About me
I have been making lace over 40 years now and have quite often trued up old patterns by hand but never designed my own. I have a great group of Lacemaking friends whom I have known for many years, and we were nearly all taught by the same lace tutor, Ann Cope (Annie as we all called her). She was truly an inspiration, but sadly she is no longer with us.
Jump ahead a few decades and I thought I would have a go at designing with the help of newly acquired lace design software. I designed a bookmark with a charity ribbon motif, I duly worked it, and to my surprise was admired by many lacemakers, who all said I should sell the design. I decided that if I was going to sell the pattern, then all proceeds for the patterns would be split between 2 charities: Cancer Research & Alzheimer’s Society. To my surprise I raised well over £1k and they are still selling today.
Roseground showed an interest in selling the pattern, which was a real boost to my confidence and during Covid my designing became more prolific. I have formed a great relationship with Pam at Roseground, and she now exclusively sells my patterns worldwide. So that was how my Lace Designing journey started as ‘Lace & Sparkle Designs’.
I specialise in designing both Fine Torchon & Bucks Point. My passion is Bucks Point but also love the texture of Bedfordshire lace. The fine torchon designing came from lacemakers wanting something a little finer with a modern twist, and this is when I started to use ‘Sparkle’ in my lace. I actually introduced beads, sequins, crystals into my lace many years ago when designing wedding lace. ‘Sparkle’ lends itself well to both Torchon & Bucks Point, but with all my designs it is optional, as not everyone will like sparkle in their lace.
I always say that peoples’ reaction should always be “Wow what beautiful lace, oh and look there’s some sparkle”. The secret, in my eyes is that you should notice the lace before the sparkle, with the lace being the dominant feature.
I would also like to add that Jane Lewis encouraged me to design and gave me lots of hints and help, so much so, that we both produced our first book “A Simply Sparkle Wedding” which we are both very proud of and took three years to produce.
My interest in Bobbin Lace Making has never disappeared, and I still get excited over both new & old patterns, methods etc. You are always learning something new.
I hope you enjoy my patterns which are showcased on this website, and available to purchase from www.roseground.com. I also hope you enjoy reading my blogs, which started through my growing interest in stories behind certain pieces of lace, quite often displayed in Museums or their reserve collections. Other blogs are of a more general nature that might be of interest.
Sally.