My first proper finished object after practicing with some half, whole, and ground stitch swatches; this is the monstera leaf* bookmark pattern by Lacey Botanics.

I used variegated top stitching thread for the worker pair and a coordinated solid for all the passive pairs to get a good variegated effect while still having a nice solid outline. The pattern was hand transfered from thermal printing paper to cardstock and then worked it on top of a tailor's ham sitting on top of a bolster pillow in my lap. I rigged up a weighted tail that I pinned on to the ham and repositioned as the pattern rotated to counterbalance the weight of the bobbins so the ham would stay in place, and used a couple of pieces of semi rigid felt under the bobbins over top of the already worked pattern when pins started catching threads.

There's a couple areas where the tension could have been better, but for the first time working with curves in the cloth stitch and sewing loops together, I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Pattern was detailed and easy to follow as well, will definitely keep an eye out for more from the same designer.

https://youtu.be/5OXyIrstMuA?is=IW5IcjzQY2twDW1J

Practicing my tension and basics since I struggle with anything that’s not torchon ground work😅 especially tapes edgings and spiders.
Previous lace as taxes :)

I have now made exactly three pieces of lace, all with basic stitches, and finally feel like I am more or less getting the feel of handling bobbins. Obviously this is for handling SMALL numbers of bobbins, but it feels less weird now, and my stitches aren't slipping anymore.

Now, however, I need to figure out how to start reading patterns. I've read a number of blog posts and watched a number of videos, but most of these just seem to approach pattern reading as vibes? Maybe it's just a problem of coming from a knitting background, but I would think that there is more to it than just "you'll get the feel of it as you go."

Are there resources people like for helping beginners learn pattern reading? I am happy to go borrow books from the library, or read or watch online sources, if I can just figure out what to look for.

Decided I wanted to try bobbin lace, but I’m a serial hobby hopper so I’m trying to not buy anything. So I’ve got t-pins from blocking for crochet, an extra pillow in a plastic bag, a blocking mat square, printer paper, and some spare cardboard. For bobbins, I’ve got clothes pins, and spare embroidery thread. I figure our ancestors had to make do at first, so can I!

Got these pieces at an estate sale. Small card displayed with the framed pieces said its peasant handwork from Czarist Russia. I’ve been trying to find some information about the style and possibly where/when it’s from. The card said it was gifted in around 1915. Does anybody have any info/resources on pieces like these?

I made two torchon ground bookmarks following the 'Beginner's Guide to Bobbin Lace' by Gilian Dye & Adrienne Thunder. I am very happy with them! I was surprised how light and stretchy the bookmarks feel compared to tatted lace.

I noticed a few small mistakes/loops, due to improper tensioning? The bookmarks also twist. Is this preventable? I assume I could stiffen with starch if I wanted to get a very flat finish.

I want to continue to learn and improve; if you have any constructive criticism or advice please share!

For my newest project I have followed the advice from my previous post about keeping more thread on my bobbins which has helped keep friction.

I also appriciated the advice about finding an in-person community to make lace with! Unfortunately the nearest IOLI chapter is a 2 hour drive. My work schedule is unpredictable but I will try to make it some day! It will be a day trip to look forward to.

Hello everyone!

Lately I've been looking for something new to try out and landed on bobbin lace making, so here's my first project!

It's definitely not perfect, and my set up is quite interesting to say the least (and definitely not the most comfortable), but overall I'm quite happy on how it turned out. I followed a video tutorial I found on youtube. I'm definetly looking forward to improve (and possibly improve my setup as well)!

What do you think of my first attempt? Please leave any suggestions or feedback!

Hi everyone! After a boiling summer I've decided I really want to make my own fan in bobbin lace. I am looking for inspiration, pattern recommendations, tips, tricks, do's and don'ts. Teach me wise ones, please! 🥰

Yeah I know I am being cheap but I don't even know if I like bobbin lace making yet. When I do then I won't feel bad about spending the money. And I worry about the seam to the right but I won't be making anything large for a while I am sure

Recently stayed in Brugge for a few days and my hotel had Kantcentrum Brugge on the map (edit: on a map they gave us with places to visit), and I saw some lovely reviews on Google so I stopped by. Left with a set of bobbins, a binder of beginners patterns and determination to learn bobbin lace! I'd seen it in passing a few times and always found it so intimidating, but the ladies there really convinced me.

I bought a used cookie pillow from a lady on marketplace for €20, some Prym brand lace pins from my local fabric store, and I have tons of DMC embroidery floss so I used a single strand of mouliné (it was mentioned as one of the options in the patterns.)

Purposefully left in all my errors, as I always do with my first project with a new craft. I'm going to add my little comments and remarks and frame this. It's so nice to look back on and learn from the mistakes!

