Lace makers fingers

 

  A recent discussion with a hand surgeon open end up a new path of thought for me. An initial discussion about right angles cuts and the 'tip' of the cut dying back prompted me to make some stitch samples to illustrate how I tackle delicate cuts and repairs.
 I took these to our next meeting and our conversation took off! Our talk was all crossing paths between tiny stitches,straight needles, needle handling, needlelace, micro stitches,artery patterns in the hand,where you can cut and where you must avoid it, patching where there is loss and why aren't there more curved cuts.

 Two examples which I will expand on here show how we use the same solutions to very different problems. The first is with patching areas where there is tissue loss. Imagine the shape of the back pocket on your jeans and then removing it from a piece of fabric.Remove a little from the top edge of the hole so that it is now bigger than the patch. Now stitch the patch back in! This is accomplished by first seaming up part of the pointed end of the hole and then re-positioning the patch centrally and stitching it back. There are shades of 1930's pattern cutting in this with attendant issues of redistributing extra fabric. Similarly if you want to make an armhole smaller and fit the sleeve in you would do something very like it.
  It was also interesting to see my friends beautiful drawing of her techniques which were more than eloquent and very necessary.
 The other patch solution which impressed me was how to mend a hole with an asymmetric patch. As long as the length of each 'seam' is the same then it will work. This is not a mending solution for clothes but damaged fingers. However this principal is also used to create a good fit in tailoring and corsetry. What happens when you put two different shapes with equal sides together is that one side will kick out and give shape and volume and elegance of fit--the 'armhole to sleeve head' seam and sprung seams over the hips on corsets are two examples. This is because you are tricking a flat surface into curving over a 3D surface and thus giving it room to expand too.

  These things are always easier to see and understand then describe...which led our discussion to expert knowledge. At this point we went and discussed a magnificent piece of lace in the European gallery at the V&A! This marvel of point lace was a perfect parallel with its micro stitches and complex construction sequence.I find that surgeons always understand lacemaking !!!