There were many new faces at the course this year and the lacemakers who had been before welcomed them into the ‘course family’. Friendships were formed and old acquaintances rekindled as we spent a week together doing something we all enjoyed.

The 62 lacemakers attending the course were making a wide variety of types of lace from complete beginners to more experienced lacemakers. The techniques included Torchon (see image below) and Milanese, Binche, Flanders, and Brugge, Bucks, Idrija, Duchesse and Florentine lace. We had some designers too – both on paper and on the lace pillow. I look forward to seeing Joan’s completed Cosmos flower (see image below).

We were able to display the finished pieces of lace which had been started at last year’s course. Thank you to everyone who brought them back.

A huge ‘thank you’ also goes to everyone who submitted an entry into the Heatwave challenge. The creativity and imagination behind each entry was great to see.

This was the first time that Harlequin Lace Supplies had been to the course and from the number of lacemakers going home with extra luggage, they had a successful trip!

The 18th July dawned and we were ready to welcome 54 ladies onto the course. They came from far and wide with quite a number of first timers and three real beginners. We had four course tutors, Kitty Mason, Frances Bell, Carole Smith and Claire Bonito and also an untutored group. Some of us had attended the short course in 2021 but for others this was the first time to meet up with course lacemaking friends since 2019.

The beginners made great progress in the five days. One lady, an artist, came to learn lace so that she can create her own free lace designs. Its was very interesting to see how Kitty taught her to use different stitches to achieve her ideas.

The other three beginners went on the traditional route with Frances and made great progress in the five days.

Other ladies were working on creating their own designs while the rest of us were working from patterns making Torchon, Milanese, Bruges, Bucks, Duchesse, Flanders, Binche, Mechlin, and Valenciennes laces, we are very fortunate to have tutors with knowledge of all these different laces. Have a look in the photo gallery at some of the beautiful work!

Most of the group were accommodated in a hall of residence whilst a few others took advantage of the Marriott hotel on the campus. All were within walking distance of the workroom and the dining facilities. The weather was good and we were able to enjoy the beautiful extensive grounds to relax. As usual there was a great atmosphere, we ensured that newcomers were ‘buddied up’ to be
shown around and made welcome and of course they soon got to know their tutor group. Roll on next year!

Liz Parkinson

On the morning of Tuesday 20th July, 23 very happy ladies arrived at Heriot Watt University for the 2021 Edinburgh Lace Course.

Due to the rules and restrictions imposed by Covid-19, the University was not able to offer their full range of accommodation and social distancing meant that the number of people allowed in the rooms was reduced. This didn’t deter us! We proposed a smaller course and were able to work with the University to make it happen – thank you Charlotte for all your hard work.

Rather than a five-day residential course with four tutors, we ran a two-day course with two tutors. We didn’t want to arrange a large course and only have a few local lacemakers able to come. How wrong we were – the course was filled within a week, and we had lacemakers from Hertfordshire, Essex, Northumbria, Lancashire, and Northern Scotland in addition to those who were closer to home.

We had arranged the room to comply with the regulations – everyone had their own space, there were one-way systems and sanitising stations, and we all wore face coverings when we were moving around or when talking with the tutors.

There was plenty of chatting but also plenty of lace made. Because it was a shorter course, everyone wanted to make the most of it. Have a look the photos in the gallery to see some of the beautiful work made or started at the course.

At the end of the course, Sarah and I decided that our highlight was seeing the faces as everyone arrived – even with a face mask, they couldn’t hide how happy they were to be back at the course.

Thank you to everyone who came – we had a great time. Roll on 2022……

Carole Smith

Sixty one ladies attended the 35th Edinburgh Lace Course from 27th-31st July. They came from as near as Currie and as far away as France. Some had made very little lace before and some were real experts. Photos below show what some of them were making.