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Description

Pattern for making bobbin lace, consists of a strip of parchment which is perforated with pin holes and marked with pencil in a 'fan' lace design. Tabs made of medium blue linen or cotton textile are attached at each end. The initials of the pattern-maker, written in ink, are located at one end. Wrapped as a bundle in a piece of blue tissue paper, secured with a steel straight pin. A descriptive label, hand-written in ink on a scrap of white paper, accompanies the item but is not attached to it.

Narrative

Bedfordshire 16th-20th Century Pillow Lace-Making Collection. Notes from conversation with Mary Pack: she learned lace-making from a woman named Miss Barton, in their village of Ampthill. The patterns were made of parchment; they had to be pricked by hand. The old lace makers made their own patterns and signed them. Each length of pattern was called a down. To make a yard of lace, the pattern would have to be completed and then picked up and moved back to the beginning (without destroying the lace), three times. They were able to buy patterns from the old lace-makers, or some of the women might give them away, or exchange them for a bobbin. Some were sold in stores. They didn't use any written instructions in making the lace, but just followed the pattern. As they worked, they would chant the instructions: e.g., "over one, under one, cross three times." When they bought patterns, they initialed them. They had to own all their own patterns and materials as they worked with them for long periods of time. Experienced women could use a pattern without being taught how to do it -- they could tell just by looking at it. Someone who was familiar with a pattern could make about three inches of lace in an hour. They didn't look at the bobbins as they worked -- like playing the piano.

Item History

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