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This book has good quality photos, and informative descriptions, for the many types of laces you might encounter while thrifting or going through Grandma's stash.

It includes many close-up photos for a look at the details, as well as period portraits that highlight a style, and some fashion plates that illustrate the typical uses.

A friend received a box of antique laces recently and said this was among the most helpful of her sources.

This book has good quality photos, and informative descriptions, for the many types of laces you might encounter while thrifting or going through Grandma's stash.

It includes many close-up photos for a look at the details, as well as period portraits that highlight a style, and some fashion plates that illustrate the typical uses.

A friend received a box of antique laces recently and said this was among the most helpful of her sources.

I am deeply interested in local history, and this history is as local as it gets for me. I live on this property today. And I really appreciated this arc of the history of this land, with information on the native people and their treatment at the hands of European settlers. As we proceed, we also find out about how much Boston-area wealth was generated by enslaved people and the sugar cane commodity trade.

Because of a lack of resources, some of the stories of the Black residents are superficial and unsatisfying. But the pieces that we do know are definitely still unsettling and important to grasp. And new research will tell us more someday, I'm sure.

This was a re-read after some new experiences in local history research.

With a small amount of historical background in the beginning, most of the book consists of excellent technical diagrams of the stitches that are common in Milanese lace today (and Flemish similar tapes). Great photos of a section, and a corresponding thread diagram for each stitch type.

The back of the book has a number of very nice patterns as well.

This book is expensive, but really a good value. Some lace books I get from the lace group libraries, but some are ones I want to own. this is one to own.

I wish they didn't have an end date on reference books. I feel like I'm going to use this one forever.

Very much a technical book, this has nice large black and white diagrams and explanations of the typical stitches. It has some prickings for both the traditional floral and scrollwork kinds of pieces. There are some non-traditional figures like a palm tree, parrot, peasant girl, mermaid, a nice Madonna and Child, that sort of thing. I liked the cockatoo.

Some bits seem a little dated today--like the geisha is a little....um....appropriated? Supplier lists are of course long obsolete.

But there are definitely many useful examples with high quality motifs and shapes.

It doesn't have any real historical research or that kind of background, so it's not a reference book of that sort.

It is amazing that this material survived to come down to us. Women's papers through history have not always been treasured. Luckily, the family of midwife Martha Ballard recognized the importance of this chronicle of her life in the early American states. And then Ulrich studied it, explored the context, and gave us this excellent and rare summary view into times past from a woman's perspective.

This book has some interesting tidbits on the history of tatting in the US, but they are brief and not deeply sourced. Otherwise it's a pretty typical tatting book of the period with black and white photos that aren't particularly crisp.

There might be some useful patterns in there, but it didn't seem to have any particularly special characteristics that would make me want to own it.

[borrowed from Boston Public Library]

This book has a number of projects ranging from simple bracelets to ornate necklaces. It also has some 3-D flower projects and some with beads.

The examples are shown mostly with a straight needle style, which is interesting to see compared to the shuttle style.

The projects appear to be mostly jewelry or ornaments like flowers. I am glad to see several with beads, for future reference and to use up the beads I'm using on other projects...

The patterns are in written text form with supplemental diagrams.

[Boston Public Library book]

When I went to the library to pick this book up, we all just marveled at the box. It comes in a huge protector box, and you slide out the hardcover text inside. There are glorious reproductions of fashion drawings from influential publications that are just amazing to see.

This is a beautiful work, as well as being helpful and informative about the features of fashions over the decades.

[Interlibrary loan from Minuteman Library Network]