Tuesday 20 December 2011

Circling in the Mind


Family circle
Circle of friends
Circle the wagons
Talking in circles
Come full circle


Fragile laces handed down through generations
look very much at home on gentle natural dyes.


A very small piece that fascinates me.
It looks more woven than crocheted.
I need to understand it's construction.
Perhaps Deanna knows.


One of my treasures is a beautiful piece
with thin bone clasps all ready to dress up the front
of stiff Victorian dresses.

13 comments:

  1. I think that small piece may be a form of bobbin lace, which has a woven type of construction.

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  2. yes. that is a bobbin lace piece known as tape lace. looks like it is done with a cotton thread. it is lovely. i also love that last one that looks like it was probably machine made.

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  3. A great pleasure to look at, anyhow...

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  4. These are all beautiful. So delicate and fragile in a couple of cases. True treasures.

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  5. Lovely lace...however it's made.

    ...and what about crop circles?

    (just picked up a book on those today!)

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  6. some more examples of tape lace made with bobbins:
    http://www.lyndasbookbinding.com/my-lace/hungarian-tape-lace/
    if you google bobbin lace videos, there are lots of examples of women and men doing bobbin lace. i couldn't find one that is specifically making tape lace.

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  7. Very beautiful pieces, and yes, they are lovely on the natural dyes. Thanks very much for posting them. The bobbin lace is so interesting. . . Happy Holidays!

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  8. Oh, and the top photo? Is that your work? Tie-dyed? How are the dark linear circles achieved? Are they lines of color that are drawn or stitched? It's beautiful. :)

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  9. All so beautiful...I really love the way it looks on the plant dyed material too. A very natural fit.

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  10. I must concur that each of these pieces is a lovely treasure. Handwork has an almost irresistible attraction for me. My husband and I were at a local flea market not long ago where a dealer had several very old pieces on his table. Most were in quite good condition, and he was selling them for a quarter and fifty cents each. I brought home three pieces that I just couldn't resist. My husband said he had seen them before me and that he knew some of them would be added to my collection. He knew I just couldn't stand for all that beautiful work to go unappreciated! When I return home from my daughter's I will post images. For the moment I am helping her out while awaiting the birth of her sixth son!

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  11. Seeing these reminds me of the stash of this sort of thing that was in my grandmothers' house - how I'd love to have them now.

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  12. I too saw crop circles lol, I would have to stitch little footprints round each band between the circles lol for no other reason than thats what sprang to mind!
    Human, dog etc though the weeny sizes might be easier stamped with a home made stamp!
    That last piece of lace is louscious, worth framing against a dark silk maybe?

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  13. The lace is beautiful and such a lovely foil for the soft colours behind it.

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Thank you for taking the time to comment, your thoughts are most welcome.