Tonight I am sharing a shawl embellished with Teneriffe Lace and block printing that I made using the Vandyke Border Loom from Gina B Silkworks. I made this a couple of years ago for one of Gina’s TV shows demonstrating the technique. Gina has another lace show on Create and Craft TV tomorrow at 1pm (26th April on Freeview Channel 85 or watch catch up online via their website) featuring many looms for creating round, various mandala style shapes and the border looms.
I hope that you enjoy seeing this project. I really enjoyed making this.
Materials:
- Lime green crochet cotton no.3 (Delfino – Filo Di Scozia)
- Lilac DMC Mouline Cotton (like a standard 6 strand embroidery floss but on a large spool)
- Sewing thread and needle (lime green)
- Lime green cotton triangular shawl (made from quilting cotton) with sides measuring approx. 1m (I overlocked the edges using matching thread to prevent fraying)
- Teneriffe Lace Starter Kit Loom 3 (Gina B Silkworks)
- Teneriffe Lace Vandyke Border Loom set (Gina B Silkworks)
- Fabric glue (optional)
- Laundry starch spray (optional)
- Thick dense foam mat (such as provided with Gina’s Total Trimmings Table) or upholstery foam (optional if wanting to use pins for stretching the web)
- Decorative Indian wooden printing block and foam printing mat (Colouricious). The one I chose from my stash was approx. 9.5cm square with space in the centre to add the lace floral motifs
- Setacolor Opaque (Spring Green, Raspberry and Parma Violet) and Deka Perm (Opaque White) fabric paints
- Kitchen sponge and paint tray
- Iron
How to do it:
Gina’s loom kits provide general instructions for stretching the web, darning, reverse backstitch and knotting etc.
Note: The hardest part to get right is the Teneriffe Lace Knot which holds it all together. Get this wrong and your lace won’t hold together properly when you remove it from the loom. Should this happen, don’t despair, do what I did with my first lace attempts and glue it to a card or a mixed media canvas. Ha ha.
There is a great beginners video from Gina to help with this.
I spent quite some time developing the lace pattern by quite a lot of experimenting, undoing and redoing until I was happy with the result. Don’t be afraid to play. Gina has also provided some easy starter lace borders in the instructions so you could try these first and make up a couple of smaller projects first.
The Border Lace:
Whenever thread ends were tied and finished, or working threads joined with knots, I added a small dab of clear drying fabric glue for extra security. This is optional but I thought it would ensure no loosening of thread ends, particularly during lots of wear and washing etc.
Starting: I stretched the web on the Vandyke Border Loom leaving a long end at the start and keeping the ball in place on the left hand side (to avoid making joins as the border is continued). Here I have wrapped the thread end a couple of times around the loom end to hold the tension in place.
I made an angle on the first end so that it would continue on the shape of the shawl corner. The pins were placed on a diagonal and threads held together by K 2e (knotting 2 threads to hold).
Note: When working some of the bigger projects I prefer to use pins to hold the web rather than lacing with waste thread. It is a little less portable in this method but much quicker to stretch the web.
Row 1: I worked a row of sc (scalloped edge by k 2e to create small anchored loops) along the bottom edge, joining in a new thread as required.
Row 2: Next I worked a row of K 2e (keeping the pairs of threads in alignment with the first bottom row of knots) along the centre of the lace band.
Note: For each row I joined a new length of yarn. Once worked this was loosely wrapped and tied (to prevent tangling) and kept on the left hand side, ready to work the next section of the lace as the lace is moved on along the loom.
Row 3: I then worked a row of sc along the top edge. See how the threads now separate to give a lacy effect. Again I joined a new thread for this row.
Row 4: A row of k 4e (4 threads knotted together such that the groups of knotted threads aligned with the peaks and troughs of the top edge) was worked in the centre of the bottom straight border section. This opened out the threads into a pretty lace design.
Row 5: A row of *k 2e (x3), k 4e (x1), K 2e (x3)* was repeated along the top border. The 2e knots were worked just below the knots on the sc edge and the 4e knots were worked about half way down the space. This created a nice section with 7 little spaces, ideal for darning (weaving) in the next row.
Row 6: Next I joined in the lilac thread. To start I knotted just under the threads of the previous row until reaching the centre of the 7 space section.
Row 6 continued: The 7 space section was progressively darned (pdt) for 8 rounds. The thread was taken under 1, over 2, under 2, over 1, under 1, then over 2 and under 1 to complete the first round (starting at the top left hand side single thread). As the rounds are worked the weave goes in the opposing over/under direction naturally (as there is an odd number of thread groups/spaces).
When 8 rounds were complete the thread was taken under the first thread bar again before moving along to the left with knotting.
Full row 6 repeat: *k 2e (x3), k 4e (x1), pdt (x8) in the round, u 1e, K 2e (x3)* repeated along the top border.
These 6 rows form the pattern repeat for the straight border sections. The straight knotting rows are quite quick to work but the darning does take a little longer. Well worth it though I think.
The lace was then removed from the loom ready to work the next section.
The first few loops were replaced onto the end of the loom and the next section of web was stretched ready to work. Here you can see the ball kept in place (keeping the web continuous without thread joins). The working threads were loosely tied for each row (keeping them separate, tying in a new length as required).
