Small Motifs in Idrija Technique

Riet Delescen

Small Motifs in Idrija Technique is a collection of 28 small Idrija patterns. The collection includes natural designs such as an apple, a bird, a fish, butterflies, seashells and flowers. There are also motifs suitable for Christmas and Easter. As is typical in this sort of collection, there are also plenty of hearts and stars. For those with an interest in music, there is also a treble clef.

To test this book, I made one of the butterflies. The model had beads, so I added them too. The book is in three languages, Dutch, German, and English, and is easy to understand. The recommended threads were Aurifil 28, Bockens linen 80/2 and “handkerchief crochet thread from DMC (Spécial Dentelles or Fil à Dentelles), MEZ or Anchor.” Note that the latter choice did not include a size. I chose to use a 40 Cantu thread that I think worked well.

This butterfly is probably the most complicated project in the book since the head needs to be worked while the body is in progress, so there is a point where two sets of bobbins are needed at once. This is not a great complication, and I was able to make it in a short period of time, including the beads.

I would recommend this book for someone who has some experience with Idrija. While the instructions that it gives are good, they do not cover everything. There are no instructions on how to end the braid. The instructions for the turning stitch are inside another set of instructions. This technique is fundamental to Idrija lace, so if the book is intended for the beginner, I think it should be a technique by itself. There are also no explicit instructions for making the leaf tally fillings that are double tallies.

Again, this book should not be considered for a beginner. While some of the motifs indicate where to start, not all are clearly marked. However, for someone who has a little experience, this book will give you a lot of practice.

Sharon Sacco