Today’s piece is about Bobbin lace for beginners: the definitive guide to start. If you’ve been at this a while you may already know; if you’re starting, even better: you’ll save yourself the suffering I went through.
First things first: get comfortable. Pillow at chest height, feet on the floor, shoulders down. Start tense, finish tense If you fancy, I’ll leave Intermediate small flowers in torchon.
Take your time. Rushing bobbins always backfires. One row at a time, no peeking at others.
What you will need¶
You’ll need this, nothing more, nothing less:
- Flat 35-40 cm pillow.
- 12 boxwood or beech bobbin pairs.
- Cotton thread no. 20.
- 50 stainless pins.
- 1:1 scale pricking.
How I do it, step by step¶
Don’t skip any. Everything links in this craft:
- Fix the pricking with four corner pins.
- Mount pairs on the top pin.
- Learn half-stitch and whole-stitch.
- Repeat the first row three times to set rhythm.
- Return each pair to rest position when done.
Where it gets sticky¶
These are the stumbles I see most often:
- Over-tightening threads: design warps.
- Skipping steps out of impatience.
- Not marking the work start.
Variations¶
When you have it under control, try these:
- Switch cotton for linen as you gain skill.
- Try two colours to visualise crosses.
- Increase pairs when bored.
Nearby¶
- Intermediate small flowers in torchon: how to refine
- Intermediate three-dimensional lace: how to refine
- Advanced metallic-thread lace and variations
- Valenciennes lace: local history and tradition
I’ll stop here. If you need decent materials —proper thread, proper pillows— Encaixe is the shop, and they know what they are talking about.