The Mystery in the Thread

Where do you begin when trying to understand a piece of lace? There are many ways to begin but my favorite path begins with first identifying the method of construction. Early lace began with woven cloth and some threads were drawn out and the remaining threads bound together to achieve a lighter lacey look. Hardanger is a direct descendant of this technique. Threads were also "cut away" from cloth and the resulting holes were bound and embroidered. Cutwork, Broderie Anglaise and eyelet are are a few versions of this early beginning of lace. Later on threads were woven widely spaced with openings specifically allowing for needle weaving a design into the fabric. One of it's earliest forms was know as Burato, followed by "filet lace" also known as "Lacis" which is still made to this day.

These early laces were followed by needle-lace like Reticella and Punto in Aria. (See previous article) These developed into Point de Venice, Point de France, and my favorite, Point de Gaze, among others. These laces are based on the buttonhole stitch.

About the same time another lace was developing that used bobbins. Bobbins, usually made out of wood or bone are wrapped at one end with thread and crossed and twisted to form cloth-like stitches, netting, mesh, and bridges. These laces include Duchesse, Maltese, Torchon and Bucks among others. This was done over a pillow. The bobbins were different in each country and lace form. The pillows also varried depending on the type of lace made. (See a few samples here)

Knotted lace was developed around the Mediterranean area as a direct descendant of fish net. Today Armenian lace and Lacis/Filet lace are among the only knotted laces made.

Crochet, knitted and tatted lace are more modern laces with only 150 years of history, compared to the 500 years of lace history. Crochet uses a hook to make a chain stitch. The most popular crochet lace is known as Irish Crochet. Tambour and Limmerick also use a chain stitch and hook to make lace but they both use a ground of fabric or net.

Tatting upon close inspection, more closely resembles needle-lace buttonhole stitches.(see left) Notice the one thread down and one across,of needlelace.

Tatting has 2 threads down and one across (see picture right).

Knitted lace has the traditional look of knitting but with much finer threads being used.

Now there is machine and chemical lace. For most people that is it hardest lace to differentiate from handmade. Some people say that these laces have a "fuzzy" look to them. Others point out the "ribs' in the cloth stitch area. The more modern machine made lace is easier to spot with only a few minutes study by the untrained eye. But the older machine laces were more faithful to the process and thus harder to spot. There are a number of wonderful books that help you to "see" the differences. The Secrets of Real Lace Elizabeth Kurella is an easy to understand favorite.

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