The Lacis Museum Newsletter
May 7th, 2009
Dear Friends of LMLT,

First off, we want to wish a very happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers on our mailing list. Here at the museum we are reminded every day of the importance of the mother-daughter (and –son!) connection that keeps the needle arts alive and flourishing. Our collection holds innumerable pieces of needlework that may well have been saved from destruction because alongside their intrinsic beauty and usefulness they held treasured memories of a mother’s hands stitching love into her creations. So Mother’s Day gives us an opportunity to extend our heartfelt best wishes to mothers everywhere!

Exhibits

“As the Century Turns,” our exhibit featuring scenes from daily life during the Belle Epoque, invites viewers to step into the world of the Gay ‘90’s. Emphasizing period clothes along with the lace and linens familiar to people living at the turn of the last century, this exhibit is presented as a series of tableaux. The feel of the different tableaux is lifelike and homey, with the pieces displayed not as artifacts but like pieces from a home. Adding a breath of simulated life are the period wax headed articulated mannequins graciously loaned by Ellen Thompson, a longtime friend of Lacis, a member of the LMLT Board of Directors, doll maker and proprietor of Making Memories Doll Patterns. These lovingly restored mannequins impart lifelike movement to the tableaux and a bit of glamour from the age itself.
 
This lovely and lively exhibit will be available during regular museum hours, from noon to 6 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays, until August 1, 2009. We are always happy to welcome groups, so let us know if you'd like to bring your class or group for a special tour. Please call Erin at the museum shop, (510) 843-7290 to make arrangements.
 
A Special Bobbin Lace Event

In the spirit of disseminating LACE and LACE MAKING, LMLT will have it's first Lace Day

BOBBIN LACE:
A free event on Saturday May 16th, from 1:00 to 4:00 PM
where you can see how lace is made, try your own hand at making lace, see the tools, both past and present, by which hundreds of thousands of women made a livelihood,  and see examples, both historic and contemporary of this extraordinary textile craft that tames multitudes of free threads into beautiful designs. Our bobbin lace teacher, Maria Jose Munoz, will guide you step-by-step in trying your hand at making a bit of bobbin lace. Children and adults are most welcome>

This fall, LMLT will present a major exhibit on bobbin lace, and this introduction is sure to wet you appetite in witnessing this extraordinary accomplishment by the human hand and spirit.


 
Classes

HOW TO MAKE AND DECORATE BUSTLE ERA AND LATE VICTORIAN STRAW HATS
with Lynn McMasters, June 13th and 20th

In the first session students will learn how to sew straw plait (braid) together on a sewing machine to make one of 5 slightly different  hats. At the end of this session Lynn will help students come up with a design and materials list for finishing up their hats.
 
In the second session she will teach the different techniques needed to decorate their hats, covering such things as adding silk flowers over a large area of the hat without adding glue to the hat, dealing with feathers (how to join and curl them and how to add them to your hat), how to use netting on hats to add fill, and how to use fine wire to make ribbon loops.
 
Details on all classes and registration information are available on our website at http://lacismuseum.org/classes.html. Registration forms are also available at the Museum shop.
 
Lace Groups at LMLT

LACIS LACE KNITTING GROUP
Lace knitters of all skill levels are invited to join the Lacis Lace Knitters, a flourishing and friendly knitting family that meets once a month to share, show-and-tell, occasionally commiserate, congratulate, and always encourage each other through knitting thicks and thins. Bring along a current project and join us the first Saturday of every month from 1 to 3. In view of the large attendance the group now draws, the group will be meeting in the second floor exhibit space, so there will be ample room for everyone, along with all the show-and-tell projects.
 
 
Details on all groups are available on our website at http://lacismuseum.org/classes.html.

New in the Shop
Lovers of old needlework techniques will rejoice to hear that Editions L’Inedite in Paris is reissuing many of the older French manuals from DMC. Recently we received two new titles:
LA BRODERIE SUR TULLE (Embroidery on fine tulle)  (LI90) and
LA GUIPURE D’IRLANDE (a manual of Irish crochet with lovely designs) (LI91).
       
The same publishers also sent us several new publications. ABC DE LA BRODERIE AU RUBAN (LI92) is especially intriguing, taking ribbon embroidery beyond flowers to include an alphabet of letters garlanded with flowers, small ikebana arrangements, a kitchen gardenful of vegetables and herbs, a selection of fish and sea creatures, animals, birds, and insects (including some acrobatic bugs performing tricks), and directions for using these small motifs to create brooches and pendants.

   

Several other titles cover various forms of bobbin lace, among them PARIS POINT, Flanders lace LA DENTELLE DE FLANDRE (LI87), and the excellent beginner’s manual which has been used at the Le Puy lace school in France LES BASES DE LA DENTELLE AU FUSEAU (LI86). BIJOUX AUX FUSEAUX (LI88) gives instructions for working beads into bobbin lace, and then uses these techniques to create a variety of necklaces, chokers, earrings, pendants, and bracelets from bobbin lace. If the idea of making your own bobbin lace seems a bit intimidating, be sure to visit our demonstration day on May 16, and let Maria demystify this lovely lace (and its surprisingly easy technique!)

      

Best wishes to all our readers for a lovely spring weekend!
Closing Thoughts

Regretfully, Mary Frances, our editor and supporter of all LMLT does, has resigned this role to pursue other challenges in her life.




Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles
2982 Adeline Street
Berkeley, CA  94703

http://lacismuseum.org/

at Ashby & Adeline St., adjacent to the "Ashby" BART Station
Hours: Monday thru Saturday 12:00 - 6:00 pm
tel: 510-843-7290