Lace is an openwork
fabricA fabric is a textile material, short for "textile fabric".Fabric may also refer to:*Fabric , the spatial and geometric configuration of elements within a rock*Fabric , a nightclub in London, England...
, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand. The holes can be formed via removal of threads or cloth from a previously woven fabric, but more often open spaces are created as part of the lace fabric.
Lace-making is an ancient craft. True lace was not made until the late 15th and early 16th centuries. A true lace is created when a thread is looped, twisted or braided to other threads independently from a backing fabric.
Originally
linenLinen is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Linen is labor-intensive to manufacture, but when it is made into garments, it is valued for its exceptional coolness and freshness in hot weather....
,
silkSilk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
, gold, or silver threads were used. Now lace is often made with
cottonCotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
thread, although linen and silk threads are still available. Manufactured lace may be made of
synthetic fiberSynthetic fibers are the result of extensive research by scientists to improve on naturally occurring animal and plant fibers. In general, synthetic fibers are created by forcing, usually through extrusion, fiber forming materials through holes into the air, forming a thread...
. A few modern artists make lace with a fine copper or silver wire instead of thread.
Types
There are many types of lace, classified by how they are made. These include:
- Needle lace
Needle lace is a type of lace created using a needle and thread to stitch up hundreds of small stitches to form the lace itself....
; such as Kenmare LaceKenmare Lace is a hand made needlepoint lace originally made in Kenmare, Ireland. In the 19th century, sisters of the Poor Clare convent introduced needlepoint lace to the women and girls of the locality. It was a response to the poverty that followed the Great Famine...
are made using a needle and threadYarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, suitable for use in the production of textiles, sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery and ropemaking. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or...
. This is the most flexible of the lace-making arts. While some types can be made more quickly than the finest of bobbin laces, others are very time-consuming. Some purists regard needle lace as the height of lace-making. The finest antique needle laces were [made] from a very fine thread that is not manufactured today.
- Cutwork
Cutwork or cut work is a needlework technique in which portions of a textile are cut away and the resulting "hole" is reinforced and filled with embroidery or needle lace.Cutwork is a related to drawn thread work...
, or whitework; lace constructed by removing threads from a woven background, and the remaining threads wrapped or filled with embroidery.
- Bobbin Lace
Bobbin lace is a lace textile made by braiding and twisting lengths of thread, which are wound on bobbins to manage them. As the work progresses, the weaving is held in place with pins set in a lace pillow, the placement of the pins usually determined by a pattern or pricking pinned on the...
; as the name suggests, made with bobbins and a pillow. The bobbins, turned from wood, bone or plastic, hold threads which are woven together and held in place with pins stuck in the pattern on the pillow. The pillow contains straw, preferably oatThe common oat is a species of cereal grain grown for its seed, which is known by the same name . While oats are suitable for human consumption as oatmeal and rolled oats, one of the most common uses is as livestock feed...
strawStraw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...
or other materials such as sawdust, insulation styrofoam or ethafoam. Also known as Bone-lace. Chantilly laceChantilly lace is a handmade bobbin lace named after the city of Chantilly, France, in a tradition dating from the 17th century, though the most famous are silk laces introduced in the 18th century...
is a type of bobbin lace.
- Tape lace; makes the tape in the lace as it is worked, or uses a machine- or hand-made textile strip formed into a design, then joined and embellished with needle or bobbin lace.
- Knotted lace; including macramé
Macramé or macrame is a form of textile-making using knotting rather than weaving or knitting. Its primary knots are the square knot and forms of "hitching": full hitch and double half hitches...
and tattingTatting is a technique for handcrafting a particularly durable lace constructed by a series of knots and loops. Tatting can be used to make lace edging as well as doilies, collars, and other decorative pieces. The lace is formed by a pattern of rings and chains formed from a series of cow hitch,...
. Tatted lace is made with a shuttle or a tatting needle.
- Crocheted lace
Crochet lace is an application of the art of crochet. Generally it uses finer threads and more decorative styles of stitching - often with flowing lines or scalloped edges to give interest. Variation of the size of the holes also gives a piece a "lacy' look....
; including Irish crochet, pineapple crochet, and filet crochetFilet crochet is a type of crocheted fabric. This type of crocheted lace is gridlike because it uses only two crochet stitches: the chain stitch and the double crochet stitch Filet crochet is a type of crocheted fabric. This type of crocheted lace is gridlike because it uses only two crochet...
.
- Knitted lace
Lace knitting is a style of knitting characterized by stable "holes" in the fabric arranged with consideration of aesthetic value. Lace is sometimes considered the pinnacle of knitting, because of its complexity and because woven fabrics cannot easily be made to have holes...
; including Shetland lace, such as the "wedding ring shawl", a lace shawl so fine that it can be pulled through a wedding ring.
- Machine-made; any style of lace created or replicated using mechanical means.
- Guipure; The stitching area is stitched with embroidery threads that form a continuous motif. Afterwards, the stitching areas are removed and only the embroidery remains. The stitching ground is made of water-soluble or non heat-resistant material.
History
Objects resembling lace bobbins have been found in Roman remains, but there are no records of Roman lace-making. The craft may have begun in the first half of the 14th century in
FlandersFlanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
(now on the border between France and Belgium).
Lace was used by clergy of the early Catholic Church as part of vestments in religious ceremonies, but did not come into widespread use until the 16th century. The popularity of lace increased rapidly and the cottage industry of lace making spread throughout Europe to most European countries. Countries like
FinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
(town of
RaumaRauma is a town and municipality of ca. inhabitants on the west coast of Finland, north of Turku, and south of Pori. Granted town privileges on May 17, 1442 , Rauma is known of its high quality lace , and of the old wooden architecture of its centre , which is a Unesco world heritage...
