Weddings In the Air

To Tie The Knot

Is it any Wonder that with all the Media interest in the Royal Wedding, even the Brides-To-Be in the Mini World are caught up in the excitement? Magazines and TV shows are filled with the details of Royal Weddings in the past.... and speculation about this latest Wedding is on Everyone's mind! WHAT will the Bride's Gown LOOK like???? Well, Pollyanna is NOT immune to the Romance and Excitement of a Royal Wedding! That it is happening while she is planning her OWN Wedding just adds to the fascination! The BIGGEST question has to be What the Bridal Gown will look like.... and we cannot know the answer until the Wedding Day! But we can WONDER...... and we can read the magazines.... and we can think about the different styles of Wedding Gowns.......

Will it be Modern or Traditional? Will it be simple or elaborate? Will it have a Long Train or be sleek and short? Will it be silk or satin or covered in intricately Knotted LACE? And of course, as she wonders about the Gown of the Future Princess..... Pollyanna must also inevitably think of what sort of gown SHE would like to have. And of course, her Mother, Joanna is here to help her with her plans! Joanna remembers visiting the Lovely Old Dollhouse when SHE was young... and she remembers a trunk or two in the Attic that had old gowns and bits of lace from generations before... so they go have a look........ This is one trunk that Pollyanna has NOT searched through!

And oh, MY! LOOK at what is inside! This is a Treasure Trove!

Just LOOK at the Beauty of this piece of LACE!

"And this one too" Exclaims Joanna!

"And just look at the workmanship on THIS piece" exclaims Pollyanna!

"It looks HAND MADE!"

Dear Readers, you MUST forgive me if I bore you with a great many pictures of some scraps of lace that I have been collecting for Ages! I came across these pieces while looking for material to send to my Sister. To tell you the truth, I had FORGOTTEN about many of these pieces! Including the piece Pollyanna is holding..... crocheted by YOURS TRULY in my teens... but more on that later! First I must show you my collection! And I must confess that I really know very little about the different kinds of lace... or even how to tell if it is hand or machine made.... But I ADORE the delicate patterns and minute workmanship of lace......

(Please remember to click on the photos to enlarge them!)

I know the evocative words like "Chantilly" and "Brussells","Tatting" and "Open-work", "Bobbin Lace" and "Crochet Lace" and "Fillet" Lace...... but I really have NO idea how to describe the differences!

Here are a few tiny scraps of some very lovely old lace.......

And these little squares are what I THINK is "Fillet" lace.... (correct me if I am wrong!) and each little square is only about one inch to a side..... aren't they sweet? I have no idea where I got many of these.......

And here is a lovely old handkerchief with a wide border of lace... stitched patterns on a ground of netting ..... which wraps around the entire handkerchief with no apparent seam!

And a fragment with a very interesting pattern...... this looks to me as if it MIGHT be "Bobbin Lace"..... only because the little leaves are "woven" in a way that I imagine would require a bobbin to produce......

And this is a rather large piece with a pattern worked on a netting ground....... it looks like it was once a shawl or "fichu" to wear over your shoulders....

And another similar type.... and I'm ALMOST certain that this was a part of my Mother's wedding dress... a lace jacket over the bodice....... My Mother was not afraid to re-purpose her Wedding Dress after the Wedding!

And another very elaborate piece that I think must be "Bobbin Lace".... but I really am not sure at all!
Yet another lovely pattern.... maybe a tiny bit too large a scale for a miniature Gown......

And another piece worked on a netting "ground".

I do not have much of this.... maybe just enough for a Veil?

And More......

And this is SUCH a delicate piece......

But I think Pollyanna does like this piece of HAND Crocheted Lace.........! You will laugh when I tell you that it took me a minute or two to recognize this lace! But I remember experimenting with making tiny crocheted "doilies" for my dollhouse back in my teen years... and I made a couple of lengths of lace trim as well! When I saw this, I had to hunt for my tiny crochet hook and try to see if I remembered how it was done.......

Here is a close-up....

And here is the newest piece of tiny hand-crocheted lace..... along with the crochet hook....

See how lovely it looks on Pollyanna?

And while we are at it....

Let's see how she would look if we dressed her in a Gown made from the handkerchief......

Tell me TRULY.... can any of you imagine Cutting up this handkerchief to make a doll gown?

Or should the gown be made of simple layers of chiffon.....

Maybe with the crochet lace for a border at the hem.......?

Or perhaps a fancy lace over-dress layered over the chiffon.....?

Or should the gown be a mass of frothy tulle? And a cloud of tulle for a veil?

Or should it be layers of gauzy netting stitched all over with flowers and pearls....

So Old Fashioned..... with a very LONG Train.....???

HOW on Earth can one DECIDE?

So while we are all awaiting the Royal Wedding.... some of us are more than a little curious about the choice of Gown... and whether it will INFLUENCE the choice made by Brides to follow! And perhaps you can forgive SOME for Dreaming about Weddings... Royal or Not!

There ARE Weddings In The Air!