Heather Toomer is a freelance lecturer, author and consultant on antique lace and whitework embroideries, being particularly concerned with their identification, their use in costume and the history of their craft industries.
Heather's interest in lace and whitework started over 35 years ago when she bought her first pieces of lace and tried to identity them through books and museum visits. Since then she has collected continuously and built up a very substantial and wide-ranging collection including lace, whitework and small costume items such as decorative babies' robes and accessories.
Being a trained teacher, she started lecturing on their history and identification at an early stage, fitting this in with her other careers, initially in teaching but later in patent work. In the 1980's she wrote her first lace book for Batsford, a revised edition being published by Schiffer in 2001 under the title 'Antique Lace: identifying types and techniques'.
Having become particularly interested in whitework she has spent several years researching the subject to produce her most recent works, "Baby wore white: robes for special occasions, 1800-1910" (2005) and 'Embroidered with white: the 18th century fashion for Dresden lace and other whiteworked accessories' (2008). She is currently working on a sequel to the latter, continuing the story into the 19th century.
Heather particularly enjoys sharing her collection and her enthusiasm with students in workshops.
