Hi Everyone,

So I decided all of yesterday I wanted to start making bobbin lace. I don’t know anyone who does at the moment. I found a beginners video online and figured I’d learn the basic steps and continue from there. I currently knit but I’m not in a community of knitters I’m a bit of a lone crafter 🫣.

From reading in this forum I see there are different kinds of bobbin lace to make. Can someone suggest which would be easiest for a beginner to learn?

Thanks!

My very first bobbin lace work!

I dont think I understand the finishing… it is supposed to be the sepal on a flower and the petals are sewn on later. There are no pictures of what it looks like finished..

Hi,

I have a renaissance piece project I'm working on at the moment, and this piece includes parts of lace. So I trained myself in lacemaking and I'm now trying to understand the pattern I'm showing you right now.

I'm at half of it, so far no problem but I'm now encoutering the 3 loops at the top. On the third photo, I have 2 interpretations of how I should manage it :

- The yellow circle is where i'm stuck at the moment, not knowing how to continue.

- I guess the first 1 (the full blue one) is not correct, because I won't be able to reconnect the 2 other braids together to continue the lace.

- So, I think the 2nd one is better as it involves 2 braids and the third one connects the second half of the pattern, just under the 3 loops (and I'm saying that while i'm not 100% sure the pattern works like that), but still, maybe I'm wrong and I'm still not sure how to reconnect the breads together.

I'm not even sure if all the braids are supposed to reconnect all together, it's like there's a mismatch between the photo of the original piece and the pattern (knowing some picots are not even showing in the pattern).

So, heh, I'm stuck... I need some help if you can understand how this one works ?

If you want to know, the piece I'm working on is a linen renaissance cloak, from Seventeenth century Women's Dress Patterns - book one from Susan North and Jenny Tiramani (if you are into historical costume reproduction, you know them and if you like historical lace, then you'll find some patterns in it !)

Thank you a thousand time in advance, i'll post a photo of my first attempt to show you the result, before starting it for good, haha.

Original piece

The pattern

My guess of how I should procede

Where I am right now.

Hello everyone,

I am starting to deep dive into bobbin lace and just started my first pattern.

However I noticed, that most of the time I do not need a lot of lace wool on the bobbin, but it does slip off if I don't use a lot. Of course I don't want to waste a lot (which is a whole different topic on estimating the length of yarn I need) so I tried to wind a short bobbin. Right now I mostly use a knot, which isn't ideal because it isn't adjustable in length and a slip knot slips off or unravels easily.

How do you deal with short yarn bobbins and how do you estimate your needed length?

I needed a new bookmark and used some VERY makeshift supplies to make myself one! It was a lot of fun, i’m excited to learn more!!

Posted here because I couldn't add a picture to the comment. This is for the user who asked about a roller cushion on etsy.

I made this from a shoe box and some foam. The foam was cut and rolled to match the box. The whole thing was covered in dark cotton.

Hi there! I am new - so new, in fact, that I am preparing to buy my first tools. I have found something on Etsy that seems to have everything I could want (storage, size, etc.), but it is very pricy, and I wanted some opinions on it before I buy it. It is a roller pillow, and logically I feel like this must be superior, but I am not 100% sure. Can anyone break down for me in very simple terms the difference between a roller pillow and any other form of pillow and if this would be good for a beginning lacemaker? If it matters, I do have experience with other fiber arts (spinning, knitting, embroidery). Also, if anyone can recommend something like this cheaper (and preferably in the U.S. to cut shipping costs), I would appreciate it. The main features that interest me are the roller, the storage, the notches along the sides to hold bobbins aside, and the slanted pillow surface. TIA!

Bobbin Lace Making Pillow Box-small Red Flowers - Etsy

Has anyone tried using wood stain on their bobbins? I want some of mine to be darker but the darker woods are 3 to 4 times the price so I'm looking for a cheaper solution. My only worry is that the stain will end up staining my thread or the lace. I've stained other woodwork before and I've never had transfer issues but that's always been furniture.

Hi everyone. My first time posing here. When my mum went into a retirement place, I took custody of her bobbin lace materials. I've made a couple of bookmarks and watched a lot of videos. Some lace makers show two different tools while working. One pushes the pin down and the other has a small fork at the end and prices the pins up. What are these called, so I can search for them and see what they cost?

Spending a dreary 2nd day of Christmas practicing plumillas in mundillo bobbin lace. First one whole stitch, second one cloth stitch, and so on.

I finished my first piece of bobbin lace today! Thought I would share it here, since I've been following r/bobbinlace for ages before finally trying it out myself. I'm hooked! Lots of fun, already seeing things I can improve.

The pillow and some supplies belonged to a great aunt of an old lady who was clearing up her attic. There were a couple of patterns and pieces of lace so I recreated one of those :)

I also had a beginner question: how long do you leave the lace on the pillow before removing it? And do you fixate it in any way? I just steam pressed it.

Just finished making my first sniwflake ornament, most complex pattern I have done so far! Its so pretty!!

Pattern is from www.myrtleandeve.com

I learnt how to bob lace this summer after having inherited a lace pillow, bobbins and patterns. I have been working through the patterns I have and been following the descriptions, but for some of the patterns the descriptions have been lost if there ever were any. Because I like to push myself I gave one of those patterns a go, and while it's not perfect I'm still quite proud of it.