The Patricia Bury Pattern Collection

Permission given to publish by Jenny Davies

Patrica Bury was a founding member of Alban Lacemakers in Hertfordshire, UK. Such a talented and ardent lacemaker and teacher, sharing her wealth of knowledge to many lacemakers in the St Albans area but also around the UK as well as overseas. We know that Patricia leaves many fond memories with a vast number of lacemakers. Sadly, and far too soon, Patricia passed in July 2020.

Following Patricia’s passing, two large suitcases full of card and parchment patterns were passed to Jennifer Davies at The Alban Lacemakers by Patricia’s daughter. Such stunning patterns full of so much history, Jenny knew immediately that it was important that this lace history was documented, preserved and if possible, shared with the lacemaking world. Fiona Williams joined Jenny to work through what turned into quite a lengthy but such a worthwhile process – probably well over 100 hours in total to complete the job.

Jenny and Fiona had to discard about half of the patterns that were donated as they were beyond use and considered to have no interesting features. Some were too badly worn, and others were either so badly pricked or just copies of other patterns which most lacemakers already hold. Some were simply pricked onto something unusual, so we thought they were worth keeping, for the story they told.

A lot of the parchment prickings had been rolled up for many years so had to be softened in water, hung with weights before being dried. Other patterns were laid between cotton fabric under heavy weights until they were flat enough to scan. (There is an interesting article in the Lace Guild magazine No. 188 about how to conserve parchment prickings).

The result of all this hard work is fabulous – files featuring predominantly Bedfordshire and Bucks Point Patterns - nearly 200 in all.

Amongst the patterns were some lovely antique examples, with names and dates to indicate their provenance. Amongst all of them was one pricking by a very well-known Beds designer and written on it in pencil was the name Lester. After a quick search, it was found that it matched other published examples of Thomas Lester’s signature. What a result! Another name found on some of the prickings was Elsie Turnham from Waddesdon, Bucks, which clearly were part of her collection. There is a lovely story about Elsie, which will appear in another blog.

The reverse side of a pricking from the Elsie Turnham Collection. The back of prickings can be very interesting and privide a glimpse into the social history of the time.

Roseground are supporting the Alban Lacemakers, to provide the platform to enable lacemakers around the world to easily purchase this collection of incredible patterns. All are jpg files which can then be printed (at 100% on A4 paper – check settings of your printer) to be able to use – though you may have to do some redrawing as it must be remembered that some of these prickings are very old. Any useful historical information gathered from the prickings is also included.

For designers or anyone thinking of designing, the files offer a wealth of inspiration – your creative thoughts will flow for sure.

Funds raised will go to Alban Lacemakers to ensure that this group is able to keep running – this would have been so important to Patricia, and she would have been delighted that her collection of patterns are now providing such inspiration to many.

The files will be sent via email, and you will then be able to download and save to your own computer. When placing your order, you will need to select any of the postage options for pre-payment authorisation, but the final charge will not include this. You will only be charged £25.00.

Please follow the link below to order your copy of the patterns.