This replaces a missing post from August 25th, 2015

While I wait to the gilt passing thread to arrive from the States, I had time to work on modifying my bobbins to properly hold the thread.  The dollar store clips did not put enough pressure on the bobbin neck to keep the thread in place for very long.  While working on the DMC Pearl piece, I would periodically have to rewind the bobbins as the thread would frequently escape.
 
Another of the suggestions from Gillian Dye was to use a hook on the end of the bobbin.  I picked up the wee-est little screw eyes from Home Depot with the intentions of bending them open with a pair of pliers.  They were after all zinc – zinc is soft, right?
Hahaha.  Zinc coated - Crazy carbon steel kryptonite underneath.  Boooooo.
Plan B – cheap-o picture hanging hooks from the dollar store, of unknown metal content, that spread as easy as peanut butter. 

I pre-drilled ¼” holes into the top of 24 spare bobbins so that they wouldn’t split when I twisted the hooks into the bobbin head.  Despite my best intentions, I lost 3 (I still needed 24 total for the pattern, so I borrowed 3 more bobbins from my stash).  
 
I’m also tackling the clean-up of the rest of the patterns.  I’ve taken the original scanned images and printed them out.  Next I would lay a fresh piece of paper over top of each image and use my iPad as a light box.  Each pattern would be first traced in pencil, inked in Sharpie, then scanned back into the computer using the best contrast setting to give dark, crisp lines.   From there, each pattern image is saved then printed out for use (scaling up and down depending on the thread size).

This post serves to replace an original entry made August 15th, 2015

All that glitters is not gold.
 
Gillian Dye’s Gold & Silver Edgings: Sixteenth & Seventeenth Century Lace, Book 1 offered suggestions on how to hold metal threads to the bobbins, as the hitch used to normally hold thread to a bobbin would cause the foil to split from the core.  One of the suggestions was to use little butterfly hair clips holding the thread against the bobbin neck.

I bought a couple dozen from the dollar store and went about winding my bobbins.
 
The gold foil DMC Pearl thread was slippery and felt horrible to the touch.  I initially tried to split the four ply threads down into individual threads to use, but they were too weak on their own to hold the weight of the bobbins.  So each ‘thread’ that is plaited is a very obvious four ply twist.  In the other plied threads, the twist seemed to melt into the thread. 
 
This thread has no real metal content and won’t hold stitches well against the pins.  I was very frustrated with the way this piece worked up.  The plastic foil would easily untwist from the yellow fiber underneath.

I promised myself that I would only complete one pattern repeat and then cut the threads.  
I knew this wasn’t going to a viable material to work with going forward, so I immediately ordered a No. 4 gilt passing thread, silk core, from Hedgehog Handworks (http://www.hedgehoghandworks.com/).

This one was a speed demon for me. I started this piece on Wednesday and finished on Sunday. I have no idea what got into me to finish this fast. Massive amounts of caffeine?

As the thread size diminished, I also had to reduce the pin diameters, otherwise I'd be left with gaping holes. The cotton piece was worked up using Dritz's #16900 Satin pins (no marked diameter). I needed something finer when I moved onto the linen thread. I purchased some Dritz #33 Bridal and Lace pins, diameter 0.5mm.

When it came to the silk thread, I needed to get creative. While browsing Van Scivers lace supply site (http://www.vansciverbobbinlace.com), I stumbled on a listing of insect mounting pins in various sizes. Cool!

I decided to give them a try and ordered SEOH insect entomology pins in size 00, 0.3mm diameter.   Super tiny in person. And they worked a treat!

When it came off the pillow I was pleased to see tight picots and no missed windmills. I am progressing.

Next up: metallic threads. *gulp*

I understand the foil twist can be hard to work with.