Piecework January-February 2001
Painted with Thread: The Art of American Embroidery The Anne Gower Sampler
This whitework sampler in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum is one of the few surviving pieces of needlework that traveled to North America from England during British colonization in the early seventeenth century.It will be included in the museum’s exhibition later this year.
Paula Bradstreet Richter
Bobbin Lace: Intrigue and Hard Work
Fine bobbin lace, often produced for little pay under deplorable conditions, was a highly sought after commodity in Europe from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Governmental attempts to control lace trafficking brought about the establishment of elaborate smuggling operations.
Susan Temme Groh
Precious Metals, Precious Lace
Lace makers of the early sixteenth century often wound their bobbins with gold and silver wire and threads, instead of linen or silk. The metal laces they produced adorned clothing and costumes until the fashion waned in the seventeenth century.
Elaine Merritt
Halas Lace
In l902, the artist Arpád Dékáni began designing fine needle lace in Kiskunhalas, Hungary, developing a distinctive style that became a treasured national art form.
Georgia Seitz
Ioana Bodrojan’s Romanian Point Lace
In Romania in the l970s, Ioana Bodrojan kept her hands busy making crocheted cord while her young daughter, Narcisa, underwent physical therapy. More than twenty-five years later, she developed a talent for using the cord to make Romanian point lace.
Bart Elwell
The Sun Laces
Circular needle laces developed from cut- and drawn-work embroidery. They first appear in Spanish portraits from the sixteenth century, and the technique spread to other parts of the world with the establishment of Spanish colonies.
Margaret Horton
Mary Card, Australian Crochet Designer
Forced by hearing loss to sell the elementary school she had founded in a Melbourne, Australia, suburb in l889, Mary Card became one of the most successful crochet designers of the early twentieth century. This is the first in a two-part series on the life and career of Mary Card.
Barbara Ballantyne
Things to Make
A Silver and Gold Bobbin-Lace Pendant to Make
Emulate sixteenth-century bobbin-lace makers, who worked with precious metal threads before the advent of linen bobbin lace, by making this silver and gold pendant designed by Lenka Suchanek.
Picture-Perfect Lace to Crochet
Use this filet-lace edging to trim an infant’s or doll’s dress. Jackie Chambers adapted the design from an edging shown in a circa-1905 photograph of her grandfather as a baby.
A Jabot to Tat
Wearing a fall of lace on the front of a shirt or blouse was particularly popular in the eighteenth century. The pattern for this jabot, tatted by Elaine O’Donal, first appeared in Harper’s Bazar in 1873.
A Romanian Point-Lace Butterfly to Make
A crocheted cord is the foundation for this form of tape lace. This butterfly, made by Bart Elwell, incorporates a wide variety of needle-lace stitches.
A Teneriffe Lace Wheel to Make
Delicate Teneriffe lace wheels are fun to make and may be combined to create doilies, edgings, and more. Use the techniques presented here by Margaret Horton to design and stitch your own lace projects.
A Lovebird Cozy in Filet Crochet
Add a touch of elegance to your tea service by crocheting this cozy, designed by Mary Card, that features an Australian lovebird motif. Crocheted by Barbara Ballantyne.
