Linens for the wealthy

Would you mind very much picking up an extra couple of sets that I can give away as presents? I'll pay you back from my next social security check. Okay ???

lol ;*))) :^))) see me grinning beside you.

Lucille

If anyone was wondering what to get me for Christmas...

Light blue will match the decor in my bedroom.

Too funny. Actually, why aren't there "young" craftswomen doing this? Are they even interested? Is this a dying artform? And the bigger question: how much of that chunk of change are the artisans going to get?

Dianne

Do these linnen come with an attached maid , or butler to take care of them ? mirjam

First - those must be darn tiny threads. And doesn't any one wonder if the lace would be scratchy?

Now seriously, I did a little looking to make sure Burano really existed - it does and there is quite the tradition of bobbin lace making there. And doesn't appear to be disappearing anytime soon.

But, for the person that truly has money to burn, I suppose....

That was fun, thanks Dianne.

Cheryl

I know! Hard to imagine!

And doesn't any one wonder if the

It's an inset: attached at the top of the hem and into the pillow area a bit.

From the grainy picture in the paper, it looks a lot like reticelli. Or a cross between that and cutwork. It wouldn't be scratchy.

Dianne

Depends what it's made of. The polyester laces that you buy at the fabric store are scratchy. My hand-tatted and hand-crochted cotton lace is not.

"Young" craftswomen are there too. Lucia Costantini is one to look for, her work is absolutely amazing, some pics are here but not her best stuff:

lace is needle lace, check out here (yes, they work on pillows but there are no bobbins involved): to the bottom of the page and click on the links for pics. It's not scratchy at all unless it's been starched.

Can you pick me up a set too? LOL! Jeanine in Canada

I found ( a bit later) several types - the cut work looking stuff and a full page of bobbin lace inserts. I'll look again later and post them. There was one that I just loved - very geometric rather than "lacey".

Cheryl

Ahhh, thank you! From the newspaper article, it almost looks more like Venetian lace . . . but I know *nothing* of these artforms. Surely the textile manufacturer would know which type of lace was being inserted in his bed linen.

If nothing else, it shows how little we value our work. Put a hefty price tag on it and we will get noticed and the wealthy will come!

Dianne

I *believe* the major difference between Burano lace and Venetian needle lace is that the Burano always has some type of net background, otherwise, yes - they are very similar.

If you're ever in Venice, I hear it's worth the trip to Burano (a couple of hours on a ferry across to the island). Wish I'd known that the few times I've been... ah, well... some day.

:-) Jeanine in Canada

I'd really like to go back to Venice - I'd like to go over to Murano again and make the journey out to some of the other islands. There was so much more I wanted to see there.

Cheryl

I am not cleared to release more specific details, but that is precisely the theory a friend is working on with her new business plan. We will hang a hefty price tag on handmade items to connote exclusivity and prestige, and see how many wealthy and wanna-be's are willing to pay our price.

Wow, sign me up as one of the makers of handmade items!

It sounds like a great idea, but as always, it depends on getting into the right places and to the right people, and then getting it talked about in the right circles.

Good luck to you and your friend.

Nyssa, who would be thrilled to be able to sell her work for a price in keeping with the time, effort, and talent it takes

Nyssa wrote: > It sounds like a great idea, but as always, it depends on getting

Yes. That is the key. You would have to market to the right retailers (and be able to get to them . . . this Italian firm has been making exclusive linens for over a 100 years), or be in the right area (the Hamptons, Lake Forest, Beverly Hills, Inverness, Gross Point Farms . . . those types of places with multi-million dollar homes with a gazillion dollars a year in income.

Dianne

Will do. If this takes off the way she thinks it will, she and I won't be able to keep up with production ourselves.

Bingo. She has her eye on one of those places to start, and will expand to the others (and, of course, online sales and getting the product "placed" in upscale magazines).

Yikes - my dh would prob. grab one for a drop cloth and never know the difference.