How to Make Hairpin & Maltese Lacemaking
Maltese lace is a bobbin lace, originally made in Malta, and later in other places such as the British Isles. It is characterized by the figures of the Maltese cross and stylized wheat ears that look like flowers with rounded petals. Hairpin lace, on the other hand, is a form of crocheted lace made with a hairpin lace fork or loom. Bobbin lace has a long tradition since the 15th century, and is a complex art. Hairpin lace is easy to learn and can be made rather quickly compared to Maltese lace. It also requires less equipment than Maltese lace.
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Things You'll Need
- Lace pricker
- Pattern
- Lace pillow
- Dressmaker's pins
- Measuring tape
- Thread
- Scissors
- Crochet hook
- Crochet thread
- Hairpin lace fork or hairpin lace loom
Instructions
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Maltese Lace
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1
Use a lace pricker or pin to poke holes in the pattern where the pins will go. This is usually at intersections and the outside edge of the lace.
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2
Center the pattern on the pillow. Pin the pattern to the lace pillow by the corners.
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3
Measure and cut your thread. Tie each end of the thread to a bobbin. Bobbins are used in pairs. Wind half the thread on the bobbin in your left hand, turning it clockwise. Wind the rest of the thread on the bobbin in your right hand, clockwise. Wind as many pairs of bobbins as you need for the pattern.
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4
Put a pin in the starting position. Hang two pairs of bobbins from this pin. Plait the thread on these two pairs of bobbins using the cross and twist movements until the plait is long enough to reach to the second position.
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5
Put a pin in the second starting point. Hang two more bobbin pairs and plait down to the next place you will put a pin for these bobbins.
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6
Plait together the number two pair with the number three pair of bobbins. Put a pin under the place where these bobbins cross.
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7
Continue to add pairs of bobbins and cross them with other bobbin pairs as the pattern requires.
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8
Cut off four bobbins used to make a plait when you are ready to finish. Using two threads as one, make a knot with the four threads. Cut the threads off close to the knot. Continue with the remaining bobbins until all have been cut off and loose threads tied.
Hairpin Lace
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9
Make a long slipknot. Put it over the left end of the hairpin fork. Lay the yarn over the right end of the hairpin fork. Wrap it underneath and behind both ends of the fork. Hold the yarn in your left hand.
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10
Insert your crochet through the left-hand loop, made with the slipknot, from the bottom through the top. Hook the yarn that you are holding in your left hand and pull it through the loop. Keep the stitch on your crochet hook and turn the hairpin lace fork over so the right-hand loop is now on the left.
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11
Make a chain stitch with the loose yarn, then insert the crochet hook through the left-hand loop from bottom to top, catch the loose yarn again and pull a stitch down through the loop, making a single crochet. Keep turning the work, making a chain stitch followed by a single crochet.
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12
Knot the end of the yarn when the strip is as long as you want it to be, by cutting the yarn and pulling the tail through the last stitch. When you pull the lace off the hairpin lace fork, you'll have a central chain with long loops on each side.
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13
Lay two strips side by side. Crochet strips together by pulling a loose loop from the right-hand strip through the first loop on the left-hand strip. Then pull a loop from the right-hand side through that stitch and continue alternating from side to side, crocheting the loops together. Put together as many strips as you like, to make a scarf, blanket or other lace item.
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Tips & Warnings
Maltese lace is complex. Take lessons from a lace maker either in classes or by reading books on bobbin-lace-making.
References
Resources
- Beginner's Guide to Bobbin Lace; Gilian Dye and Adrienne Thunder
- Photo Credit Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images
