- Key People:
- John Heathcoat
- Related Topics:
- bobbin lace
- Barmens lace
- mignonette
- Nottingham lace
- Tenerife lace
lace
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What is lace in textiles?
Lace is an ornamental, openwork fabric crafted by looping, interlacing, braiding, or twisting threads. It is considered a luxury fabric. Common materials include linen (before 1800) and cotton (after 1800), with silk and metal threads also being used.
Needle lace and bobbin lace are the two main types of lace. Other techniques include drawn-thread work, cutwork, filet, macrame, crochet, and tape lace. While ornamented openwork fabrics existed in ancient Egypt, lace fully developed during the Renaissance and is considered a European achievement.
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How is lace different from other fabrics?
Lace stands apart from other fabrics because of its ornamental, openwork structure, created through looping, interlacing, braiding, or twisting threads. Unlike embroidery, which adds ornamentation to existing fabric, lace is a fabric in its own right. Woven or knitted openwork fabrics aren't typically considered lace.
Traditionally crafted from linen, lace transitioned to cotton after 1800, with silk, metal threads, and other materials also in use. Handmade lace's popularity led to machine inventions, like the Heathcot machine, to replicate Brussels lace. Modern machines now produce various laces from synthetic fibers, offering diverse patterns and geometric nets.
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What are the main methods used to make lace?
Lace can be made by machine or by hand using a variety of methods. The most common handmade laces are:
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Bobbin lace A handmade lace created by intertwining threads wound on bobbins. The pattern is marked out by pins on a pillow.
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Needle lace The design is drawn on parchment or thick paper. An outlining thread is stitched to serve as a framework, and the lace is made with a needle and single thread in buttonhole stitches.
Other methods of creating lace include:
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Tatting A fabric akin to lace is made of thread with a small hand shuttle and the fingers.
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Irish Crochet A heavy lace of Irish origin that is hand-crocheted or machine-made with rose or leaf designs on a square mesh ground.
The popularity of handmade laces led to the invention of lacemaking machines.
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What common materials are used to create lace?
Lace is an ornamental, openwork fabric crafted by looping, interlacing, braiding, or twisting threads. Before 1800, lace threads were typically linen, but cotton became more common afterward.
Other materials such as silk, metal thread, wool, aloe fiber, and hair have been used occasionally. Many machine-made laces today use synthetic fiber yarns due to their high strength and low cost.
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What are some traditional uses of lace in fashion and decoration?
Lace, an ornamental openwork fabric, has a rich history of traditional uses in fashion and decoration. Originating in the 15th and 16th centuries, lace initially served as a modest ornament for underlinens but evolved into a luxurious fabric worn by both men and women by 1600.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Chantilly lace became fashionable for shawls and mantles worn over crinolines and bustles. During the Victorian era, Queen Victoria's choice of a white gown featuring Honiton lace significantly influenced wedding trends, popularizing white wedding gowns adorned with lace.
Beyond clothing, lace has been used for curtains, veils, and as a base for appliqués.
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How have lace styles and techniques changed over time and in different cultures?
Lace, an ornamental openwork fabric, is created through looping, interlacing, braiding, or twisting threads. The art of lace is a European achievement, with fully developed lace appearing during the Renaissance.
Needle and bobbin lace are the primary techniques, with needle lace being intricate and bobbin lace more widespread. Other methods include drawn-thread work, cutwork, filet, macrame, crochet, and tape lace.
Initially a modest ornament, lace became a luxury fabric by 1600, worn by both men and women. The French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century brought significant changes, including the use of machine net, cheaper cotton replacing linen, and a decline in design quality. Today, lace is made as souvenirs in centers like Burano and Bruges.
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lace, ornamental, openwork fabric formed by looping, interlacing, braiding (plaiting), or twisting threads. The dividing line between lace and embroidery, which is an ornamentation added to an already completed fabric, is not easy to draw; a number of laces, such as Limerick and filet lace, can be called forms of embroidery upon a more or less open fabric. On the other hand, fancy knitting, however much an ornamental openwork fabric, is not usually thought of as lace, though in some museums it is so classified. Openwork fabrics made on a loom (for example, brocaded gauze) are not considered lace.
Before 1800 the threads of lace were usually linen; after 1800 cotton was more common. Silk and metal thread and occasionally such other materials as wool, aloe fiber, and hair of various kinds were also used.
Almost all laces that have some claim to be called works of art are made in one of two techniques, needle lace and bobbin lace (qq.v.). Needle lace involves a very difficult technique and has seldom been used in folk art or, except at the beginning of its history, by amateurs. Bobbin lace in its simpler forms is a widespread craft and amateur pastime, but the more elaborate laces require the highest degree of skill. There are a number of minor techniques of lace making, including the following: drawn-thread work, or punto tirato; cutwork, or punto tagliato; filet, or network, lace; macrame, or knotted lace; punto a groppo; punto avorio; crochet; and tape lace.
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Though ornamented openwork fabrics have been found in ancient Egyptian burial grounds, fully developed lace did not appear before the Renaissance; and, although some of the simple techniques may have originated in the Middle East, the art of lace is a European achievement. Some late 15th-century Italian and Flemish paintings show elaborate hemstitching and narrow lacelike insertions at the seams of linen garments and cushions, which represent the beginning of needle lace. The first bobbin lace is not well documented, but it probably originated early in the 16th century. Whether these lace techniques were developed first in Italy or in Flanders is a question that has remained unresolved. Most authorities, however, agree that needle lace originated in Italy, bobbin lace in Flanders.
By 1550 both of the main kinds of lace and a great deal of cutwork, drawn-thread work, and filet were being made. By 1600 lace, which had begun as a modest ornament for underlinen, was a fabric of the utmost luxury and an important article of commerce. Great quantities of lace were worn by both men and women. The chief centres of production in the 17th and 18th centuries were Italy, Flanders, and France, though lace was also made in Spain, Germany, and England.
In the 19th century the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution led to great changes in the character of lace. The use of machine net for free-bobbin lace became general soon after 1800, making it considerably less expensive. Lace was no longer worn by men, and during the early part of the century women’s fashions did not call for much of it; when the mode changed about 1840, enormous quantities of lace were readily made. Cotton, a cheaper but less satisfactory material, replaced linen. The design also deteriorated. The chief lace-making centres were Italy, Belgium, France, England, and Ireland. But lace was also made in Spain, Russia, Denmark, Turkey and elsewhere in the Levant, and in South American countries such as Paraguay and Brazil. The introduction of lace making into East Asia, especially China, took place late in the century.
Much handmade lace continued to be produced until World War I, despite increasing competition from machine-made types. A great deal of bobbin, needle, and filet lace was made in China for export to Europe and the United States. But by 1920 the industry was dying everywhere. In the second half of the 20th century, lace was still being made at such centres as Burano and Bruges, but chiefly as souvenirs.
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