Luton Museum has one of the best collections of old lace patterns for Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire bobbin lace and the Curator of Textiles, Veronica Main, kindly allowed us to take a group of modern lacemakers to view the collections that are not on display.    During our visit, Veronica mentioned that she was struggling to find someone who could go though an original Lace Dealers Pattern Book to idetnify some of the lacemakers and designers and to recreate some of the original patterns…. challenge accepted!

We worked through the original book to see if it was possible to identify designers like Thomas Lester (father and son) or see if the same lacemakers had been used to make up the samples.   At first it seemed impossible, but after careful examination, we began to see that several of the designs had been made different lace makers; using different threads or fillings etc.

After three wonderful weeks of exploring the past, we collated all our copious notes, comments and findings, sent them back to Veronica at the museum.  Then we went back to our normal lives of teaching classes and workshops, attending lace days and suppliers fairs and sometimes fitting in a little housework until, out of the blue, came an invitation to the launch at Wardown Park Museum, Luton of this superb photographic source of old  Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire lace.  The photographs are so clear you can use them as a starting point for your own designs.

Pat and Barbara.