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Tag: needle lace

Make Your Own Teneriffe Lace Pillow, aka Koppo Cushion

This week’s favourite things Thursday comes with a tutorial for making your own teneriffe lace cushion!

One of my favourite types of needlework is any textile for which the major tools needed are a needle and thread. Whether it is needle lace edgings such as oya ignesi with it’s stunning floral and geometric designs, needle lace (I’m a fan of the more colourful and modern pieces), or teneriffe lace, if it’s portable I’ll give it a go.

Many years ago I bought a teneriffe lace cushion called a Koppo cushion and was flooded with requests to buy it or to tell people where they could get one. Unfortunately, since they were made in 1955 that wasn’t going to be possible. Even worse, I seem to have lost mine when we moved house, so I made a replacement and you can too. (I’m hoping it will still turn up but considering how organised most of my gear is, I doubt it).

My poor lost, beloved Koppo cushion

I’ve written a full tutorial on sewing the cushion with two options on how to make the top (leather or paper), what to fill it with and a link to an amazing book that will teach you all you need to know about making your lace. Thanks to some notes I kept and the patent online, I even managed to recreate the top of the Koppo cushion accurately so I have my favourite piece of needlework gear back!

Check out my new tutorial on making a teneriffe lace pillow, aka Koppo cushion.

If you’d like to keep up to date with new tutorials, patterns and other needlework related goodies that go on around here, subscribe to the site to receive an email when new stuff appears. Over on the left (on desktop), or underneath the post on tablet or mobile.

Sarah

All Over the Place

I’m a bit allover the place with my needlework projects at the moment so I thought I’d give a quick pictorial update as to what I’ve been up to. My keyboard is also dying, which is beginning to make typing difficult (half the top row of keys won’t work and the shift and control keys seem to have a life of their own!)

I received this in the mail this week (I love the ring-only edging on the cover):

Tatting Book number 1

and have decided to use this motif out of it for the doily I wanted to make, instead of the one from Modern Priscilla which I had decided on before. I prefer this one because it’s a bit more complex than the one I was originally going to use, which will make it a bit more challenging.

Tatted medallion

I’ve been working hairpin lace samples for a couple of articles, plus about half of the first strip for my shawl (the white thing at the top)

Hairpin lace crochet samples

I’ve been learning to use the Singercraft tool to make pile fabrics

Learning the Singercraft tool

Singercraft sample

and finally, I started a piece of teneriffe lace on my Koppo cushion

Teneriffe lace in progress on a koppo cushion

The cream thread is size 40 and the “random kingfisher” is size 20. If anyone knows where I can find more random kingfisher in any size thread please let me know! I bought one ball at an op shop so it’s probably vintage but it’s my favourite colour and I’d like to stock up on some more.

Hi Honey, I’m Home!

Actually, I’m only temporarily online because of the aforementioned laptop-software-murder but I thought that while I’m here I should tell everyone who asked that yes, I am safe and sound! Sorry I can’t reply to you all privately but the computer work I get paid for had to come first (SORRY!)

We still don’t have a rental, and haven’t ended up in the town I would have liked, but I’m a firm believer in “stuff happens for a reason” so it’ll all be fine in the end, I’m sure. In fact, some of the reasons have already presented themselves and they’re well worth the sacrifice. Well, at least one of them (the other is also good, but is also available in Wollongong, which is where we wanted to live but haven’t ended up).

Did that make sense?
No, I didn’t think so.

In the meantime I’ve been making stuff (in the name of sanity preservation. Is it working? Probably not).

Wanna see?
Of course you do, or you wouldn’t be reading a knitting blog. 😛

The first couple of things you’ll have already seen if you checked out the new patterns I uploaded over the last couple of days.

Firstly a quick recap with the Dr Who Scarf:

Dr Who Scarf

In case you’re wondering, yes, all that garter stitch is enough to drive you barmy. And no, that is not my mannequin. My family are somewhat nuts, everyone seems to have mannequins all over the place (actually, the same mannequins seem to get passed around, although my Dad did just buy a new one…)

The other project you might have already checked out are some cushion covers that I made from old denim samples I bought from Reverse Garbage in Marrickville. (Fellow Aussies, you can google their website and order online! Very cool)

Denim Cusion Cover with Frayed Spots

Denim cushion cover with an embroidered flower

Denim cushion cover with pocket

Denim cushion cover with stripe

Not bad for $5, huh? I only consider myself an advanced beginner when it comes to sewing, but I’m particularly proud of these. My favourite is the one with the embroidered flower.
But that’s not all I’ve been up to! I’ve been learning teneriffe lace.

Teneriffe lace

This is the only thing I’ve made so far. It’s the beginner’s lace mat from “The Technique of Teneriffe Lace” by Alexandra Stilwell. It’s an excellent book if you want to learn Teneriffe lace and well worth seeking out. It also has a chapter on daisy looms that I want to explore. I bought my copy through http://www.abebooks.com from an Australian seller, and there still seem to be plenty of copies around at excellent prices.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and am definitely going to learn more.

Whilst cleaning out one of his rooms, my Dad brought out an old favourite that I made for him last century! I don’t think I ever showed this one online because I didn’t have a digital camera way back when I made it.

Thomas the Tank Engine

Thomas the Tank Engine

It’s Thomas the Tank Engine. The pattern is from the Robin yarn company in the UK. I don’t know if you can get it any more but if you have anyone in your family who appreciates knitted trains, then it’s well worth seeking out. You knit a few pieces, sew them together, knit a few more, sew them on, ad infinitum. I think there were over 60 pieces in Thomas. The pattern is extremely well written. I never forgot what a piece was for, and aside from stuffing the base a little too firmly I think it turned out really well.

Of course all I care about is that my Dad loved it so I don’t care that I overstuffed the base.
🙂

At the moment I’m making another “Badly Written Doily“, in the hopes of being able to put up the corrected pattern with charts as my next update in a month or so. I have MORE that enough yarn to finish this one, so I’ll get past round 172 this time! I also have a very large book of graph paper to chart it with so there’s no way I’ll run out of that either.
In fact, I think I bought enough yarn to make 2. I’m up to round 154 and haven’t used all of one ball of cotton yet and I bought 3!

Finally, a quick list of birthday goodness.

I had my 36th birthday while offline and received a gift certificate from Borders, which I spent immediately on some fibre and philosophy books which I’ll tell you more about later. Dad gave me an embroidery frame that he made for me. I also managed to score 2 glass display heads with $$ from my sister. I’ve been looking for some for YEARS, so when my Dad’s friend phoned up and said that a local camping supplies shop was closing down and selling the shop fittings, off we trecked and lo and behold, just what I needed! Somehow I also ended up buying some down feathers too. I wonder if I can add them to my spinning without inhaling half of them…

I’ll try and post again in a couple of weeks. Don’t have too much fun without me!