Before you begin to iron, hold the lace tight in your left hand by the footing and with the right hand pull out all the picots, along the edge of the lace, to an equal length, then lay it out flat upon a board covered with white flannel and iron it with a moderately hot iron, passing the iron backwards and forwards over it until it be quite dry.
If creases should come in the ironing where they ought not to be, dab them over lightly with a sponge moistened with water and a few drops of starch and pass the iron over them again.
After ironing the whole length of lace, pull it out crossways from left to right, and from right to left and iron it all over once more. This does away with the artificial stiffness and gives it the agreeable softness and pliancy of new lace.
To pin out lace.—In order to pin out lace in a thoroughly satisfactory manner, you should provide yourself with a wooden drum, about 30 c/m. high and from 50 to 60 c/m. in diameter, large enough to rest upon the knees.
The outside circumference of the wood should be padded and covered with grey or white ticking.
The pins must be exactly the size of the picots they are to pin down; you will require extremely fine ones for Valenciennes and coarser for other kinds of lace: steel pins are of no use whatever, because of their liability to rust. Cover the cylinder with blue paper (less trying for the eyes than any other) and take only just as much lace out of the damp cloth as you are likely to be able to pin out before it gets dry, keeping the remainder covered up.
Lay the lace upon the drum and pin the footing down first in a straight line, sticking the pins in pretty closely and at regular distances apart; then pin down each picot separately, taking care not to open them if they have kept their original shape and to shut them up by twisting them if they have got untwisted.
If you find the pinning out troublesome and cannot get it all done before the lace dries, damp the picots with a sponge as you proceed.
Lace should never be pinned out when it is dry as the threads of the picots are then very apt to break and torn picots destroy the value of even the choicest lace.