On my honeymoon trip to 5 cities in Europe (September, 2013), I was looking for lace. I did NOT find any Tatting in any of the cities I visited–Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Vienna, Budapest.
In Prague, I finally found an antique store with a basement full of lace, textiles, and Czech costumes. I was in heaven! It was later pointed out to me (gently) by my new husband that we had spent 2 hours there. YIKES! I thought it was only about a half hour. Jerry scored points for patience that day.
These are the pieces that I bought and brought home with me as my treasures!
TENERIFFE LACE
BOBBIN LACE
NEEDLE LACE
KNITTED LACE
About 24 inches across
About 36 inches across–stunning!
Not sure if this one is Knitted or Bobbin Lace–Very interesting!
My first thought was Knitted….but now I think it is Bobbin Lace
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Prague was my favorite stop (out of Berlin, Dresden, Vienna, and Budapest)–not only because it was such a cultural city but because I found this great antique store with a basement full of lace (my purchases are in the first part of this post) and other textile treasures. The shop keeper generously let me photograph the heritage folk costumes.
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This is the lady that was selling watching over the basement treasure trove of fiber artforms in Prague. She seemed to enjoy my enthusiasm for what I was seeing and finding and kept pulling out more stuff for me to see. She was completely OK with me taking pictures of the folk costumes and was delighted when I asked her to be in this picture.
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This is the costume that I was VERY tempted to buy. My mother’s family was of Czech heritage…so I spent summers going to Czech festivals. I always wanted, but didn’t get, a Czech folk costume. This costume above was the most beautiful and complete in the shop. It featured hand-embroidery on every component. It even had bobbin lace on the bottom of the skirt. This may be a continuing regret that I didn’t purchase it. The cost for this complete outfit: $200.
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