Hello there!
Today I'm going to be demonstrating how to
plait your own laces and points with a 5-strand
finger loop braid.
These have been used to fasten everything
from hose and doublets to stays and sleeves
from the early medieval period all the way
through to the late 18th century.
So quite the handy bit of knowledge for any
historical costumer.
All you need is a skein of embroidery floss,
some small snips, and at least 8 fingers.
First you need to measure out your strands
of floss.
Keep in mind that a single strand is going
to loop around your finger from a fixed point,
so you'll need twice the length of floss that
you want the finished length of lace to be.
Also be aware that as the lace is plaited,
you'll lose several inches of length, so be
sure to include some extra length in your
cutting.
I want my finished length of lace to be around
3/4 of a yard, so I'm cutting my loops to
be 40 inches long.
Keep in mind that a loop is a doubled width
of string, so the initial strands were 80
inches long.
The strands will also need to be tied to a
fixed point, such as the leg of a table, a
lamp, or the pole of your dress form, so be
sure to allow a bit of extra length for that.
Once you have your strands cut, it's time
to get set up.
The most important thing here is for all your
loops to be exactly the same length.
To do this, I've looped each strand around
a pencil, so I can be sure that they are all
stretching at an equal length when I attach
them to the pole.
Once this is done, be sure to straighten out
all of the strings to ensure that there is
no twisting or knotting.
And now to get plaiting.
Start by hooking the loops onto your fingers
like so: two one one hand and three on the
other, so that the index finger is left free
on the two-loop side.
It doesn't matter which hand has two and which
three, as you'll be passing them back and
forth between when we get started.
Now make your first 'stitch' by taking your
index finger, putting it through the middle
finger loop, grabbing the loop on the opposite
ring finger, and pulling it through.
Tension the stitch by spreading the strands
as far as your arms will allow.
Then shift the remaining two loops each down
one finger so that your index finger on the
opposite hand is now free, just like how we
started.
And again: the index finger goes through the
middle finger loop, hooks on to the opposite
ring finger, and draws it through.
Tension, And shift down the two remaining
loops.
And that's it!
All you have to do is repeat this a couple
hundred times, and in no time, you'll have
a nice hand-plaited lace.
Just for your own reference, I'm plaiting
a 5-loop braid today, but there's actually
quite a wide range of techniques used historically.
It can be done with 3 loops, or up to 7 or
10, though those require more fingers and,
thus, more people.
You might also need to recruit a friend if
you want to make a longer lace, to close something
more substantial like stays.
The longer your strands, the wider you will
have to spread them between each stitch in
order to pack the plaiting tightly at the
other end.
If it's wider than a single person's arm span,
you'll need a friend to pass the loops between.
I got to try out this technique with the master
of lace plaiting herself, Claire Thornton
with the School of Historical Dress.
Our 6 metre lace required three people, a
lamp post, and an afternoon in the park.
We imagined that this might have been a nice
task to be done by children, as it becomes
a lively sort of dance--and is very exhausting.
It's best to try and plait your lace all in
one go; keeping an even tension on the strands
is important to having a nice, uniform plait
in the end, and having to put it down can
interrupt that tension.
Be sure you're pulling your strands nice and
tight between each pass so that the tension
on the plait is nice and tight.
If you don't pull snugly enough, your plait
is going to end up very loose and will have
a wider diameter, which may impede it from
sliding easily through your worked eyelet
holes.
And also a loose plait is liable to snag,
so it's much less durable.
My finished plaits ended up to measure 28
inches at tight tension, so I've lost 12 inches
off of the initial length, but that still
puts me just over 3/4 of a yard, which is
perfect.
I'm not very mathematically inclined and haven't
worked out any sort of formula for this, but
it's always better to overestimate than to
wind up with a lace that's too short.
And so now it's just time to finish off the
ends.
For this you will need some metal aglets,
which I've purchased from Etsy, and some form
of glue.
Because I'm attempting to replicate historical
practices, I'm using rabbit skin glue, which
was used historically, and can still be purchased
in art supply stores today.
However if you are a better vegetarian than
I and are uncomfortable using animal products,
you can probably substitute with a clear modern
glue.
The rabbit skin glue comes in a gelatinous
form, which must be melted into a liquid by
surrounding it in hot water.
Then it can be easily painted onto the ends
of your laces.
Fit the glued end gently into the aglet, and
make sure the knot is really pressed in as
far as it will go.
Now I'm using a pair of pliers to gently crimp
the aglet to fit around the lace.
I know aglets often come with small holes
at the top, allowing them to be stitched into
the lace; but I opted for solid metal ones
instead, since I've only come across this
style when looking at 15th century archaeological
remains.
But my current project is focussed on 15th
century England, so it's not to say that the
sew-on variety didn't exist; I just thought
that, for my purposes, it would be best to
go with the prevalent evidence for this period
and location.
And there you go!
Completed points for all your historical lacing
needs.
In total this took my about half an hour,
so it's definitely a nice, quick and easy
experiment if you want to add a little historical
touch to your next project.
Do leave a comment below and let me know all
about your own pointing and lacing endeavors
if you've tried this out for yourself.
And, of course, if you're new round here and
would like to stick around for some more historical
sewing tips and adventures, do give us a subscribe
and I shall greatly look forward to seeing
you around.
