Back in September 1988, when I was a telephone engineer for BT, working North West London, BT ran social clubs to encourage it's employees to take up sports and hobbies.
A new group was starting up at Willesden Telephone Exchange and as I was based just up the road at Shootup Hill, Kilburn I took the opportunity to learn to make lace.
In case you were wondering - or even if you were not, my gender. Not sure which raises more eyebrows the idea of a phone engineer making lace or the fact that I was one of only 13 female phone engineers in London back in 1990.
A new group was starting up at Willesden Telephone Exchange and as I was based just up the road at Shootup Hill, Kilburn I took the opportunity to learn to make lace.
In case you were wondering - or even if you were not, my gender. Not sure which raises more eyebrows the idea of a phone engineer making lace or the fact that I was one of only 13 female phone engineers in London back in 1990.
At the time I was also an active member of the Sealed Knot and the Siege Group then later with ties to 17th Century Life and Times who really brought history to life (I know they all say that!). The picture above is me is from a publicity shot around 1998.
I was very interested in how the clothing was made and hand sewed everything that I wore. The time and effort that this took brought home to me that craft and work in the luxury items of the period. Being given the opportunity to learn to make lace gave me something to do at the living histories that were run at the events. I researched the craft as it was during the period and still enjoy rereading The Romance of the Lace Pillow by Thomas Wright, as his wit just tickles me. If you have the urge to read it online then it can be downloaded as a two part pdf from the Arizona University archive on weaving. Part One, Part Two.
But as a true bibliophile I also urge you to buy a copy too.
I attended my first lace fair in September 1990 at the Springett Fair in Birmingham - the absolute mecca for all lacemakers at the time. I thought that I was going to die when I saw all the big names at the back of the hall demonstrating the skills that they taught at the British College of Lace and fondly remember that first lace fair simply because of the people I met there.
It is will a real sense of sadness I attend lace fairs now because so many of the great suppliers are long gone and whilst some excellent new blood has come into the craft if we are honest we are watching this skill slowly die a horrible death in the UK. When I joined back in 1990, the Lace Guild was the second largest guild in the UK, only just short in numbers to the sugarcraft guild. Those halcyon days are long gone and whilst there are some fantastic pockets of the art (can I please recommend my local groupISIS Lacemakers and the fantastic group at Tonbridge along with Poole) many groups are struggling to find enough people to keep themselves viable. We are not teaching this art at schools - dispicable when you think how it helped to fund education in the early lace schools through the girls learning to make lace and read with maths taught to the boys, and here in one of the lace regions of England - Beds / Bucks children are not taught it as a skill. The average age of lacemakers in the UK is 40+ and if we are honest it's really 50+ and I'm just being generous.
I beg any lacemaker out there who finds an even mildly interested person younger than them to superglue them to a chair and force them to learn the craft so it will live on.
I was very interested in how the clothing was made and hand sewed everything that I wore. The time and effort that this took brought home to me that craft and work in the luxury items of the period. Being given the opportunity to learn to make lace gave me something to do at the living histories that were run at the events. I researched the craft as it was during the period and still enjoy rereading The Romance of the Lace Pillow by Thomas Wright, as his wit just tickles me. If you have the urge to read it online then it can be downloaded as a two part pdf from the Arizona University archive on weaving. Part One, Part Two.
But as a true bibliophile I also urge you to buy a copy too.
I attended my first lace fair in September 1990 at the Springett Fair in Birmingham - the absolute mecca for all lacemakers at the time. I thought that I was going to die when I saw all the big names at the back of the hall demonstrating the skills that they taught at the British College of Lace and fondly remember that first lace fair simply because of the people I met there.
It is will a real sense of sadness I attend lace fairs now because so many of the great suppliers are long gone and whilst some excellent new blood has come into the craft if we are honest we are watching this skill slowly die a horrible death in the UK. When I joined back in 1990, the Lace Guild was the second largest guild in the UK, only just short in numbers to the sugarcraft guild. Those halcyon days are long gone and whilst there are some fantastic pockets of the art (can I please recommend my local groupISIS Lacemakers and the fantastic group at Tonbridge along with Poole) many groups are struggling to find enough people to keep themselves viable. We are not teaching this art at schools - dispicable when you think how it helped to fund education in the early lace schools through the girls learning to make lace and read with maths taught to the boys, and here in one of the lace regions of England - Beds / Bucks children are not taught it as a skill. The average age of lacemakers in the UK is 40+ and if we are honest it's really 50+ and I'm just being generous.
I beg any lacemaker out there who finds an even mildly interested person younger than them to superglue them to a chair and force them to learn the craft so it will live on.
Big ProjectsSometimes you need something to get your teeth into.
A big project is just that |
ModernWhether it's a present or for yourself, being able to wear a piece of lace you have made is a fantastic feeling.
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TraditionalTraditional patterns give you a link to the past and the lacemakers who have gone before you
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