Hello everyone. Now that the extreme summer, with all its problems, seems to have passed, I have returned to the computer.
During my time away, I rearranged and set up more stock in the craft room and refocused my attitude to share more activities and home projects. Hopefully, I can encourage you to participate, and we can share and exchange activities and ideas in our homes.
European Origins
Today I would like to introduce you to an old fashion home craft I saw in Europe. Strands of linen, silk, and now cotton are twisted, intertwined, and knotted to form delicate clothes and patterns. Called tatting, lace making, and crochet; all are a form of lace-making. Today we might call it a form of fabric art. More than a skill used to make furniture protectors and table dollies, it soon advanced to a more intricate skilled craft. It began as a technique inserted into fashions worn by ladies of means in the 1820s.
While in Ireland, I found a lot of various laces available. Indeed local women still practice different techniques, and a new generation of artists create fantastic modern designs and fabrics. Lace is mainly a needlepoint art or a form of crochet. See HERE for descriptions and photos.
Lacemaking began in Europe- Italy or Belgium, they say, and quickly swept throughout Europe as the new trend. Queen Victoria saw it in Paris and used lace to make her white wedding gown thereby setting the fashion for Ireland and England. See here dress HERE
Many women were able to support their families by creating yards of lace. Now I find it used by young fabric artists. I found NewAge weavers, tatters, lacemakers in every art fair I attended in Europe. It remains a beautiful and expensive fashion or art piece.
What to do with Lace
The beauty of handmade and even machine-made lace is still appreciated. Etsy shows a great deal of handmade lace used in modern styles. Below is a lace collar that would look great over a top or dress.
While most of us do not use dollies in today’s home, I still do, and have a couple of select pieces I use in my English country, modernized decor. If you don’t wear the item as a garment or garment trim, I like to suggest you can enjoy lace as an art form. That’s what I plan to do in my September project.
Lace is part of a fabric craft grouping known as piecework. It use to mean lace, quilting, dress repair, dollies, woven blankets. But now those same skills have a more modern design and utilization. For example, Macrame is another piecemeal fabric art form. Below is another Etsy item: macrame headboard
As you can see in the next paragraph:
On the original post last summer, I thought my pieces were Hungarian needle lace but then found out they were likely Romanian. I have a couple of pieces of what is called Hungarian Lace. Also known as Csetneki Lace. It was developed by a couple of Hungarian sisters who learned the craft in France from Irish Crochet lacemakers and bought it home. The Irish had devised individual motifs for specific regions, and so the sisters also developed patterns for their homeland. It is the patterns and their meaning that make this lace unique.
I also noted the string they use in the Eastern European form is more of a dark linen color, and the string gauge is a bit heavier than I found in Ireland. I use one pattern on my coffee table and have another I sometimes use on the dining table with my dinner linens. If you go to my post in February 2022, you will see I updated my information.
I have two coaster-like dollies also made by a Romanian/Hungarian friend when she was a young girl. I hope to frame them in a black frame with white matting as part of my wall art. Additionally, I plan to frame a baby dress. I have seen others frame and hang baby clothing.
I’ll show you when I get them done. I have them scheduled as a September Project so Hopefully. I have them done soon. I need to get another frame. I would like them to match
I recently redid my guest room with my granddaughters in mind. I plan to use the dress-in-the-wall art in that room.
I’ll show you that room makeover soon.
What have you been doing in your home while I have been away? Is anybody into Fabric Art?
Take good care guys
Dara
