Review of the book Modeles de Dentelle au Fuseau Cluny.
I have bought myself a lovely book at the lace weekend called modeles de
Dentelles au Fuseau Cluny by Didier Carpenter – it all in French my schoolgirl french makes it possible to read some of the words, but not many!
I think you’ll love that book, that series is really nice. Cluny lace is the main lace worked at the central lace town of Le Puy in France, one of the most famous lace places in that country. It’s a bit like torchon with lots of plaits, and a bit like Beds or Maltese. It is a fairly thick lace, compared to the English ones, made primarily to decorate household linen and thus to be washed often, but it is very pretty nevertheless when made properly. Unfortunately, it is also the type of lace they copy in China, and you get those butterfly patterned tablecloths!!!
The author is actually Mick Fouriscot and someone else, I think. She is a really bigwig in French lace, and one of the people responsible for the creation of the national lace training certificate at the Lace School in Le Puy. She’s been “ghosting ” a whole series of books on different laces including that Dentelle Torchon de Cholet which we have mentioned a few times in our emails. Didier Carpentier is the publisher. She is also doing a series of small but thick rectangular books on all the different types of lace in the world, called “Le secret des dentelles/ The secrets of lace”, also published by Didier Carpentier. So far, she’s written 3 volumes, and she hasn’t even started on bobbin laces yet!!! It will be a definite work on lace if she ever finishes it. Lots and lots of photos, and interesting bits of text. Each volume so far is in both English and French. I haven’t seen them in Australia very much, has anyone got them, apart from me?