Lace Notes	U n b r o k e n   T r a i l s
	Introduction	Half-Stitch Instructions	Cloth-Stitch Instructions

Cloth-stitch Instructions

It is much easier to imagine how the threads go in cloth stitch, but I cannot give a ‘recipe’ for continuous cloth-stitch trails as I have for half-stitch trails. I will first describe the problem using weaving terminology. In weaving you have only one weft thread and many threads in the warp. In a lace cloth-stitch area you have the worker pair as weft and all the passive pairs as warp. There is consequently one weft pair and many warp pairs.

The workers go both forward and back for each pin, whereas there is only one passive pair for each pin. This means that the thread count in the warp in the cloth-stitch area — in a normal Torchon lace — is only half of the thread count in the weft.

The weave will be more balanced if the thread count in the warp is increased by adding more passive pairs. One or two extra pairs are sufficient in narrow trails. When making a corner, the working direction changes 90° — i.e. the warp and weft are exchanged. As a result the thread count has to change in both directions, and the new worker pair will finish in the current ‘passive’ direction and all the new passive pairs in the current ‘worker’ direction. This is done by adding extra pairs in the new ‘passive’ direction and by ‘turning’ pairs around a pin — with a twist — at the edge of the trail. It may be necessary to have these ‘turnings’ at both sides of the trail to even out the change in thread counts.

Note that it is necessary to add extra pinholes in both sides of the trail to avoid the trail getting too open. The trail must be drafted with two pin-holes close together where it changes direction (see Figure A in the instructions for half-stitch trails ).

The diagrams on this page are for one particular example, but continuous cloth-stitch trails in other patterns can be worked in a similar way. Start by making a diagram and when you are happy with that make a sample.