Many of you are probably not aware that I started my teaching career by teaching bobbin lace in the early 1970's and had probably looked at many examples of needlelace, assuming that they were bobbin lace as I had no knowledge whatsoever of this type of lace at that time. It wasn't until I enrolled on a two year C & G Creative Textiles course in 1978 at Windsor & Maidenhead College, Berks that I was introduced to needlelace, which I did not particularly enjoy at that time but much preferred my lovely bobbins.
Nenia Lovesey was our tutor and we struggled using the equivalent of blackout curtaining on which to work our needlelace samples (no sticky-backed plastic in those days). I recall how frustrating it was trying not to catch the material whilst working and had no interest in furthering my knowledge of this lace. However, once the exam was over and results in, we were all able to relax a little and I became curious to learn more about it, as to my knowledge there was no one else who knew how to make it. Pat Gibson, Doreen Holmes and myself all lived close to Nenia and had the advantage of seeing her on a weekly basis. There were plenty of classes and tutors to teach bobbin lace but none other than Nenia, to teach the needlelace, so I decided this would take priority over the bobbin lace!
I have recently had the good fortune to meet up with the lady sitting next to me whilst demonstrating bobbbin lace (see photo above) along with several others whom I taught bobbin lace back in the early 1970's. I have been left way behind and would now need to take lessons from them, as they have all gone on to expand their knowledge and expertise.
Below are just a few examples of my bobbin lace work as these were made long before the days of computers and digital cameras and I have little record of those days.