The Lace Mistress (and students)

Above: One of our own original lace tells by musician Gemma Khawaja. Lyrics by Ulysses Black

This is a paper prototype I made for the character of the Lace Mistress – in the lace schools, children as young as five would be taught to make lace by a teacher, who was often a woman with some kind of religious status.  I wanted her to look quite severe as the lace schools were known as being places of strict discipline, as suggested by some of the lace tells.

For example:

Needlepin, needlepin, stitch upon stitch,
Work the old lady out of the ditch,
If she is not out as soon as I,
A rap on the knuckles will come by and by

Here’s a short video experiment showing the lace mistress teaching the little bobbin children about the Night Tangler. Script written by Ulysses Black.

 

Below: Video with music. Words, lyrics and video editing by Ulysses Black, music by Gemma Khawaja: