Adventures in Bobbin Lace

Last weekend I visited NYC to take a Bobbin Lace class at the Textile Arts Center in Brooklyn (this is a fantastic place).  It was a 2-day intensive weekend class so I only got the basics under my belt.  I'm now continuing to work my way through a book of samplers (Torchon Lacemaking: A Step-By-Step Guide).

First, I needed my own lace making pillow.  I wanted a roller pillow because my goal is to make continuous yardage of lace for my costuming projects.  I figure it may not be ideal, but it will definitely be a learning project.  Better to jump right in and find out what works (and doesn't), and just assume there will be more incarnations down the line.  Looking around online, there seems to be a lot of ways to accomplish this - so I wasn't going to fuss about it being "the" way.

I bought a bunch of crap at the fabric store.  Like, just threw it all in there.  I got these over-sized cardboard "D"s and cut the back off one then glued them together.  I reinforced them on the top and bottom with heavy manila paper and a single layer of coarkboard.  I left one of the gaps inside the D open for the roller.  This was my base.

I got these cylindrical cardboard boxes and glued them bottom-to-bottom. I cut holes to insert a dowel through them. Their lids made the side edges wider so I filled in the middle area with a layers of  corkboard.  Once the cylinder was a continuous width I continued to wrap it with alternating layers of coarkboard and foamie.  My pins go in about 3/8" deep.

Finally I covered everything in fabric.  Just kind of... worked it out.  Originally I had intended to set the dowel into the gap (with holes cut inside the D), but for now I like the height of it just sitting on top - and it doesn't seem to shift around any.

Now I'm on my way to work on some samplers...