Comments on: Sequins, Spangles, Paillettes, Oe My! http://www.plimoth.org/embroidery-blog/2008/02/03/sequins-spangles-paillettes-oe-my/ The blog for Plimoth Plantation's 17 Century embroidered jacket project. Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:44:35 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Pauline Seymour http://www.plimoth.org/embroidery-blog/2008/02/03/sequins-spangles-paillettes-oe-my/comment-page-1/#comment-922 Pauline Seymour Sat, 09 Feb 2008 22:08:07 +0000 http://www.plimoth.org/embroidery-blog/?p=266#comment-922 Hi, English lacemaker and bobbin/bead addict her! Regarding spangles for bobbins I thought you may be interested in the following which is taken from a book called "lace and lacemaking" by Alice-May Bullock published in 1981. She says that the beads of the spangle were specially designed and used only for lace making bobbins. They were small and square, usually white or red in colour, although shades of green, blue and amber were occasionally used. They were threaded on brass wire. The beads were made by melting a stick of glass and pressing the sides with a file while hot. This roughened the sides and "squared" the bead. The beads were traditionally called square cuts. The mark of the file could clearly be seen on authentic beads. There were normally 9 beads on the spangle, four square cuts on each side and a large venetian bead on the bottom. Quite often the bottom bead was replaced with buttons, coins or lucky charms. Congratulations on your excellent blog wish I could be there to help but promise I will visit again soon!! Regards Pauline Hi, English lacemaker and bobbin/bead addict her!
Regarding spangles for bobbins I thought you may be interested in the following which is taken from a book called “lace and lacemaking” by Alice-May Bullock published in 1981. She says that the beads of the spangle were specially designed and used only for lace making bobbins. They were small and square, usually white or red in colour, although shades of green, blue and amber were occasionally used. They were threaded on brass wire.

The beads were made by melting a stick of glass and pressing the sides with a file while hot. This roughened the sides and “squared” the bead. The beads were traditionally called square cuts. The mark of the file could clearly be seen on authentic beads. There were normally 9 beads on the spangle, four square cuts on each side and a large venetian bead on the bottom. Quite often the bottom bead was replaced with buttons, coins or lucky charms.

Congratulations on your excellent blog wish I could be there to help but promise I will visit again soon!!

Regards
Pauline

]]> By: Robbin Douglas http://www.plimoth.org/embroidery-blog/2008/02/03/sequins-spangles-paillettes-oe-my/comment-page-1/#comment-853 Robbin Douglas Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:46:14 +0000 http://www.plimoth.org/embroidery-blog/?p=266#comment-853 Okay, Jill, you caught us. :) If you use English Midlands bobbins then collecting bobbins can easily be another hobby. (I maintain I have two hobbies -- collecting bobbins and making lace. Sometimes they coincide. Rather like collecting patterns and stitching. :) ) The 'spangles' on bobbins are used on an English style of bobbin usually referred to as Midlands bobbins. (This is due to the fact that they are used for laces that originated in the Midlands of Englands; Buckinghamshire Point (or Bucks Point) is a good example.) Not all English bobbins use spangles; Honiton bobbins are English and are small, straight and pointed and used for a completely different type of lace. Midlands bobbins would have come into use after the time period of the jacket, so it's possible that their spangle was even named for the spangles used in needlework -- who knows! (I'd have to go reading more books to check; Success to the Lace Pillow might say more.) The spangle on a bobbin serves two purposes. It adds weight to the bobbin, which is straight and fairly lightweight. Continental bobbins achieve this by having some sort of bulb shape at the end. This tends to vary by country/type of lace, with a lace traditionally worked with a heavier thread having a greater weight to the bobbin. Lighter threads, or laces needing more bobbins tend to have narrower/lighter bobbins. (To confuse the whole issue, honiton bobbins don't have much weight -- they are worked on a pillow that is almost ball shaped and rely on gravity for tension. They must be small because they are frequently passed through loops of the lace known as sewings. This technique isn't limited to honiton lace however.) The spangle also has a second function. It keeps the bobbin from rolling on the pillow. If you roll the bobbin one way, you better be rolling it back again the other way or eventually you'll overtwist or completely untwist your thread. I'm sure this becomes natural in working some laces as you get used to the bobbins. (Or, if you're like me, you suddenly realize you have no twist on your thread, have your threads break, and vow never to use those bobbins again! Thus you work exclusively with midlands and can only find 4 pairs of dutch bobbins when you want to work you lace sample, even though you had at least 18 pairs at one point. Oops. Must go digging for some bobbins that will play nice with the metallic thread tonight. But I digress.) Anyway, that's probably a lot more than you wanted to know about what bobbin spangles do and bobbin collecting. (Collecting has been around for a long while. Antiques can be found with names on them or events. Some even commemorate hangings! I'll admit I have bobbins I bought 10 years ago that still aren't spangled, which is why I buy them spangled now if I can. :)) Robbin Okay, Jill, you caught us. :) If you use English Midlands bobbins then collecting bobbins can easily be another hobby. (I maintain I have two hobbies — collecting bobbins and making lace. Sometimes they coincide. Rather like collecting patterns and stitching. :) )

The ’spangles’ on bobbins are used on an English style of bobbin usually referred to as Midlands bobbins. (This is due to the fact that they are used for laces that originated in the Midlands of Englands; Buckinghamshire Point (or Bucks Point) is a good example.) Not all English bobbins use spangles; Honiton bobbins are English and are small, straight and pointed and used for a completely different type of lace. Midlands bobbins would have come into use after the time period of the jacket, so it’s possible that their spangle was even named for the spangles used in needlework — who knows! (I’d have to go reading more books to check; Success to the Lace Pillow might say more.)

The spangle on a bobbin serves two purposes. It adds weight to the bobbin, which is straight and fairly lightweight. Continental bobbins achieve this by having some sort of bulb shape at the end. This tends to vary by country/type of lace, with a lace traditionally worked with a heavier thread having a greater weight to the bobbin. Lighter threads, or laces needing more bobbins tend to have narrower/lighter bobbins. (To confuse the whole issue, honiton bobbins don’t have much weight — they are worked on a pillow that is almost ball shaped and rely on gravity for tension. They must be small because they are frequently passed through loops of the lace known as sewings. This technique isn’t limited to honiton lace however.)

The spangle also has a second function. It keeps the bobbin from rolling on the pillow. If you roll the bobbin one way, you better be rolling it back again the other way or eventually you’ll overtwist or completely untwist your thread. I’m sure this becomes natural in working some laces as you get used to the bobbins. (Or, if you’re like me, you suddenly realize you have no twist on your thread, have your threads break, and vow never to use those bobbins again! Thus you work exclusively with midlands and can only find 4 pairs of dutch bobbins when you want to work you lace sample, even though you had at least 18 pairs at one point. Oops. Must go digging for some bobbins that will play nice with the metallic thread tonight. But I digress.)

Anyway, that’s probably a lot more than you wanted to know about what bobbin spangles do and bobbin collecting. (Collecting has been around for a long while. Antiques can be found with names on them or events. Some even commemorate hangings! I’ll admit I have bobbins I bought 10 years ago that still aren’t spangled, which is why I buy them spangled now if I can. :) )

Robbin

]]>