Irish Lace Materials

Irish Lace Materials tutorial: Crochet may be executed with any kind of linen or cotton thread, but as it is a work that is practically everlasting, only the best materials should be used. Needless to say, the finest of steel crochet hooks are required, a few round meshes, some fine sewing needles, a pair of small, sharp scissors, and a piece of pink or blue cambric “foundation”.

Before commencing a piece of work cut a paper pattern of the exact size and shape the finished article is to be, place this on the back of your cambric foundation and trace around the outer edge with a needle and white thread, making the stitches long on the right side of the cambric.

Then work the border and baste to the cambric pattern just inside the thread line. When you have succeeded in working enough motifs to enable you to start the lace, sew them strongly in their places, face downward on the foundations, just as you would sew braid upon a design intendedfor point lace, making it so secure that the curves cannot be pulled out of shape in working the filling.

It is best to use two or three thicknesses of cambric for the foundation for this irish lace materials pattern.

When removing the lace from the cambric pattern after it is complete and all loose stitches have been securely fastened, it is always safer to cut the basting threads at the back and not risk clipping the threads of the lace. The lace will pull away from the pattern quite easily and then all loose threads should be carefully picked away before it is pressed.

When a piece of lace is complete it improves its appearance vastly to lay it face downwards upon a very soft ironing bed, smooth out each motif carefully, lay a wet piece of new linen or lawn upon it, and press with a hot iron, while still steaming lift up cloth and use the iron directly upon the lace.

This will give the work a crispness unattainable by any other method of pressing. Lace which has been rumpled in wearing may also be freshened in this way, and if carefully don will look equal to new

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