Plaited Lace Sample

This is a sample of a pattern I worked from a reprint of Le Pompe, 1559. This is one of the few surviving examples of bobbin lace patterns we have from before 1600. Weaving lace with bobbins was a relatively new technique at the time, which gained popularity as people realized that lace made in this way could be done much more quickly and easily than by the widely used needle lace techniques. The original book is made up simply of a series of woodcuts, illustrating shapes of lace designs; it was up to the lacemaker to figure out how these were to be practically accomplished. Fortunately for modern lacemakers, the copy currently on the market also contains a technical section by Patricia C. Payne, including prickings for several of the designs, to aid the lacemaker in learning the required techniques and in learning how to "read" the woodcuts. An introduction by Santina M. Levey gives a nice overview of the history of bobbin lace at this time.

Many of the techniques and styles used in Torchon or other more modern forms of bobbin lace were not developed at this early time. Most of the woodcuts illustrate laces which are plaited, or braided, in one form or another, or worked in a form we call "tape lace," which I can't illustrate now, because I haven't worked any of them yet. These techniques require a lot fewer pins than some modern techniques, which is hardly surprising, as metalworkers in that time probably didn't produce extremely inexpensive pins. (I can't help wondering if the voice in the old song, "Paper of Pins," was singing to a lacemaker . . . "I'll give you a paper of pins, and that's the way our love begins, if you'll marry me." Certainly a lacemaker might be a valuable resource in a marriage, since she would be producing a valuable commodity. But as I really don't know the origin of that song, or even the date of origin, I can't truly make any judgement calls; it's just an amusing thought.)

I made this sample as an exercise to learn the plaiting technique out of red cotton thread I happened to have on hand.