Parchment prickings

 

The pricking is the pattern used for bobbin lace. However, before the use of cardboard they were made from parchment and were often known just as parchments. My sources say that old parchments were generally 12 to 14 inches long but the one I have is only 10 inches in length plus the cloth extensions at each end which are about 4 inches long and are used to attach the pattern to the lace pillow.

Thomas Wright in The romance of the lace pillow says that the lace designer not only drew the pattern but also pricked it. This was done by making holes in the pattern where the lacemaker would need to use pins to support the work, using a needle fixed in a holder. Wright names several lace designers from the East Midlands and praises their skilled work. He explains that the design was first pricked on cardboard and the position of the outlining, or gimp threads, drawn on to the pattern to produce a draught. Transparent parchment was then laid over the draught, which was used as a template to prick the pin holes through the parchment. The position of the gimp threads would then be inked on to the parchment. Subsequent patterns would probably have been pricked from a template by the person organising the lace trade or occasionally by the lacemaker herself. This copying would probably have been done by laying the original over a piece of fresh parchment and pricking through the holes in the original to make a new copy of the holes into the lower parchment, which would then be inked. My example here has rolled up with age and it is so well used that some of the holes have torn to leave a gap in the foot side, both of which are common problems with old parchments and is why many of them have not survived.

Veiled shadows

 

Veiled shadows is such an evocative theme. Veils and shadows have such resonance. They both reveal and conceal but tend not to do so completely, leaving an impression or hint of what they are covering. The shadows of these veils highlight their transience while appearing to give them volume and substance. The dual shadows of Belladonna in the image above hint at the layers of obfuscation hidden behind this widow’s mourning veil.

The text on the No, no, no veil is projected onto the wall behind, reinforcing the message, yet softening it, transforming it into a whisper as it appears to echo from the lace.

The shadow on the Vampire veil highlights the shapes of the fangs and the drops of blood on the lace reinforcing the image of dripping blood.

In this image of Pinned down the light shines on the pins edging this bridal veil, highlighting their sharp piercing nature but also produces a maze of shadows behind the work suggesting the tangle of problems that will result from this marriage. Lighting is so important when trying to produce shadows from lace and is often difficult to adjust. I was lucky that the lighting at this exhibition of the veils was ideal, producing multiple shadows and enhancing the appearance of the lace.

 

Reading the thread

 

I’m delighted to have a chapter in this fascinating new book about textiles edited by Lesley Millar and Alice Kettle. Entitled Reading the thread: Cloth and communication it considers the abilities of thread to record or communicate a story. The contributions are wide ranging including the history, construction and future of threads and their use in contemporary practice.

My chapter builds on my research into the Battle of Britain commemorative lace panel made by the Nottingham machine lace company, Dobson and Browne, at the end of the second world war. In this study I compare it with the handmade needlelace tablecloth made for Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, as part of the Belgian war lace initiative during the first world war. Although both these lace works seem quite different in technique and manufacture, there are many similarities between them. Both were designed as artworks rather than everyday lace and both incorporate iconography and symbols representative of the events of their time.

Importantly for the theme of the book, both lace artefacts communicate a story, literally and metaphorically. They both include the facts and dates of their respective wars but also the hidden story of the resilience of lacemakers and the power of lace to transcend war and result in two beautiful war memorials. The book will be published on 23 January by Bloomsbury, so not long to wait now.

Lettering in handmade lace

I often use lettering in my work and have tried various ways of incorporating it into lace. Generally I only include a phrase or a short sentence and often the idea behind the work is that the words have been caught up or trapped in the net of the lace on a curtain or veil. I have used a Bedfordshire bobbin lace technique to incorporate text into my subversive doilies project and also on some of my lace curtains (in the image above) and veils.

I have also added lace to net curtains using a tambouring technique. This involves producing a fine line of continuous chain stitches using a tambour hook and thread and is a good way of incorporating cursive script into the work.

In other curtains I have worked bobbin lace and then used threads from the lace to embroider the text across the background fabric of the curtain. I used this technique in ‘Whisperings’ where I wanted to incorporate a conversation of different threads of speech interacting with one another. I think these simple techniques suit the style of my work where I am trying to represent the thoughts of the lacemaker or imply that the words have merely been sifted from the air and trapped by the lace itself.