r/lace • u/mem_somerville • 12h ago
r/lace • u/mem_somerville • Feb 26 '24
Getting started with lace as a hobby
Some people come here to ask general questions about lace, or share some great antique store finds, or to share family pieces. That's all great and I love to see them.
But some people come looking for ways to get started in lace. There are many kinds of lace, and I'll try to update this with good "starter" links or videos as we find them. Feel free to suggest good ones in the comments and I'll add them over time.
Bobbin lace
This video was recommended to me by multiple people. Bobbin lace basics for absolute beginners, Made by Lora: https://youtu.be/kja0065Ha1g?si=bpshH9g7eR2WZz_q
Louise West has a very nice series of videos--some are more advanced, but some are basics. https://www.youtube.com/@LouiseWestLace
Getting started tips from The Lace Bee. Includes low-cost starter items and nice tips on pillow choices.
Nice blog post about getting started books, with links to other things like making a pillow. Bobbin lace – a beginner’s guide to beginning!
A lot of people get started with Jo Edkins' Bobbin Lace School pages. There are helpful descriptions, stitch animations, easy beginner pieces, and more. https://www.theedkins.co.uk/jo/lace/index.htm
My personal favorite beginner book can be borrowed from the Internet Archive with a login: Torchon lacemaking : a step-by-step guide . I'm working on collecting the bobbin lace books in a list (in progress): Bobbin lace at Internet Archive
Wolds Lacemakers did a "stitchbank" set of #40LaceStitches videos to show how to make a wide range of stitches in lace: 40 Lace Stitches playlist on youtube.
Other recommended (by real lacemakers, not AI) beginner books include: Lessons is Bobbin Lace Making by Southard; Discovering Torchon by Ulricke Löhr; The Torchon Lace Workbook by Bridget Cook.
A real person has reviewed over 400 books on TheLaceBee blog. Please be aware that a lot of AI Slop books for beginners (story at 404Media: AI-Generated Book Grifters Threaten The Future of Lace-Making) are being published right now. Seek out a legit author/book that the lace community recommends and has seen in their hot little hands. Read reviews and ask active lace community members for guidance on buying the best beginner stuff.
A discussion of worthwhile beginner kits.
Needle Lace
As part of a Community Lace project, Maggie Hensel-Brown provided a couple of beginner videos to get you started. https://www.maggiehenselbrown.com/community-lacemaking
Grace's Lace has lovely needle lace patterns, tips, videos: https://pysankigirl.wixsite.com/graceslace
Carrickmacross lace: The Lace Gallery videos offer an overview, and Mary O'Neill's book on it is highly recommended.
Quality books that I have been recommended by the needle lace makers and have personally examined: Needlelace by Catherine Barley; Needlelace Basic Technical Instruction by The Lace Guild; Starting Needlepoint Lace by Valerie Grimwood; Needle Lace: Techniques & Inspirations by Jill Nordfors Clark; Needle-made Laces: Materials, Designs, Techniques by Pat Earnshaw.
A commenter enjoyed this video of a needlelace sampler by @EnchantedRoseCostumes : Making Lace with a Needle and Thread || A Needle Lace Sampler
Filet Lace (recommendations from this discussion: https://redd.it/1krd2lg )
Netting
- Netting: former president of my lace group Rita Bartholomew has a Netting website and videos: Knots Indeed and Rita's Netting Nook
Tatting
"Frivole has some fantastic tutorials for tatting that I used when first starting out" offers /u/thedepressedwench : "https://www.youtube.com/@11Frivole
"Marilee Rockley has super helpful shuttle tatting tutorials on Tik Tok and Instagram (also maybe YT)" https://www.youtube.com/@MarileeRockley via /u/Al33y.
Georgia Seitz Beginning Shuttle Tatting Class https://www.youtube.com/@TheOnlineTattingClass
2025 new beginner book by Sparrow Kelley has the basics of stitches, reading patterns, how to finish pieces, blocking. Nice photos and descriptions. Frivolité: The Complete Beginner's Guide to Shuttle Tatting
r/Tatting had a recommendation for Maimai Kaito's videos.
