Bobbinet

Bobbinet is a machine-made net made of cotton or silk with a hexagonal mesh.

It's the very same net ground used to make the Chantilly bobbin lace that I'm using in my Breakfast at Tiffany's block.

I happen to have some cotton bobbinet in my stash, so when I went looking for appropriate fabrics to make my stumpwork petals from...I thought I would use the bobbinet, hoping to complement the background netting of the Chantilly lace.

Bobbinet has a much softer drape than tulle and has a tendency to dampen light...that's why photographers and movie stylists use panels of it to soften lighting in their images.

It has been used in many applications as grounds for various types of lace, embroidery, and ribbonwork. Here's a gorgeous example of skirt made from bobbinet on this gorgeous vintage Lanvin gown...

It was also used in the corset underpinnings in the Balmain bodice I photographed in this post.

The picture below shows the bobbinet (top left), compared to my original piece of Chantilly lace (bottom center), and to the silk tulle (top right).

Originally, I was a bit bummed that the holes of my bobbinet were so much larger than the bobbinet ground in my Chantilly piece.

Now, I've gotten over that and I think that perhaps a mixture of silk tulle and the cotton bobbinet, both fused over silk organza...might give me some variability and might even be better. I'm not sure I'll know that until I make a few petals using varying combinations of tulle and/or bobbinet and organza.

Now I'm off to find some Mistyfuse. Due to the delicacy of the lace, I think Mistyfuse is a better option versus Heat n Bond lite...I think it will "disappear" better amongst the lace net, will not be as stiff, and may be easier to sew through when I embroider the wire.

I did find size 33 wire to use for my petal outlines -- the smallest I could find. (I use Japanese paper-coated floral wire like the kind you can find here.) Size 33 is just a tad bit bigger than the original lace cordonet so it should be delicate enough.

And I've decided to use real gemstones in the flowers...because it is a Tiffany's piece...

And lastly, I need to hunt down some matte cream-colored tiny beads in the same color as this piece of coral...and some teeny tiny stamens with silver and/or pearl tips. The tricky part for both items is the teeny-tiny requirement.

See you next time!