Description
Bedfordshire Lace by Jean Leader is a practical book written by an expert in the field of Bedfordshire Lace. Working though its 26 pattern, some traditional, some modern. The lace maker learns how to work many of the Bedfordshire Lace techniques and stitches. Such as Plaits, Windmill Crossings, Picots and Leaf shaped Tallies. Advice is also given on starting and finishing your lace.
The book starts with some simple bookmarks, edgings and insertions. The patterns increase in difficulty as you progress through the book. It continues with three delightful butterflies and ends with three attractive collars.
It has a section with five fillings used in Bedfordshire Lace. Jean also has a few patterns where she has introduced colour into the Lace. Something that Bedfordshire Lace lends itself to. One of the threads that Jean says say she uses is no longer available on the general market (Madeira Tanne, we now have to change this for Madeira Cotona).
The patterns at the beginning of the book use 6 to 8 pairs of bobbins. But for the patterns at the end of the book 50 pairs are needed, possibly more.
There is a section at the beginning that gives a brief History of Bedfordshire Lace. Further snippets of historical information can be found all the way through the book. This is a lace that evolved in the mid 1800’s as a reaction to machine made Lace. Jean Leader is a Scottish based tutor with over 40 year experience. She had taught Lace both in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia.
This is a Hardback book of 124 pages with numerous illustrations and diagrams on every page.
For other books on Bedfordshire Lace look at
Introducing Traditional Bedfordshire Lace in Twenty Lessions ? Barbara Underwood
