Lenka's Way of LaceOld Wise Tree Pattern and Tutorial
- PART 1 : Pattern
- PART 2 : Preparations
- PART 3 : Tree Crown Bobbin Lace
- PART 4 : Branches and Trunk Braiding
- PART 5 : Attaching Lace to Background
- PART 6 : Root work
- Old Wise Tree Gallery
PART 1
Introduction
The Old Wise Tree Pattern and Tutorial, designed and published by Lenka Suchanek, is offered as a free pattern with instructions for fibre as well as wire medium. Read the Story of the Old Wise Tree pattern here, and about the fair use of the free pattern here.
The Old Wise Tree design is based on a traditional Torchon lace doily pattern, which gives a shape to the tree crown. The lace is then finished in a free form by braiding the branches and tree trunk, and twisting and knotting the roots. This combination of techniques creates an interesting contrast, and opens a lot of space for original interpretation.
I invite all lacemakers, from beginners to experienced designers, to give this simple, but intriguing design a try. It is in the nature of this pattern that each Old Wise Tree becomes a unique lace artwork. And every handmade original tree adds a little bit of a delicate lace beauty to the Three Trillion Trees on the Earth!
The Old Wise Tree Pattern and Tutorial is divided into six parts – each covers one work section with comprehensive instructions with detailed photographs.
Old Wise Tree Gallery is dedicated to all lace trees that have grown from this seed of a pattern. To share an image of your Old Wise Tree artwork, please find instructions at the end of the Old Wise Tree Gallery page.
Download and Print:
Thread or Wire
The Old Wise Tree pattern is designed for fibre as well as wire lace, and the pricking and working diagrams are the same for both mediums. The Torchon ground grid, being rather open, accommodates a variety of threads. Colour and texture experiments are possible, and encouraged, to express the creative potential of bobbin lace technique and imagination of the lace artists.
Note 1: Contrast between thin ground pairs and thick fan worker and outline pair is an important design feature, and should be adhered to in order to create the desired effect.
Note 2: If you prefer to work in finer threads, it is of course possible to reduce the pricking size.
Fibre Lace Samples were worked in following threads:
Fibre Lace – Sample A: Barkonie Linen 50/2 – colours #25, 80, 83, 85, 88; Barkonie Linen 50/4 (doubled) – colour #25
Fibre Lace – Sample B: Finca Cotton #40 and DMC Pearl Cotton 5
For the wire tree, 0.2mm wire (32ga – AWG) is recommended, wound as a single thread for the ground pairs, as 2-ply for the outline pair, and as 4-ply for the worker pair.
Wire Lace Samples were worked in following wires:
Wire Lace – Sample A : enamelled copper 0.2mm (honey and gold colour)
Wire Lace – Sample B : raw bronze wire 0.2mm (32 ga in AWG) subsequently patinated), possible substitute: raw copper 0.24mm (32 ga in AWG)
PART 1|PART 2| PART 3| PART 4 |PART 5 |PART 6
Lenka's Way of Lace 
Merci beaucoup pour ce partage . C’est magnifique !
LikeLike
Thank you, Martine,
Have fun with the Old Wise Tree project!
Merci Martine,
Amusez-vous avec le projet Old Wise Tree!
LikeLike
Superbe merci
LikeLike
Enjoy!
LikeLike