Black Blonde Lace by Lia Baumeister-Jonker
What is Blonde Lace?
Blonde Lace is a bobbin lace made in France in the 18th century from unbleached pale beige Chinese silk. Subsequently, the term blonde was extended to cover lace made of bleached silk (white blonde) and black-dyed silk (black blonde). Blonde lace was made in France at Bayeux, Caen, and Chantilly in the mid-18th century and also in England (Dorset) c. 1754-80. Just before the Revolution of 1789, blonde lace was light and decorated with flowers. This style later gave way to a heavier “Spanish” style. A revival of blonde, including earlier styles, took place in France in the 19th century.
Blonde Features
- Tüll point ground. This stitch is called point ground in Buckspoint ofr Point d’Alencon in Bayeua lace. C-T-T-T
- Linenstich for motifs using a flossy/flat silk thread for runners. The runners may or may not be twisted when they turn at a pin. C-T-C.
- Grille Cantile: Half stitch where the worker is a flossy/flat silk thread.
- Honeycomb stitch for fillings and in less often in motifs. It is the most used decorative stitch. C-T-T pin C-T-T
- Halfstich used somethimes in motifs when shading or an airy effect is desired. C-T
- Footside is worked on the left hand side. There are at least 12 ways to make a footside.
- Picot is a double picot made with 7 twists. There will always be picots along the outside edge of the lace. There is a passive pair to the inside of the picot that gets worked in whole stitch.
- Gimp is heavy and not spun. Passive pairs are carried along with the gimp in a bundle. Theses pairs are taken in and out of the bundle as needed.
Blonde Thread
- Danish Silk 250 unboiled 3 ply, (500m) Traditionally unbleached white silk was used but Blonde can be worked in Black or colors (Polychrome Blonde)
- Gimp Danish Silk 120 boiled 6 ply, (250 m) Use the Gimp thread doubled.
Blonde Bibliography
- Dentelles Normandes by Claudette & Bouvot. Beautiful book on the Blonde point ground laces of Caen. In French but a translation is available. Lots of history and a few prickings.
- Motive in Tüll by Ulrike Löhr. Compaires of point ground lace from various regions.
Blonde Photos
Blonde Lacemaking Class with Lia Baumeister-Jonker a Photopoint Album
My Polychrome Blonde Flower in progress and Finished.
My Pillow with the widest piece of Blonde available for the class. This is the same one that Lia worked in black. The lace samples are Lia’s of course.
