Melitastitches4fun's Blog

In the late morning of Day 2 of Exploring Needlelace with Diane Clark, I had two revelations.

First, I knew the class was all about needlelace but it wasn’t until today that I realized needlelacing isn’t at all like needle weaving.

Second, the detached lacing doesn’t get cut away from the muslin! So the pattern is reusable! When the light bulb went off for me, I blurted it out causing quite a chuckle.

I finished all assignments from today and finished yesterday’s beaded sample top center). I have blank frames to practice more at home. The bottom one was freestyle! Anything goes. There some very creative people in the class. It’s fun looking at everyone elses.

Day 1 of Exploring Needlelace with Diane Clark. The kit even came with a 4″ hoop!

We selected threads and a bead packet. Very extensive directions with lots of photos (I removed her contact info from the cover page).

Since I had two 4″ hoops at home, I brought them along just in case. I’m glad I did. There were 3 squares that I didn’t finish during class (2 upper right and oval ones bottom right).

Our homework was to finish the foundation squares like the one on the bottom left which I got done. Diane also wanted the padded oval finished. So, I did that too. That left 2 partially stitched squares and I ran out of steam when I got to the beaded square (upper right). That’s ok!

I really made progress getting more consistent and even lacing as I did more of it. The padded oval turned out well.

We covered the Cordonnet/Foundation, Brussels stitch, Double Brussels stitch, Pea stitch, pea stitch with beads, and needle lace over padding.

Diane is an excellent teacher, has great demos, and is taking this at a nice, steady pace.