How to Make Battenberg and Point Lace

Battenberg and Point Lace Selection of Materials

The same rules and instruction apply to Battenberg and modern point lace. The latter, being much the finer and more delicate, requires more time and patience. Both deserve equal care.

Braid and thread

Some of the threads that are so slightly twisted as to resemble floss are good for the filling of rings, and when a soft, indefinite effect is desired, is the right thing for their covering of buttonhole stitch or crochet. When it is desired to have each thread in the covering of the ring stand out distinctly, thread more tightly twisted should be used.

For overcasting the braid, no.70 or 80 may be used, while for the filling-in stitches, no.40 to 60 should be selected, according to the degress of fineness desired in the work. The narrow braid calls for a finer thread than the wider braid requires. None of the cotton threads should be used for any part of the permanent work. To avoid knots and tangles in the working thread, the needle should always be threaded from the right end of the thread, and before working the thread should be drawn through the thumb and finger of the left hand to lesson its liability to twist and tangle.

For needle point lace the best thread is the ‘petit moulin’ linen lace thread. This thread may be had in numbers from 30 to 1500. For the very finest lace, no.1000 to 1500 should be used, while for doilies and handkerchiefs it is advisable to use a slightly heavier thread.

No.600 to 1000 are good. The coarser threads are excellent for Battenberg lace.

Battenberg and point lace Rings

Very excellent ring may be bought ready for use, but many ladies prefer to make them. For their use a very handy little ring gauge has been invented as is shown in the illustration.

This provides for the making of rings in six different sizes, and permits of their being made of any thickness desired. The thread or floss is wound around the chosen section of the ring gauge a sufficient number of times, perhaps twenty, to make the ring of the necessary thickness. The thread or floss should be loose enough to allow of its being overcast.

To do this, thread a needle and pass it repeatedly around the roll of threads by pushing the needle between the threads and the ring gauge. When it is closely overcast, push the thread ring carefully off the ring gauge without marring its circular shape. To do this successfully, give it a series of little pushes with the thumb around and around its circumference until it slips off. It is now a ring of threads held in place by the overcasting thread which is coiled around it.

It may now be finished in either one or two ways. It may be covered with a close row of buttonhole stitches, and so resemble the ready made ring or it may be covered with a close row of single crochet. The end may be fastened by passing it through the threads of the ring. If the needle is thrust through the body of the ring, and carries the thread a short distance from the finishing place, and then with another stitch returns to its starting-point, the end will be safely secured. To make the rings exactly alike, care should be taken to have the thread circle the ring gauge exactly the same number of times in each ring.

Rings for the needle point lace should be very slender and delicate. The thread should be wound around the gauge from four to eight to ten times, then overcast and buttonholed. Crochet is not practical for these dainty rings. When a substitute for the ring gauge is desired, bone knitting needles, pencils, or tiny glass bottles may be used.

Tutorial 1 === Battenberg and Point Lace Selection of Materials

Tutorial 2 === Basting and Overcasting

Tutorial 3 === Turning Corners

Tutorial 4 === Scallops and Loops

Tutorial 5 === Overcasting

Tutorial 6 === Cutting the Braid

Tutorial 7 === Basting the Rings

Tutorial 8 === Fastening the Thread

Tutorial 9 === Preparing a Sampler