Lacemaking

Lace is any type of openwork fabric in which the spaces and patterns are created by the threads that form the fabric itself. Lacemaking techniques vary: lace can be knitted, crocheted, tatted, stitched, or woven from many threads. Each method has found its niche among crafters.

Evidence suggests that needle lace (lace made with a needle and a single thread) evolved from the finishing of fabric edges in fifteenth-century Europe. Bored with plain edges, seamstresses using methods similar to embroidery would push strands of fabric thread apart and stitch around them, creating designs and open spaces.

Bobbin lace, made by weaving numerous threads separated and weighed down by bobbins, originated shortly after needle lace in the fifteenth century. It was a popular alternative to needle lace-making, and used many of the same patterns.

Regions of Europe were synonymous with specific lacemaking techniques. Italy was the hub of needle lace-making in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, only to be rivaled by France in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Genoa, Italy, was the source of most bobbin lace in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Flanders, Brussels, and Normandy produced bobbin lace as well, in smaller amounts.

So prized was lace among the aristocracy of sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth century Europe, that its import and export significantly affected the European economy. A large segment of the workforce, comprised mostly of women, children, and elderly men, manufactured lace.

Lace was a luxury item worn by men and women alike as collars, cuffs, and ornamentation of stockings and clothing. The painstakingly slow process of manufacturing lace, which required hours of labor to produce just one inch of material, made it too costly for the average person to purchase. Those who wore it did so not only because lace was stylish, but also because it indicated wealth.

The French Revolution in the late eighteenth century ushered in a trend of simplistic fashions that resulted in the decline of the lacemaking industry. The nineteenth century brought the advent of machines that could produce lace tape, netting, and appliqué; the new technology was the lace industry's death knell. Lacemakers mixed pre-made lace with bobbin and needle lace, saving time and energy, but sacrificing quality. The price of lace dropped, and for the first time, lace was affordable to the middle class.

Two new forms of lace arose in the nineteenth century. Knitted lace fashioned with knitting needles and crocheted lace made with a crochet hook both came into being in the nineteenth century. Tatted lace, which is a type of knotted lace that originated in the late eighteenth century and is made with a specialized bobbin called a shuttle, also experienced a new-found popularity.

Though lace will most likely never regain the status it attained during the three hundred years leading up to the French Revolution, lacemaking is experiencing a comeback among hobbyists. Lacemaking guilds and organizations exist throughout the world, preserving the rich history of lace and continuously introducing new people to the craft.

Materials required for making bobbin lace:

• Lace pillow
• Cloth pillow cover

Pattern

• Pattern pricker
• Pricker board
• Divider pins
• Lace pins of different sizes
• Pin lifter
• Pin pusher

Bobbins

• Lace thread
• Scissors

Materials required for making needle lace:

• Embroidery hoop
• Background fabric

Pattern

• Black felt-tip pen
• Couched cords
• Tracing paper
• Tapestry needles
• Darning needles
• Sharp-pointed needles
• Embroidery scissors
• Lace thread

Lacemakers may also consider additional tools, such as specialized knitting needles, a crochet hook, a tatting shuttle, tatting needle and yarn or thread.

Techniques

Needle lace is like embroidery that is worked over the surface of a background fabric and then removed from it completely.

To make needle lace, draw a pattern onto a piece of fabric with a felt-tip pen. Next, put the fabric with the design on top of two other equally-sized pieces of fabric. Stretch all three pieces of fabric tightly in an embroidery hoop. Stitch the couching cord along the outline of the design with small couching stitches. The thread should be a different color than the backing. To make the lace, fill in the spaces between the couching cord with a variety of stitches, using the couching cord as an anchor. The stitches must not penetrate the backing. When finished, separate the bottom two pieces of fabric to expose the stitches that hold the couching cord in place. Cut these, and remove the lace from the top piece of fabric.

Bobbin lacemaking involves twisting and crossing threads separated by bobbins and anchored to a pillow by pins. To begin, select a pattern and use a pattern pricker to prick holes where the pins will go. Pin the pattern to the perimeter of a lace pillow. The pins that attach the pattern to the pillow will not be used to make the lace. Cut the lengths of thread required for the project and set aside the bobbins to be used (one piece of thread has a bobbin on each end).

To prepare the bobbins, tie the end of a piece thread to a bobbin, and, winding clockwise, wind half the length of thread around it. Secure the other end of the thread to another bobbin and wind the other half of the thread clockwise as well. Place the pins at the starting area of the pattern in the holes made by the pattern pricker. Hang a thread over one pin so the two bobbins dangle, leaving an inch of thread on each side of the pin. Then move the bobbins to the left, away from the pattern. Hang a second thread over the same pin, and move the bobbins to the right, leaving an inch of thread on each side of the pin. Now, the first stitch can be made.

Trends

Lacemakers are no longer constrained by societal fashions. Modern lacemakers use every type and color of thread available. Crocheting is currently the most common lacemaking method, but all of the other lacemaking techniques are still in use.

Some lacemakers prefer traditional laces. Others like to mix their lace with feathers, beads, paint, wire, or hand-made paper, etc. to create clothing, jewelry, sculptures, and wall hangings.

Lace Making for Fun v. Profit

Making lace by hand is very time-consuming and can be difficult to turn a profit on. Trade shows, craft fairs, and lacemaking conventions are places for lacemakers to sell their hand-made lace, but they should expect to pay a fee to reserve display space and to hand over a percentage of their earnings to the convention sponsors. Selling lace online, through a personal website or retailer, tends to incur fewer fees. In addition to selling the lace itself, a lacemaker wishing to make some money from this hobby might sell patterns for handmaking lace, or might run a blog on lacemaking techniques to gain advertising revenue or donations.

Learning More

Organizations

The International Bobbin and Needle Lace Organization <http://www.oidfa.com/>

The Lace Guild <https://www.laceguild.org/>

Books

Clark, Jill Nordfors. "Needle Lace: Techniques & Inspiration." Wisconsin: Hand Books Press, 1999.

Maidment, Margaret. "A Manual of Hand-Made Bobbin Lace Work." Oregon: Robin and Russ Handweavers, 1983.

Tregidgo, Jan. Torchon Lacemaking: A Step-by-Step Guide. Crowood Press, 2015.