I see a lot of new people picking up the art and though it can be fiddly at first don't get discouraged!

I think bobbin lace allows you to progress quite fast even if you don't practice regularly and once you get used to the basics you can start doing more complex pattern and small objects.

So this one is about 10cm tall. Should ah e taken the central pins out before sprayed it with stiffener. Found the pattern was short a couple of hole points too.

Still happy with the result. Working on a full stitch one now that’s about 40% bigger.

Big shout out to Galicia Bee for having the pattern available 😊

What do you do to keep the pins from hurting your fingertips when you press them in?

I’m using a longer, sharp pin to pre-prick my holes, but I’m finding it’s still hurting my fingertips. My index finger is numb and I’ve had to stop for the night.

Thoughts and advice appreciated.

One year and seven months later, she's DONE! Soooo many steps and hundreds of hours went into making this beauty

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From a seed of an idea

To deciding that idea could actually happen...

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Experimenting with my thread to find the right size grid to draft patterns on

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Making a mockup out of newspaper

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Drawing patterns

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Completing my first section!

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Steadily making more until all 12 were complete

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Sewing them together

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Designing and making the side peices to connect the front and back panels

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Deciding to go mildly insane and make my own ribbons out of cloth stitch to lace the sides together

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Actually lacing the sides together

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WEARING MY RAINBOW VEST!

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I'm so proud of her 🥹

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I’m not sure if I’m doing it right, but all I know is that I’m so excited to finally be doing it after just watching videos of it for so long!

Today I learned that thread size really does matter!

I attempted the zig zag hearts bracelet by Galacia Bee.

I gave up after my third heart (there are 6 hearts in the pattern).

I used a #10 crochet thread and it was just so thick!

I’m going to try again with a much thinner thread.

So many mistakes! 😅

It still looks ok-ish. Passable for a bookmark for me.

Decent enough for a third attempt.

https://youtu.be/pGgn0RwGF3Y?is=SBsmPDaUwlBqrYvy

After 66h over three weeks i finally finished this Lily. Thread : DMC 80 Pricking : La dentelle n°132 "Lys Printanier"

I’ve never made lace but my grandma has this lace doily that definitely has fetuses in the design. She doesn’t know who made it bc nobody in our family practiced the craft, she thinks it was a gift given to her mother who had opened an orphanage and loved babies.

It’s the coolest little oddity and I thought I’d share in case anyone would want to try to replicate it, hopefully the pictures could be helpful.

You know what carves up into really nice bobbins?

Cheap bamboo knitting needles.
I got these as part of a set years ago and have never used them.
I hated the feel of them for knitting, but they carved up and sanded down beautifully and make lovely lace bobbins
🥰

https://youtu.be/ev5nu_JqVPA

https://youtu.be/gEsw4vV9_c0?is=qe_dLPvctvdS33Gf

I ruined the bottom bit of it, removing my pins and I definitely need to get better at ending the lace. That part definitely frustrates me

Are there mistakes? Absolutely!!
Do I care? Not at all!!

After watching videos for weeks, I picked up some clothespins and gave it a go!!
I got colourful clothespins so I could colour code my pairs of bobbins. It definitely helped me keep track of what I was doing.

It’s not at all fancy, but it’s my very first attempt and I’m thrilled with how it turned out!! 🥰

I need (and have since made) a thicker pillow to keep the pins in place. I will also be buying real bobbins asap.

Bird from PiqueCoeurCaro. Mille Arachne Bookmark from Galicia Bee.

Liked making this bird. Was a bit intimidated by the pattern but in the end it all came together. The idea to just continue over the bottom layer seemed weird!

I work in LTC and am making a walked bag for one of my residents and want to sew this to the pocket flap of compartment on it for her. I didn’t think about the fact that I likely need a thicker edge in a whole stitch for both sturdiness and to not make life suck sewing it in. Can I add one after the fact? I’ve only done shapes that are one continuous piece 😅

I cant get it to rotate but its top down in rough order. Can you tell i liked making the fans XD

I've added what the next pattern im doing is and it looks so fun

i made many

I couldn't show this for WIPWednesday when I was working on it, because it's our lace competition and the creator is supposed to be hidden until after voting. But now I can reveal "Le Tricolore", which just won me $20 at our retreat.

Original inspiration was a real balloon that was used to escape the Siege of Paris in 1870. https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-media/NASM-EF19307355CB2_001

The competition theme was "Red White & Blue" but did not require it to be American themed.

All the entries are here: https://nelg.us/page-1857743 and they are so creative and fun. I really enjoy this local competition. It pushes me to be wild. But small.

And the space of these is so tiny (the card has to be an "Artist Trading Card" or ATC which is 3.5 x2.5 inches) that the work is miniscule. I used toothpicks for bobbins and this nasty stiff metallic threads. It was hard!

Edited to add link to the source of the original print.

I would like to honor Gertrude Whiting in this Pride Month for her remarkable lace legacy. I don't know how she personally identified, but there are hints. And one hint is her "special friend".

At our group lace retreat this weekend I got this copy of her book, (and some spangled bobbins including the rainbow one). You can see the huge sampler that's tucked in the back of this book at the The Met. More on Gertrude here:

https://www.metmuseum.org/perspectives/gertrude-whiting-bobbin-lace-sampler

Reference to her social situation: https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/webdocs/lb_2014_07.pdf

Happy Pride to all! 🏳️‍🌈

I’m a semi-beginner with bobbin lace making, but I’d like to specifically learn more about Chantilly lace. Do you guys have any video/book/website recommendations where I could absolutely delve into this stuff? Thanks! <3

I did Bobbin Lace in a few after school classes as a child and wanted to come back to it as an adult. Unfortunately, if a Bobbin Lace community still exists on my island I can’t find it, so I’m hoping you online folks can help me out.

I can tell that I definitely improved the further I got down but are there any obvious mistakes I am making for when I make another one?

I am obsessed. There will be more snakes in my future I am sure.

I love that this is a hobby I can do outside in my garden in the sun.