Teneriffe or Brazilian point lace is such a simple form of lace making that I am going to stop and tell you a few words about it before we proceed to the next chapter.
Little forms which look like a large spool with pins stuck in them can be bought in many art shops, but you can easily make a foundation yourself for Teneriffe lace.
Draw a circle two inches in diameter on a stiff piece of cardboard. Sometimes the circle is drawn on white muslin and fastened securely to an embroidery hoop or frame. Divide the circle into halves, then quarters, then eighths and each eighth divide into six equal parts. Make a dot at each division. Thread a needle with a piece of coarse thread. Insert the needle one quarter inch beyond the circle and bring it up on a dot. Continue in this manner all around the circle. Fasten securely.
Fig. 199. The first step in Brazilian point lace
Now thread a needle with a long thread of No. 80 linen thread. Let it be extra length. Pass the needle under each loop from side to side until each little stitch has a thread passing through it. ([Figure 199]). Knot the threads in the centre and weave four or five rows, over and under the strands close to the centre. Skip a quarter inch then carry a thread around and knot each thread as you pass it. Count the threads and divide the number by six; on this number weave a little pyramid. Repeat the little pyramid five times, each time letting it be woven on the same number of threads as the first. Take a thread and catch every two threads above the centre figure. An eighth of an inch above this work another row, this time dividing the two threads previously caught and taking one of them and one of the next row together. An eighth of an inch above the row make another row, catching the same threads as were taken in the first row from the central figure ([Figure 200]).
Fig. 200. A motif in Brazilian lace