Maple Leaf in Bobbin Lace
Prepared for the Vancouver Lace Club Adele Shaak, January 2017
2017 is Canada's 150th year, and we have made this anniversary the theme of the lace exhibit for the Vancouver Lace Club's Getaway, April 22-‐24, 2017. You can enter any piece of lace that falls into the theme, of any shape or colour or type, but we have had many requests for a Maple Leaf pattern, so I have created this pattern, which is free to anyone. This simple tape lace outline can be filled in, if you like, in lots of different ways. You can fill it in with: – a bobbin-‐made filling (plaited, torchon ground, whatever you like) – machine net, (sew onto lace and then trim away the excess) – an insert in another type of lace. For example, a tatted motif could fit into the space in the middle, and be sewn onto the tape. I made the sample simply by following the outline pattern, the way Duchesse lace is made. You make the tape the same way as you would if you had a pattern with pinholes, but you decide
where the pins go. If you've never done this before, do give it a try. Once you can make a tape this way, you can make your own tape laces from any drawing. I have also include a pattern with pinholes. These are my pinholes, but if you would like to move them, feel free. There are no lace police! (see following pages for diagrams and photos) My red silk sample was made with 7 pairs of Gutermann silk sewing thread (4 passives and 3 pairs for the edges and the working pair), and it is 7 cm, just under 3 inches, from the bottom of the stem to the top of the topmost point. The tape is about .5 cm (just under 1/4") wide. The multi-‐coloured partial sample (next page) is made with Moravia 40/2 linen (again, 7 pairs) and I enlarged the pattern to roughly 18 cm (7.25 inches) from the topmost point to the bottom of the stem. The tape is about 1.2 cm (1/2 inch) wide. Each pair is a different colour; I made this sample so you can see how the pairs run around the point and the curve. The basic method is a plain tape with a "pin after 4" edge on both sides. There is absolutely no reason why you couldn't substitute a plain edge on the inside! For that you would use 6 pairs, make the "pin after 4" edge on the outside, and on the inside, just work the tape, twist the workers twice and go round the pin and then work the tape back. Working this way will of course change the way the colours change around in the coloured sample To make the points: Look at the pinhole diagram and see the two "helper pins", C and E. You will use each of these pins twice as you make short rows. Try to follow the diagram. If that fails, here are the directions: -‐ work to Pin B, exchange the pairs and work through all passives. Drop the workers and put up Pin C with one pair of passives to the left and three pairs to the right. Pick up the left-‐hand passive pair and use it as the worker to work Pin D. Take the worker pair from Pin D back down through two passive pairs and drop. Place Pin E between the two passive pairs you just worked through. Then take passive pair to the left of the pin and use it to work through the right-‐hand passive pair, and go up and work Pin F. -‐ now do it all in reverse: work from Pin F back through two passive pairs, drop the workers. Pick up Pin E and replace it between the two passive pairs you just worked through, and back into the same hole. Now use the pair to the left of the pin to work up to Pin G. Return through all passive pairs, pick up Pin C and replace it between the last two passive pairs. Use the left-‐hand passive pair to work to Pin H. -‐ From Pin H, work back to Pin A, use it a 2nd time, and continue making the tape. All points are done this way. To go around the more gentle curves in the tape, just space your pins wider on the outside of the curve and closer together on the inside of the curve. I started at the bottom of the tape with 5 pairs (one worker, one at each edge, and two passive pairs), and added in two more passive pairs at the top of the stem.
In this sample a different colour has been used for each of the seven pairs. Not that the curve in the middle is done just by varying the pin spacing. The small point on the left has just one short row, while the full-‐size point on the right has two short rows, like the following line diagram:
This diagram was used to make both the small red maple leaf and the much larger multi-‐coloured sample. Print it out and enlarge it to the size that best fits your thread. Note the 4 pinholes marked where I began; I started with 5 pairs -‐ one for each edge, one for the worker, and two passive pairs. At the top of the stem I added in two more passive pairs where the two pinholes are shown. Work whichever
direction you like, and when you get back to where you started, finish off your threads into the cloth stitch. Below is the pricking for the red maple leaf. If printed out at just under 3" from bottom of the stem to the top point, the pricking will suit Gutermann sewing silk. Enlarge to fit heavier threads. Have you ever found yourself pondering a pinhole and wondering how on Earth it got there and how you're supposed to use it? Ever found yourself wishing the pins were spaced a little further apart or closer together? You can avoid this sort of problem by making tape lace the way they do in Duchesse lace, by following a line drawing instead of a pricking. You place your holes where you feel they need to go. Once you learn this technique you can make your own line drawings quite easily! I drew this pattern by trading the Canadian flag for the base drawing, then putting a second line inside the first.
Regarding using the short rows to make a sharp point, please note that the instructions show two short rows for each point. That is useful for a wider tape, such as the multi-‐coloured sample. If you are making a narrow tape, you might only want to use one short row.