Golden Anniversary
Cape Project
by Andrea Gaskell
Lacemakers from all over the globe (you do not need to be a Lace Guild member) are invited to participate in the creation of a Golden Cape. We envisage that the completed cape will be relatively light in weight, so that it could travel to many different places to be shared, worn, and photographed, as a symbol of the wonderful connections that we all have through our lacemaking. We also hope that groups of lacemakers in the UK would be able to join in the final stages of adding the lace to the fabric base. We hope that the completed cape will be on display at a Golden Anniversary celebration weekend, where everyone can have the chance to wear it and have a photograph taken.
All types of lace (including knitting, crochet, tatting, needle lace and more) will be included and there is a very wide remit to the theme, which should enable many people to join in. The theme is to be taken from nature on land and water to include flora and fauna of all kinds. The lace should be no bigger than a postcard (14.8 x 10.5 cm) and can include motifs and narrow edgings. Edgings can be made into simple flowers. The threads used should be gold in colour, but not necessarily metallic, although we all like a bit of sparkle. The cape will be made from tulle/organza and the lace will be mounted onto this, so any thread should not be too heavy. Tatting / crochet thread size 20 should be the heaviest thread used. This vision is the current idea for the project, but it may evolve, depending on contributions received.
I have gathered some ideas in the images on this page and hope that this is the beginning of a wonderful project. Some of the ideas are not gold in colour but could be. They are there for inspiration. To begin, look in a recent issue of Lace (191, Summer 2023) where there is a pattern and, in your books, magazines, and patterns. I am sure that you will all find something that could be included. We hope that you will use this theme as a way of being creative with lace design, even if that is to use a colour or thread type that you haven’t tried before.
Please contact me via my Lace Guild email address with any queries, questions, or ideas: thelaceguild.exec3@gmail.com. Look out for follow up articles, ideas, and patterns on the website, in future magazines and on social media. There is a deadline, but you have plenty of time to get making, as it is 1st June 2025. Completed lace should be sent to The Hollies at any point up to the deadline. Please remember to include your name and LG membership number if you have one, and complete one of the legacy forms below.