LACE-MAKING

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 177, 7 November 1941, Page 2

LACE-MAKING

HELPING TO PAY FOR THE WAR Beautiful hand-made lace from the cottages of England's country villages is the latest fashion among American women. In the tiny Devonshire village of Beer, where lace-making has been carried on for 400 years, orders from the United States are helping the inhabitants to keep going in wartime. Many of these lace-makers, as skilful as any in the world, are over 80 years of age. Mrs Ida, Allen, who has been in the craft for 50 years, has made lace for the present Queen, Queen Mary and Queen Alexandra. A forebear of hers made the lace for Queen Victoria's wedding dress. It cost £1,000. Side by side with the cottage branch of this industry, the great modern lace mills of Nottingham continue despite the war to create new designs for overseas. From the United States and Canada comes a demand for tailored edged, doubleborder curtains by the pair in small, neat effects and fancy Tuscan grounds. Fisher nets, in a heavy combination weave, strongly woven, are being made for Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, while the

Far East is being sent cheap coloured nets by the yard, mainly in cotton.

Mosquito and filet nets are made for Palestine and for Egypt, where there is also a big demand for "tour-de-lits," a cheap form of drapery used by the natives.