Índex per May - June 2018 a PieceWork

Here we go again—our annual Lace Issue of PieceWork! It’s our eleventh look at this extraordinary fabric, which continues to captivate. Although the techniques for making lace vary—from bobbin and needle to knitted, crocheted, and tatted—the stories behind the creations keep this theme on our perennial list. The offerings in this issue are no exception. When Evelyn McMillan, who wrote about lacemakers in Belgium in the May/June 2017 issue (see “Gratitude in Lace: World War I, Famine Relief, and Belgian Lacemakers”), inquired about sharing a different story on an individual lacemaker for this issue, I immediately said “yes.” The first few sentences from Evelyn’s article, “Subversive Lace,” set the scene: Louise Liénaux-Vergauwe (born in 1890), a young Belgian wife and mother, created six exceptional pieces of pictorial lace during World…

In stitching this medallion, you will learn the most common elements of frisado de Valladolid needle lace traditionally made with gold, silver, and silk threads. There are two methods for making gold passing threads, each of which results in different handling properties and appearance. The first type is manufactured by drawing out a thin metal wire, flattening it, and wrapping it around a cotton, silk, or synthetic core thread. This method is used to make most European metal threads. The wire is composed of different metals depending on the grade and color of the thread, ranging from 2 percent real gold to 0.2 percent real gold in threads labeled “gold” or “gilt,” respectively. (Similar processes are used to make silver and a multitude of other colors in nonprecious metal passing…

I’ve often felt like I belong to an earlier time than that into which I was born. I love fifties- and sixties-era clothing as well as Victorian-era needlework pieces and furnishings in all their frilly glory. When I was given a set of the Weldon’s Practical Needlework facsimile editions, I couldn’t stop oohing and aahing over the beautiful needlework, much of it forgotten or ignored now. I’m always looking for a new edging or stitch pattern to inspire a new project and to keep that classic and beautiful needlework alive and contemporary, and every time I pick up and look through my Weldon’s set, I find new inspiration. For this project, I wanted to create a lace-bordered shawl in the wide crescent shape that is so popular now, but with…

In 1842, the British astronomer Sir John Herschel invented a technique for making copies of his scientific notes. In 1843, Anna Children Atkins, the daughter of John Herschel’s colleague John George Children, began work on a book that was published a decade later, British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions. The book’s illustrations were photograms: photographs made without a negative or camera. The object casts its shadow directly on a surface treated to record the impression. The book contained relatively little text but about 400 photograms with captions. All the pages were printed in cyanotype, which we are most familiar with today in the form of architectural blueprints. Anna Atkins had some art training as a young woman. She had made lithographs and had illustrated her father’s translation of the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste…

EXHIBITIONS Berkeley, California: June 29, 2018–February 2019. The Boteh of Kashmir and Paisley, at the Lacis Museum of Lace & Textiles. (510) 843-7290; www.lacismuseum.org. District of Columbia: March 10–July 9. Binding the Clouds: The Art of Central Asian Ikat, at the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum. (202) 994-5200; www.museum.gwu.edu. Melbourne, Florida: May 19–August 11. Apron Strings: Ties to the Past, at the Ruth Funk Center for Textiles. (321) 674-8313; http://textiles.fit.edu. Paducah, Kentucky: Through June 12. New Quilts from an Old Favorite: Bow Tie, at The National Quilt Museum. (270) 442-8856; www.quiltmuseum.org. Boston, Massachusetts: Through March 10, 2019. Collecting Stories: Native American Art, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. (617) 267-9300; www.mfa.org. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Through July 1. Miao Clothing and Jewelry from China, at the Minneapolis Institute…

Diamond dust is a ground-level “cloud” composed of crystals of ice. Also called ice crystals, diamond dust generally forms under clear skies. It is most commonly seen in Antarctica, and this type of precipitation may continue for several days without interruption. A massif is a section of the earth’s crust that is marked by faults. When the crust moves, a massif retains its internal structure while being moved as a whole. The term is used to refer to a group of mountains formed in this way. Mount Vinson is the highest peak in Antarctica, at 16,050 feet (4892.0 m). The massif is about 750 miles (1,200 km) from the South Pole and is about 13 miles (21 km) long and 8 miles (13 km) wide. It was named after Carl…

