Audio above: Recording of a lace machine by Gemma Khawaja with added accompaniment I spoke to Richard Brawn, who trained as an apprentice lace mechanic and spent ten years (1964-74) working in an engineering shop specialising in lace machinery – maintaining the machines, overhauling them and replacing parts. Richard was one of the engineers …
Bones as pins I read in F.B Palliser’s Victorian book on lace history that, in Devon, lacemakers used fish bones as pins, being mainly the wives of fishermen living along the coast. I asked Professor David Hopkin about this and he said that he hadn’t heard of this but that, due to the expensive nature …
The practice of adding “spangles” (rings of coloured beads) to the ends of bobbins (the East Midlands ones in particular) seems to be a unique trait of English bobbin lace makers. I wondered why the East Midlands style of bobbin had the added spangle, and not the pointed-ended Devon bobbin. I have since learnt that …
Bobbin Lace is a type of lace made by twisting and plaiting threads using bobbins – small sticks usually made from wood – which are used to weave them together. This weaving is held in place by pins, the position of which is usually determined by a pattern or pricking, onto a pillow. The pillow …