20th Century Lace

Similar stories were taking place in other countries too. In Ireland, lacemaking was supporting many families and the new Irish laces of the 19th century continued until WW2. The war brought a halt to the revived lacemaking industry. People were unable to spend money on such beauty and plain and simple became the style. But lace survived as a craft with it's resurgence in the 1960's and 70' and again in the 90's. In some countries like Hungary the lace market continued with the help of tourism and such beautiful laces like Halas lace are proudly held in high esteem by their countries.

Crafter's and artisans continue to make lace today and lace organizations like IOLI-International Old Lacers and OIDFA-The International Bobbin and Needle Lace Organization to name a few, bring lacemakers together and promote quality and enjoyment through gatherings, classes, magazines and e-mail!! How truly we have progressed. Now lacemakers can connect around the world. Lacemakers in Australia can find help from a lacemaker in the US or a lacemaker in Africa can find out the best places to visit on a trip to Europe. There is a true worldwide lace community and travelers never hesitate to meet up with lacemakers from other countries they've never met, except through e-mail. How wonderful! The most popular e-mail group is nicknamed Arachne. It is a subscription mail server and subscribers receive e-mail from lace maker around the world daily and coaching and ideas are disseminated freely.

Now that I've covered lace through the centuries my next articles will attempt to describe the different lace types. Watch for a new article twice a month.

Go To Page: 1 2