Weldon's 16th and 18th Series using "moulds"

There are two series in the book that use "moulds". This post pulls from both series to show a sampling of the different kinds of trims they make with the shapes. The shapes are sold by, "Messrs. Carl Mez and Sohne, whose goods are stocked by every fancy depot and art needlework establishment." This company still exists today as Mez. Their history page says the company was founded in 1785 and is responsible for major innovations in thread making. They were first taken over by JP Coats in 1932 and in 2020 they became a part of LEVITO AG, a Swiss investment company. While they don't appear to sell the forms anymore they are the parent company for other well known yarn and thread brands like Opti, Red Heart, Schachenmayr, Regia and Milward. There is quite a bit of the history of the different brand on their website. There are sections for the history of sewing, embroidery, knitting and crochet. The history sections are found at the bottom of the linked page.

Crocheting around these forms makes some very pretty  edgings. I think these would be pretty heavy on clothing depending on what the molds are made from. They say that, "though stiff, are not at all heavy nor cumbrous." They are very specific about the threads they think you should use and use multiple paragraphs to describe the wonderful qualities of thread you can get from Messrs. Carl Mez and Sohne of Aldermabury, London. They warn against using cheap sorts of gold thread since they can tarnish and, "make the work look shabby before it is half worn out." These two series are basically an ad plus patterns for the thread.

Below are some of the examples of the patterns using the molds.

I found some plastic rings that seemed like they'd be a good size for something that used a round form and I'm going to try to make part of the Triple Wheel Border pictured at the top.

Late edit to this. My sister found some articles about the moulds that were made of pasteboard. They can be found here, with the two specific articles being, "The Latest Novelty in Crochet Work" from the 1892 Ladies' Home Journal and "Modern Crochet Work" from Cassell's Family Magazine, 1894