Bay Area Resources

Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles & Retail Store

2982 Adeline St.
Berkeley, CA 94703
Phone: 510-843-7290
https://www.lacis.com/

Open: Monday thru Saturday; from 12:00-6:00pm

Information from the Lacis website:

[The Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles] collection of … laces and textiles represents 40 years of dedication to the preservation of the finest of human handiwork. The collection includes thousands of specimens from pre-Columbian Peru, the finest from the 17th c. European courts and examples of the machine laces exemplifying the 19th c. industrial revolution. An extensive library, focusing on lace, textiles and costume includes over 10,000 items of books, patterns, articles and other ephemera. Related tools of the textile craft include those for all varieties of lace-making as well as an extensive collection of sewing machines. [Lacis offers a variety of classes] to encourage dissemination of the techniques and knowledge of the textile arts”.

Lacis [retail store]
Offers an extensive selection of threads, tools and supplies for the textile arts, including lace-making, embroidery, knitting, tatting, crochet, costume, bridal, etc., to the wholesale and retail market.
Manufactures specialized lace making tools, sew-on purse frames, exotic tatting shuttles, reproduction needlework tools, tassel forms, tatting needles, extra fine knitting needles, etc.
Publishes over 130 books relating to needlework and costume while maintaining an inventory of over 6,000 titles relating to textiles and costume in both English and foreign language
Distributes DMC “Floche” and other cotton threads and Japanese “Bunka” and “Kanagawa” threads.
Is a family business established in 1965, owned and operated by Jules & Perrin Kliot.

San Francisco School of Needlework and Design

850 Battery Street, 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94111
Phone: 415-604-1104
https://www.sfneedleworkanddesign.org/

From the SFSND website:

A Home for Artists & Artisans

San Francisco School of Needlework and Design was founded in 2015 by passionate embroiderers, Lucy Barter and Ellice Sperber. Ms. Barter was trained as an apprentice at the Royal School of Needlework in England and ran their courses in the United States for eight years. Ms. Sperber earned her Diploma at the Royal School of Needlework. The two met during the US-based courses and began envisioning a school of needlework that was not only based in the United States, but would bring a fresh and modern creativity to the art form.

Our goal is to inspire the next generation of hand-embroidery artisans, building on traditional knowledge with updated skillsets, expanded technical abilities and a fluent understanding of the vast methods.

The Needlework Tradition

Hand embroidery is one of the world’s most ancient crafts – found in cultures worldwide. There is a long and well-documented story of American needlework, as it was taught as a part of a girl’s formal education from the colonial period through the Victorian age. When teaching the craft ceased to be a formal part of a girl’s education, the art form survived as the knowledge was passed along in families.

Needlework today is pursued both for art and fashion, yet few schools provide top-flight instruction and support for needlework artists and artisans. San Francisco School of Needlework & Design offers a wide range of technique classes taught by experienced and dedicated masters of the art – and a welcoming, collegial environment for sharing the pleasures of this slow and infinitely rewarding craft.

Together, we will create contemporary designs and art to bring this slow craft through the hyper-fast world of the 21st century.