),
Czech RepublicThe Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
(town of
VamberkVamberk is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has c. 4,800 inhabitants.The city has been well known for lace production since the 17th Century.-External links:* * http://www.vkrajka.cz/krajka/historie/3/...
),
SloveniaSlovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
(town of
IdrijaIdrija is a small town and municipality in the Goriška region of Slovenia. It is known for its mercury mine and lace....
), England (town of
HonitonHoniton is a town and civil parish in East Devon, situated close to the River Otter, north east of Exeter in the county of Devon. The town's name is pronounced in two ways, and , each pronunciation having its adherents...
),
FranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
,
BelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
,
HungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
,
IrelandIreland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
,
MaltaMalta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
,
RussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
,
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
and others all have their own unique artistic heritage expressed through lace.
In North America in the 19th century, lace making was spread to the
Native AmericanThe indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
tribes through missionaries.
St.
John Francis RegisJohn Francis Regis, also known as Saint Jean-François Régis, Saint François Régis, and St. Regis, , was a French priest of the Society of Jesus, recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church....
helped many country girls stay away from the cities by establishing them in the lacemaking and
embroideryEmbroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....
trade, which is why he became the
Patron SaintA patron saint is a saint who is regarded as the intercessor and advocate in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person...
of lace-making.
Traditionally, lace was used to make
tableclothA tablecloth is a cloth used to cover a table. Some are mainly ornamental coverings, which may also help protect the table from scratches and stains. Other tablecloths are designed to be spread on a dining table before laying out tableware and food....
s and
doiliesA doily is an ornamental mat, originally the name of a fabric made by Doiley, a 17th-century London draper. Doily earlier meant "genteel, affordable woolens", evidently from the same source....
and in both men's and women's clothing. The English diarist
Samuel PepysSamuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
often wrote about the lace used for his, his wife's, and his acquaintances' clothing, and on May 7, 1669 noted that he intended to remove the gold lace from the sleeves of his coat "as it is fit [he] should", possibly in order to avoid charges of ostentatious living.
Military uniforms
The term 'lace' is used by the British to refer to the gold bands sewn onto the sleeves of naval officers' uniforms to indicate rank, and to name the similar decoration elsewhere on other uniforms (such as Italian caps and Polish collars) because of the procedure used to make it. In America, the term is not used for this purpose because the bands are metal compactly sewn, while 'lace' seems to imply cloth sewn into patterns with holes in them.
See also
- Antwerp lace
Antwerp lace, is a bobbin lace distinguished by stylized flower pot motifs on a six point star ground. It originated in Antwerp, where in the 17th century an estimated 50% of the population of Antwerp was involved in lace making. Antwerp lace is also known, from its familiar repeated motif, as Pot...
- Binche lace
Binche lace is a Flemish bobbin lace that originated in Binche, Belgium. It is continuous, meaning it is made all at once, in one piece. It is generally made in strips 2 inches wide. Though typically it has no cordonnet outlining the design against the ground, occasional pieces are made with a...
- Brussels lace
Brussels lace is a type of pillow lace that originated in and around Brussels. The term "Brussels lace" has been broadly used for any lace from Brussels, however the term strictly interpreted refers to bobbin lace, in which the pattern is made first, then the ground, or réseau, added, also using...
- Bucks point lace
Bucks point is a bobbin lace from the East Midlands in England. "Bucks" is short for Buckinghamshire, which was the main centre of production. The lace was also made in the nearby counties of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire. Bucks point is very similar to the French Lille lace, and thus is often...
- Chantilly lace
Chantilly lace is a handmade bobbin lace named after the city of Chantilly, France, in a tradition dating from the 17th century, though the most famous are silk laces introduced in the 18th century...
- German
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
lace
- Point de Gaze
Point de Gaze is a needle lace from Belgium named for the gauze-like appearance of the mesh ground.-External links:*...
- Torchon lace
Torchon lace is a bobbin lace that was made all over Europe. It is continuous, with the pattern made at the same time as the ground. Torchon lace is notable for being coarse and strong, as well as its simple geometric patterns and straight lines. It does not use representational designs...
- Valenciennes lace
Valenciennes lace is a type of bobbin lace which originated in Valenciennes, in the Nord département of France, and flourished from about 1705 to 1780. Later production moved to Belgium in and around Ypres. The industry continued onto the 19th century on a diminished scale...
- Vamberk
Vamberk is a town in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has c. 4,800 inhabitants.The city has been well known for lace production since the 17th Century.-External links:* * http://www.vkrajka.cz/krajka/historie/3/...
lace
- Bobbin
A bobbin is a spindle or cylinder, with or without flanges, on which wire, yarn, thread or film is wound. Bobbins are typically found in sewing machines, cameras, and within electronic equipment....
- Crochet
Crochet is a process of creating fabric from yarn, thread, or other material strands using a crochet hook. The word is derived from the French word "crochet", meaning hook. Hooks can be made of materials such as metals, woods or plastic and are commercially manufactured as well as produced by...
- Needlework
Needlework is a broad term for the handicrafts of decorative sewing and textile arts. Anything that uses a needle for construction can be called needlework...
- Pag lace
- Ribbons
- See-through clothing
- Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
- Tatting
Tatting is a technique for handcrafting a particularly durable lace constructed by a series of knots and loops. Tatting can be used to make lace edging as well as doilies, collars, and other decorative pieces. The lace is formed by a pattern of rings and chains formed from a series of cow hitch,...
External links