A Taste of Things to Come....Bobbin Lacemaking

I have been fascinated by all crafts related to thread and yarn since I was a small child and was bitten by the Bobbin Lace Making bug when I was in my early teens and like all the crafts I have learned over the years I taught myself from books initially but of course today we have the internet and video tutorials to help us to learn just about anything you can think of, crafty or not.

I was determined to learn the lace making skill and it was very difficult, the books took some studying and there were few pictures to assist in putting words into actions. The local library only stocked one or two books on the subject and supplies were difficult to come by.

I decided to make my own bobbins for learning purposes and made them out of old wooden pegs as the old round ones were a good match for the shape of a bobbin, and after decorating them with ribbon wound around the prongs or braid, and glued into place they looked quite good. I used string to wind the peg bobbins with and set about practicing the different stitches using a block of polystyrene from some packing.

I don't have a picture of my original bobbins made from pegs but these are quite similar,












Proud of my new skill it soon came up in a French class at school when asked about hobbies and my teacher at the time was delighted as she studied bobbin lace making too.
This was a great motivator as I now had someone to go to when I got stuck.
She was doing a demonstration at a craft fair the school was holding and I was invited to sit with her with my square of polystyrene now covered in a lovely royal blue cloth and my peg bobbins, doing some very basic stitches.

She sat with a beautiful blue straw filled lace pillow filled with countless spangled bobbins working on an intricate piece of lace. I was mesmerized.

Over the years my bobbin collection has grown and when I moved to Australia the bobbins came with me, my precious treasure carefully wrapped in the bobbin case I made for myself shortly after starting on my lace venture.

Unfortunately my pillows did not make the journey with me .....a suitcase of only 23 kg when we arrived here meant many hard decisions were made on packing.

Lace supplies I have found are rarer than hens teeth locally and so my lace venture will start very soon with the making of my own pillows and I will share this with you all as I go long.

For now here is a picture of my precious bobbins, all spangled by hand, some from necklaces I had as a child but mostly from glass beads I have bought over the years. Some more precious than others bought as gifts, and spangled to commemorate my children s births or birthdays.

I hope you like them and that my lace exploits will motivate a few to take up this beautiful craft.

More to come very soon !