The two most expensive pieces of equipment for bobbin lacemakers are the pillow and the bobbins. You can buy these from bobbin lace equipment suppliers - click here for some British suppliers or try searching on the internet. A warning - it is possible to get lacemaking 'kits'. I am not convinced that this is a sensible thing to do. The cost seems to be more than getting the items separately, and you have to put up with whatever you are given. However, there are sets of bobbins for beginners which are good value - just check against other bobbins to compare the price.
One bobbin need not cost much. A good quality bobbin will be a few pounds and you can get plastic ones for much less. However, the simplest lace pattern uses a LOT of bobbins. My simplest pattern uses 6 pairs (12 bobbins). Most of my patterns need between 15 pairs and 25 pairs (30 to 50 bobbins). Some patterns (not mine) use 50 pairs or more - that's more than a hundred bobbins! The cost mounts up.
Bobbin lace is made of threads woven together in intricate patterns. These threads are stored on bobbins before use. The bobbins are also manipulated by the lacemaker to make the lace stitches. Bobbin lace is so-called (as opposed to other lace such as needlepoint or needle lace) because bobbins are essential to the craft.
A lace bobbin is just a stick about 4 inches long (10cm) with a groove or decoration on top. The thread is wound round the bobbin - there is an indented area for this although it is not strictly necessary. The groove or top decoration is to loop the thread round to stop it getting unwound. There are many shapes, decorations and materials in different bobbins, and some of these have sensible reasons, and some are just for show (which is also a sensible reason!) This page explores some of the differences, but remember, you can make lace with any type of lace bobbin! I strongly advise that when you start, get the cheapest bobbins you can, and just enough for the simple patterns that you want to work - around 10 or 12 pairs. Beads on the bobbins are not essential (see below). If you want to continue lacemaking, then gradually expand your collection of bobbins, and start buying bobbins for other reasons than cheapness (again, see below).
A typical lace pillow with a good collection of bobbins
Bobbins can be made of different materials. Wood is the most common, and you can buy a range of different types of wood, which I enjoy. (My favourite type, perhaps, is bog oak - preserved in peat bogs from long ago! But I have a range of British and other woods.) Bone has always been used as well. Shakespeare talks of "the free maids that weave their thread with bones", and 'bone lace' was an early name. To get up to date, plastic is also used. Its main virtue is cheapness. I must emphasise that all these are equally good to use. It's just whether you prefer one to another.
There are also many types of decoration of bobbin. You can see from the photo above that some are painted, or carved or shaped in different ways, or have wire wound round, or a different wood set into it. There is even a type of bobbin called "Mother and child" where the bobbin has a thin gap inside where there is a tiny (and useless) bobbin of a different wood! That one is rather expensive. Both these decorations and the different wood types have one function. They help to identify one bobbin (or more usually, pair of bobbins) over another. This can help when working a pattern, although it is not essential. If you do this, it is a good idea to buy bobbins in pairs - that is, buy two bobbins with the same design at a time. Some patterns (but not all) keep these pairs together throughout the lace.
Different bobbins are attractive, and a lacemaker soon builds up a collection where every pair has a memory. I made my first piece of lace with that, my father bought me that, I bought those in memory of my mother-in-law, I bought those on a particular holiday. You handle your bobbins constantly while making lace, and such memories naturally rise in your mind. This is another reason to buy bobbins gradually, to help build these memories.
You will see that those bobbins above have beads. These are called spangles, so the bobbins are spangled. You can buy spangled or unspangled bobbins, and you can spangle your own, with your own beads, which is also fun (more memories!) It may surprise some beginner lacemakers, but beads are not essential - in fact, they only belong to one lacemaking tradition that I know of - Bedfordshire lace. Most lacemaking traditions elsewhere in Britain and throughout the world get on perfectly well without them. In fact spangled bobbins can cause problems. On the other hand, a lot of lacemakers (like me!) can't resist them, and their use has spread widely. By the way, a book published in 1907, Pillow lace by Elizabeth Mincroff and Margaret Marriage, calls these beads "jingles". (It also calls them old-fashioned!)
