Lace from the Czech Republic

I was very glad to see bobbin lace at Khutsot haYotser (International Arts & Crafts Fair in Jerusalem) this year. Dana Mihulková (http://www.lace.cz/) is a lace maker and designer from the Czech Republic. In addition to traditional designs, some as the square mats in the photo above, she also designs lovely flowers and free-form lace. Many of her patterns are available for purchase.

Below: Dana Mihulková

Dana worked these samples of traditional patterns for national costumes, often using paintings as the original source for recreating them. While it is often a challenge to recreate traditional patterns from museum pieces, it is even more difficult to copy laces in paintings. Dana said that many of the traditional laces are worked on the same grid, which makes sense because the grounds used for these laces are identical. Working on a pricking with no guidelines for gimps or fills takes a great deal of concentration!

Bolster pillow with continental bobbins:

Irene Ring (below) is Dana’s sister. Their mother taught them to make lace and Dana said that her three children know how to make lace, including her 12-year-old son.

Two-pair braid with spangles:

I bought this treble clef motif. It’s about 6″ high. I really like the colours. If you’re a lace maker, you can buy this pattern.