detail of tablecloth/bedspread - click to view whole
Cantu, a town north of Milan Italy has it's own unique lace named
after it. The lace is made up of meandering trails and curls. Also
recognizable are the stylized three of five petal floretts with alternating
open and dense areas at the end of tight curving tendrils.
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Impressions of Cantu Classes ...... I was away was to take a workshop from Vera Cockuyt.
She was offering Cantu and intermediate Flanders. I couldn't decide which
to take, so I brought supplies for both. I finally decided to take Cantu,
and had a ball. A great bunch of people from eastern Ohio and western
Pennsylvania, and a great place to take a workshop--a lace supply store (The
Lacemaker, Warren, Ohio)! If you're bogged down, just go shopping for a few
minutes. (B-D) Vera's an excellent teacher (I've had her before, so that
was no surprise), and Tracy took *very* good care of us students. I was
only vaguely aware of what Cantu was, and was surprised. It's a whole lot
of swirly stems with occasional flowers (looks a bit like Rosaline), and
lots of side curls and branches stuck to the main stems. The lacemakers of
Cantu really don't much like pins, but they sure do like crochet hooks! The
"curls" and the "branches" have pins only down one side (the other side is a
plait that the worker wraps around or a hair-style braid that the worker is
sewn to). The main stems don't have pins on either edge!!!! One edge is a
plait and the other is a turn stitch, and it's all about tension, tension,
tension. We were allowed to put support pins down the center of those
stems, though. Every time you change direction (coming back to a main stem
from a curl or branch or flower) you have to do a sewing with each pair to
the main stem. On the flowers, every row the worker goes from the edge to
the center, you do a sewing to the plait that defines the center. Sewing,
sewing, sewing. Whew, I did more sewings those 3 days than in the last 3
years! As usual, when I'm not prevented from doing so, I use color. We
were using tatting cotton, so of course I chose a lovely shade of purple.
Every time somebody came by to look, they were so taken with the pretty
color they didn't notice all the mistakes. Works every time!Robin P.
I've recently completed a fourth weekend course in Cantu lace but the
methods I have been taught differ a little from Robin's experience.The thread that I've been using is Retors D'Alsace/Broder machine 30 and joy
of joys have only needed 14 pairs for stems, flowers and scrolls. Seven
pairs are the working pairs, the other seven pairs bundled, not plaited.
This makes a very distinctive roll along one edge. Everything is worked in
cloth stitch (CTC) or whole stitch (CTCT). At the end of each row the
worker make sewings around the bundle, but this is nowhere as difficult as
making a sewing into a pinhole. Sometimes I 'cheated' and passed one worker
thread under the bundle, twisted with the other, put in a pin, then passed a
worker thread under the bundle again and carried on. Yes, we were taught to
use pins, but to space them as necessary to obtain the right sort of
density.When a stump or flower stem emerges from the main trail, the working threads
are left behind and the bundle threads are used. They are taken out to the
'top point' turned around a pin, then spread out to become passives and
workers. The stump (or flower) is worked back along the bundle until the
main trail is reached, then come trickier sewings as the two elements merge
into one once more.My friend, Lily, is much more adventurous than me and much more competent.
She has been working a different, finer Cantu, which doesn't use pins along
the edges, just as Robin described. Lily has also completed several
pictorial pieces of animals and birds which are surrounded by the scrolling
stems and flowers. These are the sort of pieces you can see in Elizabeth
Kurella's 'Guide to Lace and Linens' on page 120.Can't wait until next year when I can learn some more.
Liz Pass
Rococo vs. CantuA very comprehensive study was done by a graduate of the Kantcentrum in
Bruges. The study is available, with nice technical drawings, explanations and
patterns, from the Kantcentrum.There are two types of laces that resembles each other very closely, namely:
CANTU from Italy
ROCOCO from BelgiumThe techniques differ drastically, although I prefer the more traditional
Cantu. Even in Cantu they have the older traditional methods compared to a more
modern version.As with all laces the end results does not differ a lot. But in my honest
opinion the transformation from vine to leave to flower and back is neater
and more soothing to the eye when done in traditional Cantu.Manie Kriel
The designs of the two laces are very similar, but they are worked quite
differently; once this difference is understood, the two laces are easy
to distinguish.Both have a design that has curling branches, simple curled leaves, very
stylized flowers with 3 or 5 petals, and a distinctive "bud".In Cantu, the lace is worked with a consistent number of pairs, some of
which are held in a bundle and wrapped around one side of the tape with
the worker pair when not in use. The tape "stem" is worked without
pins, having a turning stitch on one side, and the bundle on the other.
As you work the stem you simply stab it in the middle with a pin to hold
it in place until you get to a point where you need pins.In Cantu, when you get to a point with a leaf, you bundle up the main
threads, and support them with pins along the inside curve of the leaf.
When you get to the tip of the leaf, you turn the bundle around, fan out
the pairs, and work your leaf down, tip to base, wrapping around the
bundle as you work. When you get back to the stem all the pairs are sewn
into the stem and then continue as before.In Rococo, the stems are worked as a tape with two Footside edges. When
you get to a leaf, you stop your stem, hang all new pairs at the tip of
the leaf, add more pairs as the leaf gets wider, then blend the pairs
together with the stem, removing pairs as the two come together. In
Rococo you work in what would logically be the top of the plant down
towards the ground, so that you can blend leaf and stem pairs together
as you work. Cantu generally works the opposite direction.In short, in Rococo you are adding and removing pairs all the time, in
Cantu you keep them all in, bundling those you don't need. If you have
a piece of this type of lace, and want to know what it is, look at the
edges of the tapes and leaves: if there is a bulge of threads on one
side, it's Cantu. If the stems and leaves have Footside edges, it's
Rococo. Cantu is worked very densely; Rococo less so, and often with
finer thread.Both of these laces are very fun to work, and easy to design. The
patterns can be worked in either style.Cathy Belleville
