Comment

Comment by Lorelei Halley Administrator on February 17, 2012 at 8:16pm

I've just added another page to my website, on the basics of bobbin lace: stitches with sequential diagrams, the hitch, weavers' knot, international color coding system. Etc.

http://lynxlace.com/learningbobbinlace-basics.html

Comment by Lorelei Halley Administrator on February 8, 2012 at 1:52am

Some days ago I have mentionnned that originally I had not expected to set up actual bobbin lace lessons here on laceioli.  But I've been reviewing our visitors statistics, and the BEGINNERS group gets more visits than any other.  I think people may be looking for lessons, and go away disappointed.  So I'm in the process of writing up something simple for a basic braided/plaited lace.  I've posted it as a discussion, above.  But I'll be reviewing it and revising it over the next several days.

If any of our members wants to prepare some lessons and is willing to post them here, please let me know, and I'll figure out some way for the software to work for us.  Remember that anything we post must be our own original content.

Comment by Lorelei Halley Administrator on February 4, 2012 at 4:42pm

I have moved the long discussion about the relative merits of the wiki platform and this ning group into a discussion posted above.  All the original text is still there.  This space on the BEGINNERS COMMENT WALL is for beginners to post questions and receive answers.

Comment by Lorelei Halley Administrator on February 3, 2012 at 7:48pm

The wiki links:

Collaborative: http://bobbin-lace.wikispaces.com/ and http://bobbin-lace.wikispaces.com/learn+to+make+bobbin+lace   From Jo and Katelyn.

Comment by Lorelei Halley Administrator on January 22, 2012 at 10:16pm

A few members have mentionned that they hope we would provide beginner lessons online here.  To do that would mean writing a book and posting it online for free.  Perhaps that will happen, but there are no specific plans to do that.

But what we can do is help beginners over the rough spots.  My best advice is this.

First find a good book and start to work through that book pattern by pattern and lesson by lesson.  I've posted my recommendations under RECOMMENDED BOOKS (see the red link below our members' avatars).  If any of our participants have a favorite book to learn from, please post a comment to RECOMMENDED BOOKS and I'll add it to the list.  (Please tell us why you think it is a good book.)  Whatever questions you have, you can post them here.  If you have a digital camera you can photo what is on your pillow, post it in a comment box, and then one of our members can post a diagram explaining what you should do.

Secondly, look in detail at all the websites listed under ONLINE RESOURCES.  Taken together they all answer most of the questions that beginners have.

Thirdly, if you have questions that the book doesn't answer directly, ask here, and some member will answer.  You may have to wait a few hours or a day for an answer.

Comment by Lorelei Halley Administrator on January 21, 2012 at 2:38pm

Sue

Good advice!

Comment by Sue Babbs on January 21, 2012 at 10:22am

I thought I'd start off this thread by posting the sort of information I normally give to novices who ask questions online:

You can learn from a book, but it is one of the more challenging textile arts and a teacher is helpful.  If there are no classes near where you live, then absolute basics for learning are:
Pillow
Minimum of 30 Bobbins
Pins
Cardstock
Thread
Beginner's book

I would recommend:
"Beginner's Guide to Bobbin Lace" by Gilian Dye & Adrienne Thunder

It was a new publication last year and is incredibly clear. It covers
equipment and techniques, with photos of each step, and is available from Amazon..

Some lace suppliers in the USA, which spring to mind quickly are:
http://www.lacysusan.com/index.html

http://www.vansciverbobbinlace.com/

http://www.snowgoose.cc/

Snowgoose's kit is very good. If you think about getting this, I would suggest getting the 18" pillow, as the
16 inch is too small to be any use in the long term.

Lacy Susan carries very good quality square bobbins: international square pear bobbins - they are continental but don't roll because they are square! This makes them much easier to work with than continental bobbins, less pretty than English Midlands, but a lot cheaper than them! When I last looked they were $17.95 per dozen. They are nice and smooth to work with.

 

I understand that the kit which one can get at JoAnn's or Lacis is not adequate for more than the initial lesson, and so isn't worth the money. I have not seen it, but I have seen a lot of comments on it, and mine is the polite, sanitized version!

 

Another useful site if you live in the USA: http://www.internationaloldlacers.org/index.html

 

If you live in another country, you may well prefer to belong to that country's guilds.

 

Sue

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• …
• 22
• 23
• 24
• Next ›
• Page