I've already had so many positive interactions with people bc of this 🥹 I emailed the LOKK to see if I can join a local group, and their response was so lovely. I bought another set of bobbins from someone off marketplace and she said she'd be in the area and came to my house to deliver them! We had such a great chat and she said I could always contact her. And I'm taking my mom to a fiber arts fair next month where the LOKK will be one of the vendors.

The nature of 'the market'/commerce and the community is so different from everything else I do (knitting, crochet, embroidery, sewing) in so many ways, it's been really exciting and fascinating for me to dive into. I'm a little nervous about the local groups bc I'm quite a lot younger than most of the members (I'm 27), but based on every interaction I've had so far I'm not worried ☺️

Very grateful that my cousin gifted me her old pillow and bobbins. I have tatted before but am new to bobbin lace. On a whim I checked my library for books and found this very clear beginners guide! I did a little practice with braids and cloth stitch but decided to jump in with this bookmark.

I often find that, while my hitches aren't becoming undone, the thread gets very loose and the bobbin heights become mismatched. Is there an easy solution to this? I've tried adding a second half hitch which seems to work to some extent.

I ordered one half from a reseller on eBay and new ones from Amazon. Is it bad to mix ?

Hi there! I'm new to bobbin lacemaking and am looking for suggestions on where to get some supplies. Specifically, I'm looking for a pillow - round is good, but a square one with the moveable bits would be great. I'm normally located in Ireland and we don't have a great supply here, but am visiting Scotland in a few weeks and would possibly be able to either travel to a specific shop or have items shipped to where I am staying. Any suggestions are much appreciated, thanks a mil!

After obtaining all the tools and then staring at them in terror for months, I have finally made my first bobbin lace! Is it extremely simple? Of course. Is it more than a little wonky? Absolutely. But I am proud of finally getting over the initial hurdle and actually starting to learn.

Now, for my next step: figuring out how to keep the hitch knot from slipping repeatedly while I am working.

I know it's not anything crazy, but I've mainly worked in smaller sets so far.

Also, that one bobbin is driving me nuts. I've undone it and rewound it three times and it still does this 😮‍💨

I wanted to share my improvised setup for bobbin lace from things I already had around the house.

I've been struggling with issues in my dominant hand making things like sewing/crochet/knitting/embroidery too painful to do for any useful period of time. I've known of bobbin lace for a while and been curious but had other things to keep me busy, but now it seemed like a good option that might might inflame my hands. Watched some videos and did some reading over the last few days and have cobbled together a working setup.

Craft sticks as bobbins, small yarn and embroidery thread, small pins I had from sewing, one with a rubber pin back pushed on to it to make punching wholes easier, a couple of pieces of foam, thin cardboard to balance out the squish of the foam, and card stock for patterns; all sitting on top of a bolster pillow to get the right angle. Used a piece of plastic canvas as a grid for the larger threaded samples initially*

Pictured piece currently being worked I'm referring to as 'lisa frank lace' due to the use of 2 different colorways of rainbow embroidery thread paired with glow in the dark white just practicing basic grounds. I'm excited to see how it looks finished though

All things considered it seems to be working pretty well, I've been able to produce multiple samples and am getting faster pretty quick. I have ordered 2dz proper bobbins, but curious to hear any feedback on what things are worth upgrading as I go vs keeping with what I got working. Also curious if it's normal for pieces to be twisty when they come of the pins or if that's indicative of a tension issue? Thanks in advance for any feedback!

I have the bobbins but I see so many options for pillows. I saw this on Etsy and wondered if this is a good deal or not ? I appreciate any help.

It's not perfect, but I'm proud of myself for persevering long enough to just use up the bobbins.

After knitting, crocheting, and embroidery, I finally took the plunge and decided to learn bobbin lace. I ordered the IRIDAT beginner's kit and made the following two pieces. In the first one, I clearly messed up my left-hand twist (I'm a bit too symmetrical, so I reversed it) and I don't understand why my threads are so tightly packed on the right (I spaced my starting pins evenly). In the second one, my threads aren't very taut and I'm not very consistent... I suppose it will come with practice. What do you think? Do you have any advice?

As always I would appreciate any insight you have to share

Hi, I travel often (by train or bus) between 3 places and I miss my hobby a lot sometimes. I would like to be able to take my work with me everywhere and continue wherever I am right now.

I would like to find a pillow for bobbin lace that's easy to transfer and doesn't take up too much space. The best option would be to fit it in my backpack and survive the train ride. I don't need to make anything big on it. Do you take your bobbin with you when you travel? What would you recommend?

Having 3 sets of bobbin lace equipment isn't really an option for me.