Studies in Antique Lace with Elizabeth Kurella
Elizabeth is offering two series of monthly classes covering a wide variety of topics in antique lace. On the Second Monday of the month, The Many Faces of Lace delves into a different type of lace each month. On (usually) the Fourth Monday of the month, Exploring Antique Lace follows our whims through an eclectic set of topics. (We’re open to suggestions.)
Series 1: The Many Faces of Lace
Series Description: Elizabeth will discuss a different well-known lace each month, focusing on its evolutions and revolutions in style and technique. Some stories span 40 years and others 400 years. Classes are interactive and often Elizabeth invites students to send photos from their collections ahead of time so they can be included in the class discussion.
Sign up for a single class or a package of four for a 20% discount. You can mix and match between this series and the Exploring Antique Lace series below.
Dates: Second Monday of the month (usually). Individual class descriptions and dates are below.
Times: 10:00 am -12:00 pm Pacific
Level: Beginner / Intermediate
Prerequisites: None, but some understanding of lacemaking would be helpful.
Second Camera: Not required
Registration Fee: $25 per class or four for $80 between this series and Exploring Antique Lace series below.
Register (single form for any/all classes in The Many Faces of Lace series)
Russian Lace
Class Description: A vast country with an epic history – and a variety of laces to match, from drawn thread laces worked by serfs for household centerpieces to elegant bobbin lace fashions for the Bourgeoisie. This will be a complex exploration of designs, styles, objects, and techniques from sturgeons (think caviar!) swimming in a distinctive bobbin lace to quaint geometric drawnwork peasant centerpieces.
Date: February 13, 2023
Times: 10:00 am -12:00 noon Pacific
Register (single form for any/all classes in The Many Faces of Lace series)
Duchesse
Class Description: Lace merchants in the nineteenth century constantly developed new laces to match the taste and style of the day, and Duchesse was a name and style of bobbin lace that caught on like no other. Most collections of lace that emerge from closets and attics include at least one piece of Duchesse. Explore the range of Duchesse often found today, and learn to judge quality and value as you follow the evolution of this popular lace and its relationships to its ancestors, daughters, and cousins in the bobbin lace family.
Date: March 13, 2023
Times: 10:00 am -12:00 noon Pacific
Register (single form for any/all classes in The Many Faces of Lace series)
Burano
Class Description: Burano is a colorful island in the lagoons near Venice, and shares the lacemaking history of that fabled city of lace. Explore how this lace emerged from the legends of mermaids turning seaweed into lace and transformed in the early 1900s into a distinctive style of needle lace exported in significant quantities to the US. Nieman Marcus in particular had lace for table and bed linens produced in Burano exclusively for their stores.
Date: April 10, 2023
Times: 10:00 am -12:00 noon Pacific
Register (single form for any/all classes in The Many Faces of Lace series)
Point d’Angleterre
Class Description: Appearing in lace-related books and documents over the centuries, is Point d’Angleterre really a distinctive lace or simply a name used over and over as a label of convenience for a wide variety of styles and techniques of lacemaking? Explore these varied stories, legends and lace objects and decide for yourself.
Date: May 8, 2023
Times: 10:00 am -12:00 noon Pacific
Register (single form for any/all classes in The Many Faces of Lace series)
Series 2: Exploring Antique Lace
Series Description: Elizabeth will share the history, details, stories, and sometimes intrigues of a variety of lace topics. Classes are interactive and often Elizabeth invites students to send photos from their collections ahead of time so they can be included in the class discussion.
Sign up for a single class or a package of four for a 20% discount. You can mix and match between this series and The Many Faces of Lace series above.
Dates: Fourth Monday of the month (usually). Individual class descriptions and dates are below.
Times: 10:00 am -12:00 pm Pacific
Level: Beginner / Intermediate
Prerequisites: None, but some understanding of lacemaking would be helpful.
Second Camera: Not required
Registration Fee: $25 per class or four for $80 between this series and The Many Faces of Lace series above.
Register (single form for any/all classes in the Exploring Antique Lace series)
The Many Lives of Old Lace
Class Description: Lace is remarkably durable and can last for centuries, so rather than wearing out, lace often simply went out of fashion. Too good to be thrown away yet sadly out of style, it was recycled. Rather than dismiss altered or remodeled pieces of old lace, learn to appreciate the imagination, creativity, and technical skill required to conjure up new incarnations of old lace.
Date: February 27, 2023
Times: 10:00 am -12:00 noon Pacific
Register (single form for any/all classes in the Exploring Antique Lace series)
Copycat Lace
Class Description: Good designs in lace always were appreciated and more successful in the marketplace – leading to imitations by anyone with a skill to copy them. From home-crafted copies inspired by high fashion laces of the past, to one major lace industry imitating the success of another, to machine copies of classic laces, look-alike examples of old lace are fun to find and collect – and possibly to copy yet again in another technique.
Date: March 27, 2023
Times: 10:00 am -12:00 noon Pacific
Register (single form for any/all classes in the Exploring Antique Lace series)
How Old Is That Lace?
Class Description: Was that lace worn to a party in the court of The Sun King, or is it an eighteenth or nineteenth century copy? Learn to recognize the clues in the designs and thread manipulations – and possibly the threads themselves – that help determine the age of lace.
Date: April 24, 2023
Times: 10:00 am -12:00 noon Pacific
Register (single form for any/all classes in the Exploring Antique Lace series)
Lace Fan Leaves
Class Description: The graceful curve and convenient size of a fan leaf make it easy and fun to collect, display, and for many accomplished lacemakers, take inspiration from and copy in a small, manageable form. Explore and learn to identify and judge an array of lacemaking techniques and styles, all in the graceful arc of the fan leaf. Relatively available in the antique lace markets in a range of quality levels, styles, techniques and prices, they make a great focus for a lace collection.
Date: May 22, 2023
Times: 10:00 am -12:00 noon Pacific
Register (single form for any/all classes in the Exploring Antique Lace series)