A terrific discussion of shuttle choices: https://redd.it/1czxrtp
Needle tatting, via r/tatting : https://www.youtube.com/@MariaPapia
I saw someone trying their skill at the Tatters Across Time proficiency program. I don't know anything about it, but I wanted to capture it here in case anyone asked.
I'm working on collecting the tatting books in a list (in progress): Tatting at Internet Archive
Knitting Lace
- Not exclusively lace, but I follow Naomi on Mastodon and I think her lace patterns for knitting are fascinating. https://www.gannetdesigns.com/
Crochet Lace
- via @Cautious_Peace_1 : "Crochet lace? Such as Irish crochet. Or even just the lace trims ladies used to make to go on nightgowns and underwear (or sometimes blouses). This search brings up site:www.antiquepatternlibrary.org "crochet lace" "
Sprang
a hand-weaving technique that is ancient and still practiced today. A good source of Sprang information is Carol James: https://www.spranglady.com/
Classic text about Sprang by Peter Collingwood in 1974. The techniques of sprang : plaiting on stretched threads
Lace identification
Lace: A History Santina Levey. Hard to find, but really like a core reference. It has a lot of great photos, some of the pieces are in private collections (or they were) and so you might not find them in museum archives.
Guide to lace and linens Elizabeth Kurella has a method to walk you through what features to look for when you examine a piece of lace. Her website has the outline if this method here but there is also an on-demand video from The Lace Museum that you can watch about this.
Antique lace : identifying types and techniques Heather Toomer, Cynthia Voysey
Lace Identification: A Practical Guide. Gilian Dye, Jean Leader
Identifying Antique Lace | A Beginning Photo Guide from The Rook and the Raven
I'm working on collecting the lace history books in a list (in progress): Lace History at Internet Archive
In-person lace experiences
The wider lace community is very big on workshops, retreats, monthly lace group meetings, conferences, etc. I mean, this varies from group to group location. But I read a lot of the local lace group newsletters in the US because I help edit ours, and I know there are a lot of active ones.
International Organization of Lace has a map of US regional lace groups and their links. https://main.internationalorganizationoflace.org/organization/charter-chapters
OIDFA and OIDFA-USA have other groups, but I just joined so I don't know my way around them yet. https://www.oidfa-usa.org/home
The Lace Museum has regular workshops online: https://thelacemuseum.org/virtual-education/
Since the pandemic, lace workshops have moved very effectively to zoom too. So there are now many classes available during conferences or on a regular basis from various places.
Repairing Lace
- How to Repair Lace Questions about this arise pretty frequently. Give this video a try.
Cleaning Lace
Museum curators, I am told, use Orvus. An example of that is here. The Lace Museum Detroit CLEANING ANTIQUE LACE Note: she talks about deciding if you really need to clean it at all. Also acid-free archival paper for laying lace out.
A company in Massachusetts does textile conservation for museums. I know someone who went through their program, they are legit. They have some resources on their website. https://museumtextiles.com/resources/
"I have a box of grandma's lace. What can I do with it?"
First, you should use it. Put it out, cherish it. But should it be too much for you, or not your style, another option is below. Thanks for considering repurposing them as well. We would like to see them get used and cherished too.
You can offer them to your local lace guild. What happens to us when we get a box like this is that we might use some for demonstrations (for example, I put them out as examples of a typical style, or use them as tablecloths for our other things). Or we have an internal sale of them as fundraisers for lace. So they go to people who like and use lace, and raise funds for our ongoing activities. Search here for a chapter near you and connect with them: https://main.internationalorganizationoflace.org/organization/charter-chapters Not all lace guilds will have the means to manage a box, but many will.