Classic Crochet Hook An elegant tool makes all needlework even more pleasurable. The fine-turned handle of the Addi Olive Wood Crochet Hook is based on their comfortable Color Coded Crochet Hook. The crochet hooks are available in U.S. sizes A (2 mm), shown here, through I (5.5 mm). www.skacelknitting.com. Decadent Drape Indulge yourself with Luminance Lace Yarn from Knit Picks. A light, lacy wrap in this luxurious 100 percent silk yarn will feel divine draped around your shoulders. The generous 50-gram (1.8-oz), 439-yard (401.4-m) skeins come in fifteen radiant shades. Shown, left to right, are #27044 Peaceful and #27049 Thoughtful.www.knitpicks.com. All-In-One Tool Handy Hands has created the Ultimate Tatting Gauge tool for both right- and left-hand needle and shuttle tatters. The tool includes a 3-inch (7.6-cm) ruler and needle gauge.…

My foray into frisado de Valladolid lace started in 2012, when Mariña Regueiro González-Barros introduced me to it and encouraged me to learn it and teach it to American lacemakers. Mariña owns the Escuela de Encaje in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, and is a frequent bobbin-lace teacher in the United States and Europe. She sent me a few photographs of the lace, and I found examples in online collections such as at the Victoria and Albert Museum (accession number 57-1869) and at the Rijksmuseum (accession number BK-2000-3). It was like no other needle lace I had ever seen, and I was keen to learn more. In 2015, I visited Mariña in Madrid, where she arranged for me to have a frisado-lace class with a lacemaker trained at the Barcelona school.…

The inspiration for this design came from a vintage piece of lace purchased by a friend from an antiques shop in Missouri. The lace particularly impressed me because it has a delicate visual presence even though it was created entirely from machine-made lace net (tulle) and machine-made tape laces. The tapes formed little flowers upon the net background that mimicked my favorite forget-me-nots. MATERIALS • Lacis tulle, #HE01, 100% fine cotton, 18 hole, 1 piece 9 x 9 inches (22.9 x 22.9 cm), Ecru • Lacis princess tape lace, #CN17, 100% cotton, 2 yards (1.8 m), Ecru • Lacis Honiton tape lace, #CN14, 100% cotton, 10 inches (25.4 cm), Ecru (for small leaves) • Lacis Honiton tape lace, #CN15, 100% cotton, 6 inches (15.2 cm), Ecru (for large leaves) •…

Proudly displayed in the quaint thatched-roof building that houses the Sheelin Lace Museum in Bellanaleck, Northern Ireland, is a magnificent 1900s ecru cotton Irish crochet jacket. The jacket is a showstopper; it’s covered in exquisite encrusted motifs and bordered with a riotous curlicue fringe. Most compelling, however, is the neck closure—a pair of 2-inch (5.1-cm) disk buttons, each covered with a finely wrought, padded, and dimensional thread rosette that is a definitive hallmark of Irish crocheted lace. Commencing in the 1830s and later taught in convents and cooperatives, Irish crochet was initially developed as a substitute for costly Venetian lace. Eventually, crocheting the lace provided income for industrious workers and offered a measure of relief for many during Ireland’s Great Famine that had begun in 1845. Because the piecework manufacture…

This striking lace pichwai was hung at the far end of the Textile Section of the National Museum in New Delhi, India. The large white panel has been identified as an imported artifact not made in India. For centuries, India’s textiles were much sought after and traded far and wide. But this piece is a reverse case—a machine-made cotton lace customized for use in India and imported into the country in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Pichwais are religious depictions on cloth of various scenes from the life of Lord Krishna, a Hindu God. This piece shows Nauka Vihar, a depiction of Lord Krishna’s boat ride during the hot summer months of May and June when Lord Krishna and his consort are taken for a ride in the…