Bookmarks--Tape Lace

HOW I DEFINE TAPE LACE	I think of tape lace as aconstant width strip which curves and meanders all over. No bobbins are added or removed. The lace is held together by what I call "joinings". The most common are sewings (simple and multiple), braids going and returning, and false braids. These joinings are made with the weaver, or with the edge pair and the weaver. When the joining is finished the pair or pairsare reincorporated into the tape and you resume making the tape. All the meanders and curves require some way to get around curves without having a bumpy or wrinkled tape. The first method is to adjust how far apart the pins are. Spanish, Italian and eastern European tape lace patterns are typically presented as line drawings, without specific pinholes idicated. So the lacemaker can put pins however far apart she wants them. Therefore make them closer together on the inside of the curve, but farther apart on the outside of the tape. But sometimes that is not enough and fudge stitches, called "turning stitch" to keep the tape flat and smooth. There are several different ways to do turning stitches. Look at BOBBIN LACE BASICS to review some of the methods. (I will be adding more diagrams to that section.) When making tape lace you have to be alert because things will be things happening on both sides of the tape There are many different ways to begin a bookmark. I like to use bobbins with leftover thread from some other project. I hang them on as singles, to save the bother of winding in pairs. hang on I usually start by making a bundle of all the theads, making a knot and hanging the knot on a pin. Then I divide the bundle in 4 batches and work c-tctc with the bundles. I make the braided bundle about 2 inches long. Then I sort those out and begin the top of the bookmark.
		This piece uses the open edge tape, turning stitch, and sewings. Go to Bobbin Lace Basics for diagrams and photos of these elements. There are several different ways to do turning stitch. This is the most basic, simplest method. There are several ways to work the tape, depending on how dense you want the tape to be and how thick your thread is relative to the pattern. Usually 3 central passives plus 2 edge pairs are the minimum, with 1 weaver pair. But more passives can be added at the start. One can also change the number of twists according to how you want the tape to look --solid or mostly lacey. OPEN EDGE TAPE TURNING STITCH SEWINGS
		Go to Plaited Lace Lesson 1 for how to work the braids, windmill crossing, and picots.
		The pink bookmark uses braids in several ways. The braid are made from the edge pair and the weaver. START BRAID JOINING SEW BRAID INTO WEAVER LOOP SEW BRAID INTO ANOTHER BRAID HOLE The 3 petal braid can be made in 3 separate movements, or make the whole thing at the same time, from the last possible place.

		I used BLIND PIN and GIMP TURN to manage the curves. These are the best option when you have a "sewing edge" (pin after 4 threads) tape. The 1st and 2nd examples have gimp, so I usded the "gimp turn". The last one has no gimp, so I used "blind pin"
		There are several ways to widen a tape without adding more bobbins. Schneeberger tape and Idrija tape laces usually have both solid cloth stitch tapes which alternate with sections of the tape that are wider. The first 2 variations are the most common. Try them all.
		On the blue and green ones I used the paddepootje (pivot pin) to get around the tichest curve. On the cream colored one I used pivot pin, moveover and "turning stitch on edge".
		Tallies and braids are interchangable because both use 2 pairs of bobbins. In tape lace the leaf shaped tallies are by far the most common. Look at Lesson 5, above for how to make tallies.
		This piece shows 2 ways of making tallies as a joining. The first example has a double layer of tallies. Use the weaver and edge pair to make a tally to the center. Make a hole. Then tally back and sew the tally into the starting hole. The method used in the 2nd example uses a tally from the tape to the center, but make a braid on the return journey. Remember that in tape lace the wrong side of the lace is facing you, and the right side is facing the pillow.
		False Braids I have used the same pattern as for the braided joinings, but added a 3rd common joining, called "false braid or false plait".

Last edited: 01/27/20