There are good reasons for spangles. They are another help for identifying a pair of bobbins - you could buy identical bobbins, then spangle them differently (or they are already spangled differently). Beads are often cheap, while decorated bobbins may not be. They help in other ways too - a spangled bobbin lies flat on the pillow and does not roll, and the beads add a little wight, which help the bobbins to hang straight down, and even help the thread tightening a little. Disadvantages: they take up a little more room on the pillow, and badly spangled bobbins can catch on each other, or in your sleeves. And please - never try to do a sewing with a spangled bobbin! A sewing involves pushing a bobbin through a loop of thread, and the beads and wire catch on the thread. Finally, some lacemakers prefer using bobbins of the correct shape and type if following a particular lace tradition, which is fair enough. (But I don't!)
Some of these lace traditions have very different shaped bobbins. The photo above shows a thin Honiton bobbin. Honiton lace uses very fine thread, and potentially a large number of bobbins, so the thin shape is helpful. There is also a "thumper", a thick bulbous Midlands bobbin. As mechanised lacemaking took hold, hand-made lace tried to compete, and tended to make coarser lace, with fewer bobbins and much thicker thread - almost string in some cases. Bigger bobbins would help. Some bobbin makers make different styles, and you can see these on their websites. There are foreign styles as well - some have little covers that go over the wound thread, for example.
Bobbins last for a long time (although that thumper is rather chipped), and so it is quite possible to buy old bobbins from an antique shop (see above), and use it to make lace with. Not the cheapest route, of course, since old bobbins are highly collectable. But by now, I think you realise that a lacemaker's relationship with her (his) bobbins is not necessarily based on logic! Anyway, you can make gentle hints about birthday presents...
How far you can mix different types of bobbins? I think you can mix different styles, spangled or unspangled, and so on, quite a lot. You may find it easier to work lace if the bobbins are roughly the same weight (and spangles add weight) and shape. Differently shaped bobbins might hide under each other. But I am sure that it is not really that important, unless the styles are dramatically different.
Wood bobbins vary in finish. They can be highly varnished, or slightly polished, or left as plain wood. This is a matter of taste - try them out and see what you think. The antique bobbins are not polished at all, except by the lacemakers fingers. I have noticed that plain wood bobbins that I have bought and originally been disappointed with, since they seemed dull, gradually get more shiny as I use them. Look - I do wash my hands before making lace! But hands are naturally a bit greasy, and wooden bobbins seem to like this. Bone, plastic and varnished bobbins are indifferent, of course.
It is possible to make your own bobbins. Click here for some ideas.
By the way, always remember that spangling (the beads) is not necessary. If you have a lace kit where the beads are unspangled, and wire and beads are supplied, then I suggest that you use the bobbins as they are, unspangled. That means you can start lacemaking immediately, and don't waste time with the spangling! You can always spangle them later, if you want. If you are a beginner and want to use spangled bobbins, then many suppliers sell bobbins ready spangled.
If you do wish to spangle the bobbins yourself, you need spangling wire (which you can get from a lace supplier) and beads (which you can get from lots of places). I also use wire cutters and thin nosed pliers. Sort out the beads you want into a small bowl (remember to match them if you want pairs of bobbins). Thread the wire through the beads that you want. Then thread it through the small hole at the base of the bobbin. If there is no small hole, you have a problem - use a different bobbin. Then thread through the beads again. If the bead holes are too small for this, you have a problem - use different beads, or thread it a different way. Cut the wire (not too close) with the wire cutters. Thread the wire several times through the loop to create a twist. Pull everything tight (with the pliers). The twist will (hopefully) disappear inside the beads. Trim the wire close with the wire cutters. I am not very good at spangling, as the wrists of my jumpers testify (they take up lacemaking as well, and won't put it down), but I do enjoy it! If the wire of one particular bobbin causes problems while making lace, then get out the pliers again, and try to bend the problem wire to a better place, or cut it off. Or in extreme cases, respangle it!
Sometimes a bobbin might have a rough patch of wood or a rough edge, which catches on the thread. Sandpaper solves that problem. I know you may have spent money on that beautiful object, but if it doesn't do what you want, then sort it out!
This Dutch painting by Nicolaes Maes is called Old Woman Dozing. It was painted in 1656. The pillow is put to one side while the lacemaker has a little nap. The bobbins have a bulb at the end, and are unspangled. This type of bobbin is still used in mainland Europe.
This was painted by Charles Spencelayh, an English painter, around 1920. Its title is "The Lacemaker (Mrs Newell Making Lace)". The bobbins do not have a bulb at the end, and look more stick-like. I think they are spangled.
The Dutch for bobbins is Klosjes.
© Jo Edkins 2016 - return to lace index