Introduction to

BoBBin Lacemaking

Rosemary Shepherd

8th printing Lace Press Australia

2011

Lace Press Australia

Acknowledgements This book would have been inadequate without the encouragement and support of my students, each of whom contributed by working from the instructions I wrote. Apart from helping to identify errors, they have also kept me in touch with the special problems of a beginner lacemaker, which are all too easily forgotten when one is more experienced. Some of my students live in remote areas and many have never seen another lacemaker at work. Their determination and enthusiasm are a great inspiration to me. All photography by Roger Deckker except where otherwise indicated. Cover photograph: Roger Deckker

Author’s note for 2011 edition It is now thirty years since I began working on the first edition of this book, extending the work I did for the Australian Lace Guild bobbin lace correspondence course. In 1995 I revised it, reducing the scale of the patterns, and adding a chapter on free lace. The fact that demand warrants yet another printing – its 7th – is very pleasing, particularly since the book continues to be popular overseas as well as in Australia. Advances in printing technology mean that I can now keep the book in print, without having to have huge stocks on hand. Digitisation of the text gave me an opportunity to give the book a new look by replacing the truly awful 1995 cover with one which is reminiscent of the 1983 cover. As always I am grateful for positive feedback from my readers, and I will continue to enjoy meeting those who have taught themselves to make lace from my book. Rosemary Shepherd July 2011 © Rosemary Shepherd 1983, 1986, 1995 (revised) 1996, 1997, 2003, 2011 and 2018 Published by Lace Press Australia 20 Maitland Street Uralla NSW 2358 Australia www.lacepressaustralia.com Email: [email protected] ISBN: 978-0-646-56053-3 Printed & bound in Australia

Lace: A History, Santina Levey, Victoria and Albert Museum/ W. S. Maney, 1983 Lace; History and Fashion, Anne Kraatz, Thames and Hudson, 1991 An Early Lace Workbook, Rosemary Shepherd, Lace Press Australia, 2012

Australia Cottons and bobbin Lacemaking Supplies (Rochelle Sutherland) Website: www.lacemakingsupplies.com.au Email: [email protected] Phone 02 6374 2696

ORGANISATIONS

Torchon House lace Supplies (Gaye and John Beswick) C/- Post Office Uraidla South Australia 5142 Phone/fax 08 8390 1324

The Lace Guild “the Hollies” 53 Audnam, Stourbridge West Midlands DY84AE United Kingdom Website: www.laceguild.org

United Kingdom Tim Parker, 124 Corhampton Road Bournemouth, Dorset BH6 5NZ

OIDFA (International Bobbin and Needle Lace Organisation) Website: www.oidfa.com

USA Van Sciver Bobbin Lace (Holly van Sciver) 130 Cascadilla Park Ithaca NY 14850 Website: www.vansciverbobbinlace.com Switzerland General lacemaking supplies Atelier MB (Martin Burkhard) Website: www.ateliermb.com

Australian Lace Guild Website: www.australianlaceguild.com.au State Branches are listed under “Lace Guild” in telephone directories for all capital cities

International Organisation of Lace, USA Website: www.internationalorganisationoflace.org

Introduction to Bobbin Lacemaking contains extensive diagrams and exercises which teach the basic techniques of lacemaking, beginning with information on equipment and materials and detailed instructions on preparing to work, including pattern construction. The author takes readers through a series of exercises that build upon the basic skills of lacemaking and gives instructions for a number of small projects. From there it is only a matter of a little practice before beginner lacemakers are able to develop their own designs. Rosemary Shepherd is well known in the lace world, both as a maker and a lace historian with a passion for the very early laces. Her own work is innovative and experimental, using different materials and forms. Rosemary was a founding member of the Australian Lace Guild and has taught in Australia and overseas for more than 30 years. For 20 years she was also specialist lace curator at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, where she developed the Lace Study Centre and Curated the 1998 and 2001 International Lace for Fashion Awards. In 1990 Rosemary Shepherd was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for service to the arts, particularly lacemaking.