What is bobbin lace?

The bobbin lace is used on a pillow with weaving and twisting. You wind the thread on what looks like little four inch chair legs. Those are the bobbins. You wind them in pairs and then put a pattern on to the pillow. It's a process of weaving and twisting. You will do some weaving and twisting and then put pins in to hold the stitch. You do this over and over until you have your article.

Q: What supplies are needed for bobbin lace?

For bobbin lace you will need a pattern. There are a lot of pattern books out there, and when you get advanced enough, you can start designing your own. You'll need bobbins which are about four inches long. Without investing a lot of money, you can get little wooden dowels from a hobby store and cut them into four inch lengths. Put in a nut on the end like a screw for weight and to keep the bobbin from moving. The pattern instructions will show you how to wind the thread onto the bob to make a little slip knot. That will allow the thread to be taken out or taken in. You can unwind it without having to unwind the knot. You would need a pillow of some sort. The easiest thing to start out on would be Styrofoam blocks covered with a dark cotton fabric. That would be pinned down. You would put the pattern on top and then start hanging on your pairs of bobbins. You'll also need several long pins that would be used as divider pins. You will need a couple of squares of cotton fabrics that have been hemmed, usually in dark color, to put over your lace when you are not working on it, to pin it down so you can travel with it, and as a pincushion. You'll need scissors and what we call a pricker, which is usually a pin device with the pin mounted on the bottom. All of these supplies can be bought at a craft store.