On the Trail of Carrickmacross Lace and Sarah Burton

Ever since the Royal wedding last April, I have been on the hunt to try to find an example of Carrickmacross lace like the type that was created for the bodice of Kate Middleton's gown...

I had seen the YouTube demonstration of the lace technique but I was left hungry for more. I wanted to see a piece up-close and personal...to study it, to see how fine the stitches were, etc...

Having looked online the only pieces I could find were exorbitantly expensive. It turns out that antique pieces of the lace aren't readily available in the States since it's a technique that originated in Ireland in the 1820s.

Enter Marie Neuman from the Treasure Trove in Savage Mill, MD. Marie has been a vintage lace dealer for over 30 years. I called her over six months ago to see if she had anything I might study. Not at the time, she said...

But she called me last week, and look what she found...

It's a beautiful example of Carrickmacross lace...

An exquisite fragment circa 1860-1880 from a shawl she had purchased at Phillip's in London.

I am thrilled with the delicacy and quality of the sample. And it's evident that there was a cord that was couched down over muslin and appliqued to the net...the muslin is then cut away from around the applied shapes.

The back side of the piece reveals the tiny stitches that applied the cord through the muslin to the net.

I can't wait to play around with various applique techniques on net.

I have also been watching Sarah Burton's collections for Alexander McQueen since the wedding. She too has been playing around with the techniques she used on Kate's dress.

Applying lace motifs to background fabrics...(remember this was the technique used on the wedding gown skirt and what I tried to copy when I made the lace flowers on my Breakfast at Tiffany's piece)...

And I'm loving the idea of cut out velvet on net and fabric...

All food for inspirational thought on this beautiful Monday.

Happy Day everyone!

More on Kate's Lace

Just bopping in to share this video sent to me by Veronique of Au Fil du Jardin...

It showcases the dentelliere which made the lace for the skirt of Kate's wedding dress and takes us through the lace lifecycle...from production through design and embroidery in the haute couture industry of Paris.

It's in French and it's 13 minutes (plus two commercials *ugh)...but I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought you might too...

Les dernières dentellières

Thanks Veronique!

Chantilly Lace

It seems that I'm still stuck on the subject of lace...

Particularly...Chantilly lace.

It's because Chantilly lace has these beautiful and delicate vines, floral and scrollwork motifs...they're just lovely.

It's a bobbin lace worked on a six-sided mesh ground with the motifs outlined with a thicker thread called cordonnet.

It's this cordonnet that I've been couching over to attach the lace motif to the block...and then cutting away the mesh ground.

I liked the look so much with the black that I dug through my stash to see if I had any more Chantilly lace.

Turns out I had this one small piece of ivory which turned out to be a real treasure...

I tried to get an image to show you how it looks applied over the velvet...it's absolutely splendid and expensive-looking...

And as if that isn't enough excitement already, I received a package from the talented Shirlee Fassell today thanking me for the photographs I took of her Crazy Art Quilt project. Wow!

What a treasure trove...!

My world of options has just expanded for this block and I am so excited I can barely stay in my seat!

OK. I'm not going to...

I'm getting up to dance to the Big Bopper!

Phew! OK. I'm back.

Is that a smile-maker or what? I'm having too much fun here today...

Thank you, thank you Shirlee!!

If you haven't seen it yet, you must run over to Shirlee's blog to see her beautiful work -- all stitched using the Luneville hook and tambour embroidery techniques. She's a wonder. (I've written about her before on this blog here.)

And I'll close with the final global progress shot of my block...

Thanks for coming by and sharing my joy.

Please, take some with you!

Copy Kate

So, I guess I had Kate's wedding dress on the brain...remember her bodice and veil were hand made Carrickmacross lace?

Well, the lace that was applied to her skirt and train was not Carrickmacross but a mix of Chantilly and English laces....And, as you may remember, they stitched the lace motifs down every 2-3mm?

Well, I guess I just wanted to give that idea a try.

I needed a bit of black on my Breakfast at Tiffany's block...so I pulled out a piece of black Chantilly lace from my stash that happened to have a wonderful floral motif...

And just like those gals at the Royal School of Needlework, I couched the chantilly motifs down every 2-3mm...

Then I was able to cut away the surrounding net ground, leaving just the motif on the fabric.

Can I just tell you? I loved this technique!

It does take a bit of time to couch the lace down thoroughly...but it's worth the effort.

I especially liked how it overlapped the velvet. It's hard to find applications that work well over velvet because of the nap...but the applique of chantilly lace is a total winner in my book. It's not as easy to see in this photo...but it looks sumptuous in person. Let me know if you give it a try...

See you tomorrow!

Jeans for the Journey

My niece Carolyn has spent the last three weeks at home after spending a semester abroad in Brussels. Today she leaves to return to her third year at the University of Wisconsin as a Journalism major.


Yesterday, I finished her jeans from Pants Pants Revolution so she could take them back with her.


And she was kind enough to cooperate for a photo shoot.


Jack is getting a little tired of being my "subject" all the time while I'm taking my photography class...

She did a great job, don't you think?


I also promised to show you the beautiful bobbin lace that she found for me while she was in Belgium. It was just the perfect gift for this Aunt who plays with needles. The doilies at the bottom were from my sister who picked them up for me when she visited. Isn't it all just a pile of wonderfulness?


In order to make these jeans, I just slit the side seams so that I could sew the fabric pieces on the flat, open leg.


I then sew the jeans back together with the raw edges facing out and I don't finish the bottom of the jeans at all. This ends up with a very raggy, cool and relaxed look after many washings. The kids seem to like them better this way.


I'm off to be the Head Housekeeper today at Chez Elliott. Have a great day!