Tambour lace: frame, hook and thread

 

Tambour lace is a fine, delicate lace made by working chain stitches through a machine-made net background, using a tambour hook. The net is held taught in a frame so both hands are free to accomplish the tambouring. One hand holds the tambour hook above the net and the other controls the thread beneath the work. The hook is inserted through a space in the net, it then picks up a loop of thread and pulls this through to the front. Keeping the loop round the hook, the hook is then inserted into an adjacent space in the net and another loop is picked up through the first one. When this second loop is pulled through to the front of the work, the first loop will be left as a chain on the front of the net. The work then progresses forming a line of chain stitches, which are used to outline the pattern. Filling stitches can then be added either with the tambour hook or using a needle and thread. 

When I make tambour lace I pin my pattern below the net, but this does mean I have to keep moving it out of the way to make the chain stitches, which is time consuming. Commercial workers often had the design printed onto the net, which made the work faster. They would also have had a larger frame for the net so that several people could work on one design together and speed up the work. Large and small frames both allow a length of lace to be made, as the completed part can be wound around the roller at the end of the frame and a new area of net moved to the working area. Attaching the net in the way I show here using a binding also allows the work to be moved up easily when you move to a new section.

In the early nineteenth century, embroidery and tambouring on net were the only ways to make decorated lace. It wasn’t until later in the century that the ability to make patterned lace entirely by machine was invented. Tambouring on net later became the speciality of Coggeshall in Essex and Limerick in Ireland.

Queen Elizabeth’s ruffs

 

Looking at images of Queen Elizabeth I of England reveals the development of lace ruffs throughout the sixteenth century. The fashion for ruffs began in the 1530s with a small ruffle on the neckband of the smock. As the century progressed the ruffles became box pleated and fuller, often with an edging of simple needlelace, embroidery, or cording. They tended to be full at the back and sides of the head but were shallower at the chin.

By the 1570, the ruff had become a uniform size around the head and was formed of figure-of-eight shaped pleats often 3-4 inches in height. Wide lengths of lace were used to edge the ruff often incorporating spangles, or sequins, which would have sparkled as they caught the light. These ruffs were separate items of clothing and no longer attached to the smock. This made them easier to launder and starch into their stiffened shape.

The 1580s saw the development of much wider and more ornate ruffs, which appeared to be made entirely of lace, or were embroidered and edged with a wide lace edging. These ruffs required a support behind them to maintain their shape and the effect was quite stunning, as we can see in this miniature by Nicholas Hilliard.

By the 1590s necklines were lower and ruffs were often worn open with their edges pinned to the corners of the bodice. These ruffs tended to be more delicate than the solid styles of the previous decade. They also needed a support, known as a rebato, to maintain their height and shape. These supports were finer than the earlier ones and were made of wire covered with thin gauze or cotton, some also had an edging of lace. This detail of the Rainbow portrait by Isaac Oliver also shows the Queen’s delicate wired head rail. We are very fortunate that painting styles of the time depicted clothing so accurately, providing a beautiful record of these changing fashions.

Lace bobbins made by the Haskins family

 

The Haskins family were prolific makers of beautiful lace bobbins, in both bone and wood, from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century and many are now found in museums. The examples above are all made from bone and give a brief glimpse of their output. Joseph Haskins was born in 1779, lived in Bedford, and made highly decorated bobbins that included coloured spots, pewter wire and tinsel. He also turned bobbins with loose rings around the shank and made lovely ‘church window’ bobbins, with openings along the shank that contained tiny miniature lace bobbins inside them. In the image above the bobbin on the left is a church window bobbin with tiny green dyed bone bobbins inside the shank. Joseph is the only maker known to decorate these small inserted bobbins with a spiral groove. The second bobbin in the image is one of the few inscribed bobbins Joseph made. His lettering is distinctive and lies between two spirals of red and blue. The inscription reads ‘Eliza Ward is no moor’. Another unusual feature is that the text has to be read by holding the bobbin head down; the more usual direction is with the head up.

David Haskins was one of Joseph’s sons and he learnt bobbin making from his father. He later moved to Leighton Buzzard and established his business there. Like his father, he produced many decorated bobbins but relied on coloured dots, inlaid pewter and wire decoration, often including tiny lines of bead work (the two central bobbins in the image are his work). He did produce inscribed bobbins but the lettering is quite simple and plain and long inscriptions read up the shank of the bobbin in the conventional way. His nephew, Robert Haskins (Joseph’s grandson), also became a bobbin maker and seems to have learnt the skill from his grandfather. He records as a young teenager sawing bones into blanks for his grandfather to turn into bobbins. An example of Robert’s work is on the right in the image above. It is much simpler than that of his relatives, with coloured slashes and turned rings. He also used inlaid pewter and wire but does not seem to have made any inscribed bobbins. The Haskins family were clearly very skilled and prolific bobbin makers, whose work spans the entire nineteenth century and beyond. The style of their work also mirrors the fortunes of the lacemaking areas they worked in. With ornate and expensive bobbins being produced at the end of the eighteenth century but plainer functional designs being made by the end of the nineteenth century, when the handmade lace industry was in decline.

Filet lace patterns

 

I’ve been studying filet lace patterns again and found some lovely ones in a French book of designs. Unfortunately it isn’t dated but I think it was probably published in Paris in the early twentieth century. The booklet is basically a catalogue of designs that can be purchased by mail order.

There are a variety of types and styles of pattern. Several are ecclesiastical in nature including those shown here, as well as some vignettes of biblical figures such as David and Goliath and Judith and Holofernes, which are a bit bloodthirsty, and some more benign ones of angels and cherubs.

Other items are designed for the home such as these small table mats and there are also patterns for larger mats and chair backs and arm covers. Although several of these patterns are quite large and complicated I think they were designed to be worked by amateurs in the home. No instructions are given in the booklet but the text states that they are included with the patterns. However, from previous patterns I have seen I think they would have assumed a high level of skill from the worker and would not be very detailed. The booklet also includes advertisements for the type of thread required to make the patterns but I do not know if the instructions included the amount required or not. It would be lovely to see some of these beautiful pieces worked, but failing that, the designs are a lovely reminder of times past.