| Bobbin Lacemaking |
| Bobbin lace is a very common form of lace. Most laces are bobbin laces and before the Industrial Revolution where hand made. After the invention of machines that could do the repetative work faster and better than humans most bobbin laces became made by machines; however there is a small number of lacemakers left out there. Bobbin lacemaking is cheap, in fact, most supplies are rather pricey and not always easy to find, but it can be enjoyable, meditative, and very rewarding. This technique of lacemaking is like weaving or braiding. First, you take your pattern (or pricking) and pin it to a bobbin lace cushion, pillow, or other padded surface. Then you fasten your threads to the pins on your pricking. Also, on each thread you hang a bobbin which will act as a weight. Then the threads are braided in pairs and that is how the structures are formed and then secured with more pins. For most techniques only four bobbins are moved at a time; but for some other more complicated (or less) more or less may be used. You work your bobbins in rows, picking up and putting down a needed according to your pattern (or idea). The result of this a fabric made up of both threads and open parts which should make some sort of design. Some parts will look like nets, others will look like braids or like woven fabric. Bobbin lace is very old and was made from weaving and braiding (and thus the similarities). It is thought that bobbin lacemaking was invented in both Flanders and northern Italy at the same time. The technique spread throughout Europe quickly and later to Asia and North America. bobbin lace making was introduced to Germany in the 1500s by Barbary Utmann and the people of the Erzebirge Region began to use it as a source of income. While both men and women (and even children) made lace, the lace of women was considered supireror due to their finer fingers. There is also a large traiditon of bobbin lacemaking in the Bayrische Wald and Pfalz regions. Bobbin lace making was most popular in the 18th centruy while lace itself reached it's heyday in the 19th century due to Industrialisation which made lace more affordable. Machines made finer lace and made it more quickly than the most industrious women and handmade lace was made obsolete. However, the art of handmade bobbin lacemaking survived in eastern Europe and the Erzgebirge Region of Germany. There are also certain laces, Guipure for example, which cannot be made by machines and must be handmade. Because of this, many bobbin lace making schools are still intact today and it remains a popular hobby. |