The following day, after proper viewing of the Bayeux Tapestry, I went in the Bayeux lace conservatory, entry being part of the former’s all-inclusive ticket.  Several lacemakers were demonstrating at the entrance, one busy on a lovely piece of Cluny, and at that point in the middle of a tally, or point d’esprit. 

She was working it on the pillow, whereas I had learned to tension the three passive bobbins up in the air in one hand while weaving the worker through and back.  ‘We do it differently in England,’ I ventured; ‘Would you like me to make you one?’ was her reply.  ‘Oh, please …’

Her tally, made as a goodwill gesture and treasured as such, was fascinating to watch in progress: two twists at the edge, a cross with the central passive, two twists at the edge, and back again; each pass was pulled up carefully, and so it progressed.  I tried hard to remember what I was seeing.

Why should I be so interested?  Well, they are made differently, and they come out differently.  The best way I can describe my Bayeux tally is that it reminds me of a pumpkin seed – a neat ridge around the outside, and a smooth middle; British ones have two furrows down the middle, and require good practice to avoid looking like ‘holly leaves’ along the edge.

When I got home, and found a spare moment, I wound up two pairs and tried it myself.  Very hard to get right – I just couldn’t get that little ridge going round the edge.  How was it that she did it, I kept asking myself – she pulled the threads up horizontally, didn’t she? Not a lot better. In the end, I think I have some appreciation of the way it is done: the two outside threads are kept in as much tension as possible, the opposite side* being kept taut as one double-twists the worker and the other outside passive; then the four bobbins are pulled up, the central one in the same hand as the outside one*, and that pushes the previous crossing neatly up to the edge.

The tally above is the original masterpiece; those on the right show my best efforts after considerable practice, in the centre of the Torchon sampler designed by Val Gurney.  All I can give is my sincere thanks for this insight into the way to achieve the lovely tallies viewed in the French textbooks: I’ve looked in all my lace manuals (and believe me, I have them in all shapes and languages), and seen nothing which describes precisely how to go about the project. Apart from Ulrike Lohr, who does at least go into three ways of making tallies, for bolster pillows, flat pillows, and in the hand, most of it is very sketchy.  So I feel very glad that I at last have an inkling of how to go about it.

At Argentan and Alencon lace museums I was the only visitor.  Argentan had quite a bit of machine-made lace for sale, at fairly high prices, with some interesting ‘lace’ trimmed Couture outfits to see.  It is an elegant old villa, beautifully modernised, air conditioned and appointed; Alencon has two lace museums, only one of which I visited, which was certainly not at all modern.

In the video shown at the latter museum, I watched the painstaking manufacture of a tiny piece of needle lace, and learnt that a flounce represented, I think, 90,000 man-hours…  If I had thought to contact the Alencon Tourism Bureau, I might have visited the Musee des Beaux-Arts et de laDentelle, since there would have been a lacemaker demonstrating.  In a way, it was the personal contact that I made on my trip that made it all worth while – you can look at a picture of a piece of lace in a book, but the kindness of those who showed me the history and techniques which interested me so much are what made my visit very special.

The Bayeux Conservatoire also showed for sale some lovely modern neck pieces with beautiful silk tallies and metallic ribbon, and offered bobbins and other equipment – I bought two plain ones for 6F which seemed like a bargain to me. Sadly, I found that the Atelier de l’Horloge had gone, and its replacement Les Fils Croises was not open that day. Up to date information is available from the BayeuxTourism office.

There was an old French pillow with Le Puy bobbins in the window of a Courseulles antique shop for 500F, which seemed a tad expensive.  I later came across some far nicer Le Puy boxwood bobbins at Alencon, which were remarkably good value, but I did not buy any since I inherited a few from my Grandmother.  Some of my favourite bobbins are slim French bone ones with long necks (but I’m saving up for some Swiss ones!).