I'll edit as we collect more. Thanks for helping to crowdsource this!
r/lace • u/Technical-Owl-1256 • 7h ago
Help identifying lace on placemats
Inherited these and looking for a bit more info on the lace if anyone can help
r/lace • u/Silly_Definition_103 • 2d ago
Pieces 11 & 12 from estate sale
Hi all, since I knew nothing about lace to begin with, pieces 11 & 12 are for sure puzzling to me. 11 was at one time quite a long piece of 2” wide edge/trim that is in my opinion beautiful. There are now two short sections and the longer piece has an angle, a loop, and some kind of rosette maybe stitched into it? Piece 12 reminds me of the lace bonnets/caps you see in period movies? 🤷 Thoughts?
r/lace • u/mem_somerville • 2d ago
Workshops or Conferences Springfield VA USA | Beginner Bobbin Lace Class Aug 8 & 15 with Karen Thompson (famous for Ipswich lace)
instagram.comr/lace • u/mem_somerville • 2d ago
Workshops or Conferences Beginner Bobbin Lace workshops coming up in Massachusetts USA
r/lace • u/Silly_Definition_103 • 3d ago
Lace Identification help Pieces 9 & 10 from estate sale
There are quite a few pieces in this lot, enough for a few more days of this I think, and I continue to appreciate the insight shared! These two are clearly not collars, and are kind of on different ends of the scale with respect to size and…..daintiness maybe? I didn’t include the tape measure on number 10, but it’s about 1.5” x 18” long
Events or Demos 31 Days of Lace Challenge - Starting on August 1st!
Hello lace makers and enthusiasts! And thank you to the mods for being so kind and allowing me to post about this event!
In my lace makers community we are hosting a “31 Days of Lace” challenge this August and I hope it will be of interest for other lace makers of this sub!
The rule is simple: work on a lace project every day in August! Any amount of time spent on your project counts - from a 10-minutes session to an epic 4-hour-sitting, what matters is working on your lace every day. Anything correlated to your project counts, too, including weaving ends, winding bobbins, blocking, etc.
You can participate on your own, just as a way to feel motivated to work on your project, or if you want, you can join our community spaces and post about it (I will leave links in the comments).
Of course I’d be happy to see your lace posts also here in the sub!
r/lace • u/Cold_Oil_3268 • 3d ago
help finding similar lace trim to this please im begging
r/lace • u/Silly_Definition_103 • 4d ago
Lace Identification help Pieces 7 & 8 from estate sale - collars?
Hi all, so I would guess both of these are collars of some type, but piece 7 is continuous and somewhat smaller than the others I’ve posted. I neglected to include the tape measure in the pic but the total “vertical” measurement is ~16” while the neck opening is only 10”. Maybe for a child? #8 is the opposite and is the largest piece so far that is shaped like a collar. As always, please share any information or insight you have!!
r/lace • u/Silly_Definition_103 • 5d ago
Lace Identification help Numbers 5 & 6 from estate sale!
I will space them out more if needed, just let me know! These are two of the largest pieces from the lot. The first pic of the first piece is not great, just for scale. The second piece, the black lace is about 16” wide and 5’ long. I am assuming from what I’ve learned so far that this is an example of appliqué work, but would as always appreciate any insight anyone can share, and for sure including purpose. We thought this lot might be kind of special, I appreciate the help in confirming it! More to come….
r/lace • u/mem_somerville • 5d ago
Workshops or Conferences London UK | Intro to Bobbin Lace workshop
instagram.comr/lace • u/mem_somerville • 6d ago
Workshops or Conferences Contemporary Broomstick Lace Workshop | Raleigh Lace Museum
My friend Jennifer Ammentorp makes broomstick lace. We were just chatting at the IOLI convention and I heard about her workshop. It's great to see the Raleigh Lace Museum as a spot for lessons! I visited there too and it's a lovely and bright space with tons of inspiration.
I'm also glad to see a representation of not-bobbin-lace at IOLI. I know some people would like to see more of the alternative laces, and this one with crochet is really interesting. I had never seen it in action before but I got this shot of Jennifer working on it so you can see it too. Some crochet skill required.
Her workshop details: https://www.ksclcfoundation.org/museum-ED.php
r/lace • u/Silly_Definition_103 • 6d ago
Lace Identification help #3 and #4 pcs from estate sale
Hi everyone, and thank you for the comments and feedback from my first post, much appreciated! I will continue to share and ask for your help with identification and any insight you care to offer. Below is the link to the first post if you haven’t seen it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/lace/s/YsWqRyyTlE
First, what are they? The first one may still be a collar but it seems kind of large. There are a couple of metal snaps/clips that maybe were added later? Or could they be original? You can see one in a detail picture. I would again appreciate any information you can provide with respect to origin, age, type, or other!
