Start bobbin lace
Cross and twist pairs of thread around pins, and lace grows under your hands, row by row. Start with a simple bookmark on six pairs. Here's the video that hooks everyone, and everything you need for your first piece.
Space neededA lap or a small table
First projectA cloth stitch bookmark
Skill levelSlow to start, easy to love
Good forCalm evenings, steady hands
The video that hooks everyone
A beginner's bobbin lace tutorial
A beginner tutorial at the lace pillow: pairs of wooden bobbins wound with green thread cross and twist over a pinned pattern card. Press play and see why it hooks people.
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Tool list
What you need to start
Everything you need for your first project, and nothing you don't. It all fits in a shoebox.
Starter kit
01Lace pillow or firm foam blockHolds your pins. A beginner's pillow, or a block of dense foam about 1 in. thick, to start.
02Bobbins, 12 pairs24 plain wooden bobbins. Your first bookmark uses 6 pairs.
03Lace pinsA box of long, fine brass or stainless pins.
04Cotton threadSmooth perle cotton, size 8, in a light color. Easy to see and to undo.
05PrickerA needle in a handle for pricking holes in your pattern.
06Card for prickingsThin, stiff card to carry your patterns.
07Clear self-adhesive filmCovers the pricking so the thread slides and the card lasts.
08Small sharp scissorsFor cutting threads close.
09Two cotton clothsCover the pillow under the bobbins and over the finished lace.
The manual tells you what to look for when you buy each one.
- 1Winding too much threadA fat bobbin is heavy and tangles its neighbors. Wind enough for the project, plus a little.
- 2Uneven pullAfter each stitch, give the workers a gentle, even pull. Too tight puckers the lace, too loose makes it sloppy.
- 3Losing your placeAlways put bobbins down in the order you used them. If you stop mid-row, mark the next pair with a pin.
