Bobbin Lace Collars

Back in the 80s and 90s, I made several bobbin lace collars. My favorite style is Bedfordshire lace, which is often characterized by plaits (braids) and tallies (leaf-shaped, square, rectangular, etc.).

The first is adapted from a two-piece pattern by Mo Gibbs. At the time, I loathed the few leaf-shaped tallies and usually stopped a few days before attempting each set! The raised and rolled ones on top of the cloth stitch were less hard because I figured the cloth stitch would hide errors .

This is the second collar, with the tallies worked over half-stitch ground. At the time, I disliked half-stitch ground because I didn't like the pairs separating. I still like starting with bobbins in pairs!

This is Christine Springett's Thousand Tally collar. Yes, more than 1,000 tallies, which certainly got me over my tally fear! Of course, the drawback is that there is a difference between the wobbly ones at the start and the more consistent ones at the end! Anyone close enough to spot the difference is invading my space!

Back when Christine Springett still ran the British College of Lace in Rugby, I signed up for a class with Barbara Underwood. I let Barbara know that I was particularly interested in learning more about raised and rolled tallies at the intersection of plaits. She didn't have a collar specifically designed for that, but she said that this redrawn nineteenth-century collar had so many intersecting plaits that I could decide where I wanted them.

I've collected many collar patterns in different lace styles, and I really want to get back to making more of them instead of motifs or trim (however fun or useful).