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Bobbin
lacemaking - an introduction
Bobbin lacemaking, as its name says, is done with
bobbins on which the thread is wound. The lace is made
on a pattern called a lace pricking which is pinned to a
lace pillow during the work. The threads are plaited or
woven using just two movements of the bobbins:
 cross: a bobbin is
lifted over the bobbin on the right
twist: a bobbin
is lifted over the bobbin on the left.
 With
combinations of these two simple movements, all
the variety of bobbin lace
patterns are worked.
There are at least as many kinds and shapes and
sizes of bobbins as there are regions in the world where
lace has been made. They all have one thing in common:
they serve as a reel to hold the thread.
Lace pillows also come in a great variety of
shapes and sizes. They can be flat and round or square
or rectangular, or bolster-shaped, pillow-shaped or
almost spherical. Some have clever mechanisms to make it
easier to work lace by the metre. All of them serve to
hold the pins which keep the lace in form during the
work. Therefore lace pillows must be very firm.
It is not difficult to learn to make bobbin lace.
Adult education classes in lacemaking are offered in
very many towns and cities. First you learn to wind the
thread onto the bobbins and to fix the lace pricking to
the pillow. At the beginning simple lace tapes are
worked so that you can learn the various lace stitches.
Then it is time to move on to simple patterns, corners
and curves. By the end of the first course you can make
real lace and mostly you have become addicted.
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