Southworth family (Eric, Jacqui Andrew and Claire) 2006
I taught myself how to make lace in 1985. After three months of lessons
from a Dutch lady, while I was living in Brunei, she moved and I was left
to my own devices. Undeterred and "hooked" I found out the hard way how things
should and should not be done. This was to prove invaluable when I started
teaching only one year later, and when it came to writing my own Bobbin
Lace Instruction Manual .
Upon returning to the U.K. in 1990, with the aid of my husband (Eric),
I started up a lace supplies business ( Larkholme
Lace ) and continued to teach others how to make lace, both privately
and at Adult Education classes. I got together a small but elite group of
ladies and formed the Blackpool Ring of Lacemakers (BROLS) which has an umbrella
as its logo !! During 2002 we lost the use of our meeting rooms so
decided to join with a group of stitchers and become Fylde Coast Crafters.
I gave up teaching AE classes in 1998, and I have started painting the bobbins
and tools that I sell in my business.
In 1996 I gained my City and Guilds Part 1 in Lacemaking Techniques.
Between 1998 and 2002 I was involved with a lacemaking millenium project
CD2000, the committee of which has become known as Textile Workshop and
we are currently arranging exhibitions of our own work during 2003,
and 2004.
Why not take a tour around the "Arachne Web Page" and maybe subscribe
to the "Arachne" lacemaker's mailing list, details of which appear on that
Web page.
