Pillow Talk

I finally got my mother's miniature bobbin lace pillow finished!!! It's the first project I've made from scratch with no instructions or tutorial to follow - so it is ALL my own work! Have to say I'm pretty pleased with myself!!!!

If you're not familiar with what bobbin lace pillows look like (most people aren't!), then take a look at this site - Beginners Guide to Lacemaking. Lace pillows are generally blue (like on this website) or green like the one I've made. My mom prefers green ones, so that's what she got!! The number of bobbins on a pillow is determined by the complexity of the pattern. The little piece of lace on my mini pillow is pretty basic, so doesn't need very many bobbins.

This is a photo of it in my dollhouse (next to my HOM chair, that I finally finished off with trim). The bobbins are made from the tops of fancy cocktail sticks, the pillow is a wooden disk, with padding on top covered in fabric. The cover cloth (the one that hangs down the front slightly) was soaked in a water/glue mixture then held in place, so it has a more natural looking hang to the fabric (not the 'flying in the wind look). I made the wooden stand out of a stair case spindle and carved the little feet myself.

My mom is really pleased with it and can't wait to take it home to show all her friends. She returns to England tomorrow (after 5 weeks here), so I got it finished just in time!!! We're going to miss her!

My mom is also trying to convince me to make mini lace pillows to sell. I really don't know if there is much of a market for them - lace isn't particularly popular right now. However for a house to be truly Victorian it would have a lace pillow somewhere in the house! We did actually see some for sale at Ron's Miniature's in Orlando, but they were $140!!!! that's what gave me the idea to make one!!!