarves so the lacemaker could incorporate the hemming process into the lace work, rather than making the edgings and sewing them on to the fabric once they were finished. The lace is not only practical but also beautiful and even from these few examples you can see what a variety of lace can be made using these two techniques.

Fashionable veiling in early twentieth century New York

 

In 1911, the fashionable woman in New York was wearing millinery with veiling. According to an advertisement from the Hydeman and Lassner company, based in Fifth Avenue, ‘tuxedo mesh veiling’ was popular and was available in a variety of designs and colours including dotted effects. They also advertised ‘The storm queen’ waterproof chiffon cloth veil, which they claim is the only rain-resisting veil on the market. Other companies advertised all-over lace designs more reminiscent of fine knitting patterns, like the one in the main image.

What surprised me was the variety of designs and colours available. Some are floral, others are more cellular and there are numerous styles of net, some with different sizes of dots and others quite plain.

Among the variety of all-over designs I thought this frame veil was a good idea. It is advertised as following the fashion for heavy scroll designs, but includes an area of clear net in front of the face to allow the wearer to see more clearly.