There are very few needlework / thread-related arts and crafts that I haven’t tried.
At least once.
They don’t all click.
There’s one thread-related art that I’ve tried to teach myself many times over, and that I’m still determined, some day, to get the hang of, and that’s bobbin lace-making. I don’t want to be an expert at it. I just want to be able to flip some bobbins about with semi-confidence and end up with some kind of ordered pattern showing up on the board in front of me. Is that too much to ask?
In any case, I feed my desire to learn that particular lace-making art by reading about it, watching videos now and then, and even, occasionally, sallying forth with the same beginner’s kit I’ve had for umpteen years.
And then, a day later, embroidery takes over my life again, all the bobbins go back in their bag, and I concede that “it isn’t going to happen this year.”
There are so many good resources online for learning different needlework arts and crafts!
Sometimes, for those of us who are English-only speakers, we don’t realize the scope of what’s available on the internet to help us expand our skills, to teach us new skills, or just to inspire us.
One of my favorite little secret pastimes when I’m squizzing about the internet looking for embroidery related stuff to share with you, is searching YouTube for Italian videos. There are many good how-to videos out there for techniques like drawn thread work, lace-making, Italian needle lace, and the like – all it takes is spending some time digging for them.
You can start by searching YouTube for “ricamo,” and you’ll come up with some gems.
In the meantime, though, for your weekend viewing – if you’re looking for inspiration or information, or if you just like watching people do their needlework thing – here are two channels on YouTube that have some good instructional videos on them.
The first is The Lace Maker Diary, where Emanuele records his adventures in different types of needlework, including drawn thread work, bobbin lace-making, and blackwork, and other types of embroidery.
The other channel that has some good lace-making videos on it, as well as some drawn thread and some surface embroidery videos, is Il Giardino dei Punti.
Sometimes, you can turn on the closed captions and find an English translation (which is the case with The Lace Maker Diary). Most of the times, though, if you already have a sense of what’s going on, a translation isn’t necessary.
I just like to watch people do their needlework. It’s like watching someone with very nice handwriting, write. It’s mesmerizing.
Tomorrow, I’ll announce the winner of the peacock embroidery kit give-away – if you haven’t signed up yet, do it today!
Have a terrific weekend!
