#machine lace

[theinternetarchive]

machine lace edging with figures, c. 1800s after 1810.

[threadtalk]

Behold, bone silk satin and chemical lace combine to make one stellar gown from 1893. And with short sleeves! That's rare to see.

What is chemical lace? Well, it's one of the ways we used to make machine-made lace that included burning way embroidery to make lace. Though it was faster than making lace by hand, it was a pretty caustic business for everyone involved. As a result, it's mostly fallen out of favor for other machine-made options.

This dress looks to me like a half-mourning gown, especially considering that the beads are all jet. Hard to say for certain. But I love bone silk, it's that neutral white that's almost pink, and with the black lace against it, it's just stunning.

From Augusta Auctions.

[professorpski]

Vogue Patterns Magazine, October/November 2017

The new patterns for fall and the new Vogue Patterns Magazine are out, so put away those cottons, and start thinking wool if you leave in a climate where it is about to get cool.

There are lots of technical features from the simple to the complex, for beginners to expert dressmakers. This issue features a short, but very useful article by Claire Schaeffer on mitering corners, the machine-sewing way and then the couture way which more painstaking, of course. Then there is a creative article by Linda Turner Griepentrog on making lace, which is not actual lace, but machine embroidery that resembles lace, either traditional motifs, or more free-forms ones like the picture in the middle of the threesome above. Kathryn Breene offers a long technical article on melding leather to fabric through needle-felting, see the dark violet coat on the left of the threesome above. She also writes an accompanying article on hardware, and I mean hardware as in a hardware store, such as an anvil, which she uses on coats and bags.

Then there are the pattern photos, so you can see what you want to put on your shopping list for this fall. At top you see Vogue 9276, TaFa’s sheer fuschia wrap, it is one of four options, and wraps are both useful and charming over evening dresses, and yes, you will want them as they offer you some variety, some coverage, and in sheer wools, some warmth as well. Make do with one nice evening dress and add a bevy of wraps. The wraps are easier to make than dresses and allow you to play with all the luxurious fabrics in small quantities: laces, metallics, sheers. Or stay warm with sleeves, as in the stretch velvet dress in green, Vogue 9264. Then there is a new designer to Vogue Patterns, Julio Cesar who takes a shirt dress and adds subtly harmonizing appliques. Fans of the work of Koos van den Akker will recognize that Cesar worked in his studio before striking out on his own.

The magazine is in bookstore and on news stands now, or you can find it here along with the patterns: https://voguepatterns.mccall.com/current-issue

[wojojojo]

Look what came in the mail today~

[lacewise]

One of many, many differences between vintage machine lace and modern machine lace is a lot of people embroidered a cordonnet over some of the elements after purchase (since that gives it more visual depth)

So, in case you wanted to gussy up your lace… consider needlerunning it, I guess

[motleycraft-o-rama]

By Chocolate Frog on Etsy.