The next section of lace was then worked as given above.
Again the lace was moved along as each section was completed. I was so excited to see it grow.
I had calculated that I would need 25 little peaks to fit along the sides of my scarf before needing to turn the corner (the space between each peak being approx. 4cm and the sides of my scarf being approx. 1m).
Note: The lace does pull in slightly when removed from the loom (the amount will vary depending on stitches used). Bear this in mind and check that the length of your lace is OK before turning the corner (particularly on a large project).
As with the straight border I pinned the first few loops of lace onto the corner loom and laid out the pins ready to stretch the web.
I stretched the web on the first half of the corner then spent some time thinking – how was I to make a corner pattern that would continue the straight sections nicely? This took me some time – ha ha.
The threads on the corner diagonal of the web need to be interlocked. I therefore broke the thread and stretched the next section of the web, threading up the needle and passing through the loops of web on the diagonal (Gina explains this in her instructions). I then tied the thread end back to the ball end of thread.
I had a lot more thinking here about where to go next – tee hee.
I worked rows 1-4 as previously adding extra knots where the diagonal threads crossed to make sure that the intersection was well anchored.
I then started row 5 and had a lot more thinking on the corner section. The full peak sections on either side were to be completed in the same pattern but I wasn’t sure what to put in the corner. I liked how I had continued the bottom border section keeping the design cohesive.
Continuing row 5: After the first 3 knots (worked as per the normal pattern) I then moved to the centre and knotted up one side of the diagonal and back down the other (k 2e). This anchored all the threads well on the upper part of the diagonal. Note that I split the thread groups (see above where the outer threads are grouped together on the web) to make a lacy effect. I hope that this makes sense. It is difficult to explain – sorry.
Continuing row 6: I worked the first peak in the same way as usual then worked 3 knots up the outer edge (as in a normal row start). See picture below.
The corner was completed by weaving 2 little ‘leaf’ sections across the diagonal threads. Starting at the tip I wove down to the middle (filling the space), then up the other side and then 3 knots were worked down to the trough section as normal. The next section being worked as per the normal pattern.
The lace was then removed from the corner loom and replaced back onto the border loom ready to work up the other side (as shown above).
Here you can see the full length of one border and the corner turned ready to work the other side. I got very excited here – ha ha.
Here is a close up where you can see the corner more clearly.
Although fairly pleased I still wasn’t completely happy with it (more thinking! Ha ha).
I took the lace back off the border loom and quickly anchored it back onto the corner. With a new length of thread I added a little circle of weaving (over 5 groups of thread). I was happier with the result now.
I continued with the usual pattern until the last section. Here I again wanted a diagonal finish on the end.
Here I have shown the corner of the scarf so you can see what I mean. The loom is not designed to make diagonal ends as I am wanting so you can see one of the pins is slightly out of alignment here. This loop is adjusted when knotting (see below).
You can see here that the misaligned pin is removed as the last knot is worked on row 2 (the ball thread end then being tightened up). The other pins sit on the diagonal path OK.
Happy with my finished corner – finally – ha ha.
Block Printing:
Next I wanted to create a pretty block printed border.
I used the lime green paint on the outer part of the block (applying with kitchen sponge).
I mixed a little of the Raspberry and Violet with quite a lot of White to create a colour that matched well with my lilac thread. This mix was sponged onto the inner section of the block for printing.
The scarf was laid onto the foam base for printing. This provides a little cushioning against the solid wood block ensuring that the detail prints well.
Oooh yummy print.
Oooh – I was a happy bunny. I left the paint to fully dry overnight then heat fixed by ironing on the reverse on a cotton setting.
I then hand stitched on the lace border easing it to fit. In order to provide a little stretch and ease I used a slight zig zag when stitching (this allows a little stretch without popping of the thread). Next I sprayed with starch and ironed. This smoothed any slight lumps & waves that formed after attaching the lace and also stabilised the lace nicely.
I was so chuffed with how the lace border and printing looked.
The Floral Daisy Motifs:
Next I worked 16 small daisy motifs on loom 3.
I stretched the web on the smallest circle and lime thread to create 16 edge loops (i.e. total of 32 threads crossing the central section).
I then worked DD (double darning 2e) for 2 rows in the centre to neaten up the crossing threads etc. On the second row I offset the threads darned in the first row (as in weaving).
I then worked Revs (2) for 3 rows: Reverse backstitch over 2 threads. Ensuring that the threads from adjacent ‘loops’ were grouped together to form the outer ‘petal’ loops. Note: The side facing you is the back of the work.
Then I worked K 2e for 1 row: Knotting 2 threads together to secure groups of threads creating the long scalloped edge loops that make the petals.
These little flowers would make great earrings or could be joined to make a lovely necklace. In fact it was these that gave me the idea for my black lace earrings blogged in my previous post earlier today.
Finally I finished the shawl by sewing the little daisies into the centre of the block printed motifs.
I hope that you like my lace shawl. Teneriffe Lace is definitely a ‘slow craft’ akin to knitting or cross stitch, don’t expect quick results. This project took me around 25 hours to make! Take your time and enjoy the process xxxx.
Heather Tree Creative Designs by Anne Waller 