Here it is - the completed lace! I do apologize for the horrible photos, but once the lace came off the pillow, I totally forgot to take a decent picture with my camera. Both of these photos were taken with my cell phone and the quality leaves a lot to be desired!
As is probably quite clear, my large project was a garter for my friend's wedding. The pattern is from Cook's book "Weddings and Anniversaries in Lace". This is not then complete title, but I don't have the book in front of me.
This is actually the second time I made this garter. Although I initially gave myself much more time to finish this one, I still made most of it in the span of 2 months. For the first one I had a month total from the time my friend took me up on my offer to the wedding. Needless to say, making it was much more enjoyable this time around! The main difference between the two garters I made is that I used pairs for the gimp thread. I am not sure how I managed the first time, but I used a single bobbin for gimp. I think using a pair makes the gimp stand out more and generally looks better.
There is not much to say about the pattern. The instructions are very clear in the book. My biggest dilemma was not related to the lace itself, but on how to hold the garter up. The first time I made it, I used only a ribbon. I did not think that it would keep sliding down... My friend later told me she had to tie it on so tight that she was worried it would cut off her circulation! I'm sure she exaggerated a bit, but I did not want to make the same mistake. The photo in the book shows a pretty decorative elastic. I tried to find something I could use with no success. I do now have quite a collection of elastics though! I finally ended up using a plain white elastic and sewing it together. A blue ribbon was then threaded around the elastic to hide it. The final result was much more comfortable! I swear though, that sewing the elastic together was more nerve wracking than any part of making the lace!
It may be hard to tell, but the charm you can see in the photo above is a lighthouse. There is a second anchor charm that is not visible. As you may guess, the wedding had a nautical theme. Both charms are attached to the lace with two jump rings. That was fun!
This is such an amazing gift! What a lovely thing to make, and to keep. I might steal your idea and make a garter for my friend's wedding in April. It will have to be tatted, but there must be something nice that can be done. I'll have a think.
ReplyDeleteHow was your friend's circulation?
And apologies, I did mean to comment on this when you posted it, but as I mentioned, I've got a habit of reading blogs on my iPad via Bloglovin' and it won't let me leave comments. Just catching up.