I went to a local Antique show this weekend and found some beautiful Torchon Lace. It's still wrapped on the old cardboard like it came from a store a hundred years ago. There's eleven 12X9 size boards with the label that says "Torchon Lace" England. I don't know anything about it. I bought it to use on my dolls, but it sure is gonna be hard to cut it!! Does anyone know how to clean old lace?? Maybe I can post a picture later. Still having fits trying to post pictures!! Thanks, Luzy
-- May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.
Torchon is a type of simple bobbin lace everything is made on a 45 degree angle. If you have spear ( sp) peices I would like a small sample of each as I make this type of lace if that is ok with you. If it was made by hand it was made on something like this on my blog see link http://sunshinescreations.blogspot.com/2006/07/what-is-bobbin-lace-that-is-question.html
Holy Cow Sunshine!! I just went to your blog. That's just incredible!! How in the world do you ever keep those bobbins straight?? Just beautiful work. Sure, I can send you some pieces. Just email me with your address and I'll get them off to you. Unless someone can tell me how to clean this lace tho it's gonna arrive sorta dirty. Guess I'd be dirty if I sat around for 100 years!!
-- May I always be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.
just soak it in phels naptha or in an oxy type clearer use warm to cold water hot will set stains. Let is soak for a few days. If still dirty then do it again with fresh new water and oxy cleaner. Do not rub the lace while soaking a little swish and agitation is ok but not to much. If you rub it you can damage the lace. If you swish to much you will have a nasty knot to get rid of. Remove from the old cardboard store bolts first of course . if you have something you can tie around it like cotton string loosely in a few spots ( white cotton string) to help keep it from tangling. Oh forgot to say wind in to a large hank you can do this buy wrapping it loosly around a chair back . Keep the lace straight as you do this twist are nasty in cotton lace. ( as what you have is propbably cotton) Then tie strings around about 4 spots prior from removing it from the chair. then put two more strings around after you have removed from chair and pulled straight so both sides are touching. These two strings go around top of the hank and the bottom of the hank. You are not tying these tight just enought to keep everything in place.
when it is all dry you can wrap it back around the old cards or new ones. If you make new ones because you want them clean please don't through out the old ones I would like them and any labels that go with if you don't want them as I sort of collect those weird sort of things.
samples came today one is an acid lace the rest are torchon. The red thread in one of them is known as a gimp thread just some information for you. Looks like you got a nice variety of laces.
lace samples came all are torchon but one that one is know as a chemical lace ( most bottom in picture at mjf). Meaning a sewing machine made it athen it was put in a solution that ate away the fabric around the lace and left the lace. The reason this works is the fabric and lace are made out of two differnt materials one that reacts with the solution and one that doesn't.
Also the red thread in one of the edgings on the right of the picture is known as a gimp just a added information thing.
ther eare other things I could point out but with out you next to me it is kind of hard to tell you which one and where on it the stitch is
The little tiny squars on the insertion are known as tallies ( top left)
the oval looking shapes are known as leafs third from bottom on left and the one with the red gimp next to the other with leafs
AntiqueTorchon Lace
Posted - Oct 08 2006 : 12:48:26 PM
