It could have been so more interesting if only cameraman could understand that with such a subject, he should focus on what the lady shows and not on her face !
Great description of bobbin lacemaking. I too wish you had spent a little more time showing the samples and explaining perhaps the differences between the types, Torcheon, Bucks, Beds, Tonder and any other Midlands types of lace. Video could be clearer in places but all in all an excellent and inclusive history.
‘This is Bucks ground’ - and the camera stays on the faces. This could have been such a fascinating, and historically important, video. Did it not occur to any of those who made this film that the audience might like to see what that nice woman was describing? Utterly frustrating. I sat right through this video and got increasingly angry.
Right?! When she began to mention how intricate some of the older samples were, I felt like I wanted to jump through my screen and into the building to see for myself! 😢
Thank you so much. This was absolutely delightful, and very informative. I have just sent away for an introductory kit, and some books in the hope of learning this beautiful craft. It is a lovely feeling of connection to the past brought in to the present. How fortunate we are to have presentations like this one brought in to our homes. This was really inspiring.
Did you ever have a go at bobbin lace? I tried but I do think a tutor might help me better. Hard to find anyone near me. Wish I’d learned when I was young.
@@marybarratt2649 Hi Mary. I started learning and then wound up in hospital (unconnected facts 🤣) I will start trying again when able. I do other crafts, but I do find this exceptionally challenging. My cat Buttercup does enjoy the whole threads/ dangling bobbin thing. I will say this with absolute confidence. We are never too old to start a craft, even one as challenging as this. We become more patient with age and we generally have learned that nothing can be achieved without sustained effort. The other good thing is that I have found that there is a really lovely lacemaking community on RU-vid. Lace makers genuinely want to help people learn and appreciate this craft. I agree that it would be so much easier with a teacher. I don't know if there is anyone who works online, but that might be expensive. I would keep on having a go, and ask the local night school college if they have any intention of getting in a lace tutor. These "night school" courses are very inexpensive and you never know your suggestion might make them look around for a tutor. Good luck!
My maternal grandmother, born in Brittany, F, made bobbin lace (Valenciennes). She had been taught by nuns as a young girl in a Catholic school. I was fascinated by her dexterity. I remember the curtains of her room, the bedspread and the doilies, I have some still. She once said lace-making is the school of patience.
What a lovely presentation. I live in the U.S. and there are far fewer lacemakers and lacemaking resources. I have one friend, who specializes in Tønder lace, who has shown me the basics and I am pressing on using RU-vid and books as my teachers.
The pattern belonged to the lacemaker or the family. Burning her tools would stop others working out the pattern. If a young lacemaker was to marry her pillow would be taken from her for a time with the idea she would forget her family pattern. After marriage she would learn her new family’s pattern.
This was fascinating. There was a classic flaw though, when someone is showing something you should put the camera on what they are showing ie pictures or lace making.
i enjoyed this. I lived in England in the mid 1980s and learned to make bobbin lace. I have the Nottingham book. I made the bucks point lace sampler she showed__ probably my most complicated piece. my largest (144 bobbins) was a collar about 7 inches wide. I barely baste it onto different blouses and dresses. I demonstrated and taught a little when I moved back to the States.
Interesting, however, it would have been nice to see the items closer to the camera so they could be seen better. Thank you for the stories that went with the items.
Thank you somuch for your reaction. Your work is valuable and visually concentrating a bit more on the objects discussed will make it more understandable and attractive for your viewers.
Great little video with some history about a craft that surprisingly seems to be having a minor renaissance these days! I see a lot of lace-making tutorials here on RU-vid, but obviously the history is as fascinating as the craft. (I'm still just at fairly basic level - making bookmarks and small lengths of torchon lace - but I plan to learn more as I go along. If my great-grandmother could do it, so can I!)
You have a display of beautiful Lace history behind you. Love to see old-fashioned lacing techniques and procedures please.Truthfully would like to see patterning techniques.
I love lace. I appreciate it even more after this video. I hope this skill will never die out. We are not robots and need to respect our history. Thank you for producing this video. I am sure there were time constrains filming the process of lace making.
I had access to elders in my lines before the pin cards ruinned I drew from those having interest in continuing so that a family art wasn't lost the pillows were burnt bobbins recored and circle of are named bobbins but I was young so I 'd not personally done nor I inherit I think they burnt the but there were lot of girls u.s. and ok not subject on pillow and ?many distroyed can I remake ? The star shapes I continue to store separate
Hi Mary- thanks for your comments. I am not sure how many you can remake, but it would be worth getting in touch with the Woodlanders project direct on Facebook as they will have some answers for you. Search Woodlanders Lives and they will come up!
Somewhereupthere. Speaking as an 80-year old, there's always time enough to do things you love. Or, in many cases, something you have to do to survive. And there are many kinds of survival.