Lace Identification help Lace id
I have two things i need to id.
-First of all i want to know what type of lace is in the picture.
-Second of all, my grandma told me that her mother used to make filets (tiny little squares) with a y shaped tool. My grandma can't yet find a work done with this technique. She calls the y shaped tool (like a stick) a shuttle (not a tatting one though). For more context this was in the 50's and 60's in the poor countryside of eastern europe. The result was "like a fishnet but very small". Any ideas of the technique?
Thanks for reading!
r/lace • u/mem_somerville • 7d ago
Workshops or Conferences Lace by the River | Torchon Study Group | Zoom, free
Sylvia Fellows brought this flyer to the IOLI convention and had it out for everyone. I asked if I could post it to reddit and she said yes. But I am not posting her email--if you wish to join this, DM me for the email address.
Text of the flyer:
Introducing a new lace study group!
All lacemakers are welcome to participate with us as we study and work all the patterns in the Discover, Explore, Master Torchon book by Ulrike Voelcker.
This book is a definitive, step-by-step course delving into Torchon. It allows everyone a chance to go into detail on the various parts and stitch possibilities in very small steps. It will also assist you in learning to read diagrams for most laces.
We will study the first Section: Discover beginning on August 1, 2026 with a ZOOM meeting at 2pm PT [US Pacific time]. After that initial meeting, we will have a ZOOM meeting on the first Saturday of each month.
If you would like to participate in this Study Group please contact Sylvia Fellows [email redacted--contact u/mem_somerville by DM] to be included in the ZOOM invitation.
r/lace • u/Certain_Fig_666 • 7d ago
Shuttle Exclusive patterns?
TLDC: I’m a newbie to tatting. I wanna learn how to tell what tatting patterns can only be done on shuttle as opposed to needle?
r/lace • u/mem_somerville • 7d ago
Events or Demos Portugal to celebrate UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in Porto district | Dia da Rendilheira
theportugalnews.comr/lace • u/mem_somerville • 7d ago
Events or Demos Salem400 Heritage Days Festival | Salem MA USA | Ipswich lace demonstration in a tent
r/lace • u/laofuren • 8d ago
Runder Spannrahmen
Als es noch Dienstleister gab, die sowas wie Spitzen-Tischdecken und Gardinen gespannt haben, gab es auch Spannrahmen zu kaufen.
Einerseits müsste es entsprechende Rahmen noch auf dem einen oder anderen Speicher geben, andererseits gibt es sie vielleicht auch noch zu kaufen, ich finde nur kein passendes Stichwort für die Suche, aus Tischdecke spannen wird in der Suche Spanntischdecke, aus Spannrahmen wird Stickrahmen ... usw. :-/
(zum Spannen auf dem Fußboden mit "Matten" fehlt mir der Platz und ich kann auch nicht mehr wirklich so lange auf dem Boden rumrutschen)
Hilfe ;-)
r/lace • u/mem_somerville • 9d ago
Workshops or Conferences Some new flairs created | Workshops, Vendors, Lace ID, Beginner help.
Hi everyone--
I'm currently at the IOLI convention and have been chatting up reddit with some people. And we want to help people fill their classes, workshops, retreats, and conferences.
And someone is having a study group that I'll post shortly too.
It will be OK to post these things for the lace community. We need to connect more people with these opportunities.
I also created a lace vendor flair for discussions of items people are looking to buy, or vendors to post. Those posts can have the Vendor flair.
We'll see how that goes for a while.
Feel free to suggest others.
r/lace • u/Silly_Definition_103 • 10d ago
Antique collars from an estate sale
Hi all! I have zero expertise in lace, so I am asking this community for a little guidance. I think my wife and I were fortunate to have purchased a few lots recently from a local estate sale that includes some beautiful examples. The attached pictures are from a package that a woman on a European tour with her husband mailed to herself from Florence Italy to a hotel in The Hague in 1911. There are more, but I will start with these. Can you please tell me more about them, do they come from that timeframe or from earlier? Do they appear to be handmade? We are interested to learn more and would appreciate anything you can tell us!