Hi Arachnids I have found the latest discussion on the revival of lace fascinating and would like to add the following.
When I started teaching lacemaking in 1973 prickings were almost impossible to find. My motherâs friend knew of someone who had made lace and gave me her address. I visited her and was allowed to borrow the prickings and copy them, at the time the best way was to take rubbings. When I returned them she told me her lacemaking story. Maria had gone to Olney during WWII with a group of evacuee children and was teaching at the local primary school. She saw the writing on one of the buildings that stated Olney was the centre of lacemaking and was interested. When she asked her class of 7 year olds if someoneâs mother could teach her to make lace she was puzzled by the reaction, she had committed a social solecism and could not understand it. Later on in the week one of the boys slid a bobbin into her hand and said his mother would be happy to see her. It turned out that to admit that your mother made lace was to admit that your grandmother was uneducated and could not read, so lacemakers kept quiet about it. Fortunately Maria had the chance to make lace and after the austerity of the war the pleasure of making and looking at crafts changed the attitude. Like everything else, crafts go through fashions in what is popular and having gone through a revival it waned in popularity. However, I have had more new lacemakers coming to my classes in the last two years than in the previous 10. Added to that, we now have many excellent books available for wishing to learn in the future so do not despair. Blow the dust Alex - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
