Month: April 2022

April 30, 2022

More Bobbin Lace

My intro bobbin lace class has come to an end. Next week I am taking Beyond the Basics in Bobbin Lace – a two class lesson. Meanwhile this is what I have been working on in bobbin lace:

Spiders and Fans

This one we did in class with DMC #8 thread.

Spiders and Fans – Lizbeth #80 thread

It is recommended that we practice the same skills we learned in class to reinforce them in our minds.

Spiders and Fans – size 8 thread on the right and size 80 thread on the left.

It is interesting to see the difference with the two different sized threads.

Internet design

This was a fun little make from the internet. It uses only the whole stitch.

Close up.

I really enjoyed this design especially since I worked through it on my own. There was a lot of ripping back and re doing!!

April 26, 2022

Dorset Buttons

Awhile back my chapter of the EGA ran a program on dorset buttons. A friend of mine had her 60th birthday this past weekend and I thought I would dabble and make something for her.

Shawl Pin

I’ve known this friend for over 20 years. We met when our kids were 5 and in preschool together. She is an avid knitter and loves shawls so I decided to try to make her a shawl pin. Blue is her favorite color so I chose two different blues to go around the edge.

Close up.

It was so fun and easy to make. Casting the edge in two different colors was a little fiddly, but overall very fun.

Spring Flower

I took a class for the above button from the Lace Museum in Sunnyvale (over zoom). Super fun and easy to make!

April 23, 2022

Glass beads

Every Friday, a friend and I go to the local glass studio, BAGI, and make beads together. It’s a really fun way to spend the morning.

The beads here are made with two different size mandrels. I am experimenting in making super small beads that I can use in my tambour embroidery homework.

These are made with a 1/16″ mandrill. They are much smaller than the regular beads. I’ll use them for the tambour homework, but they are not small enough for traditional embroidery.

These were made on the larger mandrils. Right now I’m just experimenting with color and technique.

These two were super fun. The top one has a flower on top of encasing. The bottom one I used glass scissors to cut the hot class in order to attempt flower petals. It doesn’t really look like a flower, but it was fun to use the scissors and experiment. I’ll be using the glass scissors more often to try for different looks.

April 13, 2022

Bobbin Lace

The chapter of the EGA that I belong to sends out a monthly newsletter. There is always a link to the Lace Museum included so last month I clicked on the link. Now I have another hobby!

These are the first two. The one on the left was done “in” (zoom) class and uses size #8 DMC thread. The one on the right I did as homework with #12 DMC thread. What a big difference! I can see that I need to work more on getting the right tension on the threads as they are not straight.

This is from our second class and uses #8 DMC thread. There are two moves that we have learned: “cross” and “twist”. The different combinations of these are what makes up the pattern. Super cool.