Cloth stitch is like weaving. I wondered if you could get an effect of tartan.
Pattern:
Bobbins: 18 pairs (9 of each colour).
Style: Torchon
Size: 3.25 inches long
Stitches:
cloth stitch
cloth stitch and twist
Details:
double Torchon ground
diamond
twisted footside
Description:
Follow the links above for explanation of how to work the different parts of the lace.
You need to start the coloured threads in the right place, as marked.
This pattern is designed so you can change the colours of the diamonds as you want. Each diamond is half solid colour, half mixed. The top two pairs are always one of each colour, so you can choose the worker pair to be either colour, and that will colour the diamonds. I have chosen five of one colour together, and then four of the other, to make the difference more dramatic, but there are several patterns you could do instead. You could have the pairs of diamonds being one colour, and the single one, another. Or you could do groups of three diamonds, in an arrow pattern, first one colour, then another. Or you could do three one colour, then the central diamond the other colour, then the next three back to the first colour, so the arrows look as if they are surrounding a diamond. Or you could make all the diamonds the same colour, with just an occasional, random diamond the other colour. I leave it to you to experiment! Here are some possible patterns.
It is important to make sure the the coloured pairs leave the bottom of each diamond heading in the correct direction. Also note that the ground is double Torchon ground (CTCT pin CTCT) rather than normal Torchon ground.
Here is a larger scale photo, to see the working:
© Jo Edkins 2025 - return to lace index