Lace Making

Lace Making is  a  technique  for  handcrafting  a  particularly  durable lace constructed  by  a  series  of knots  and loops. Lace  Making  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,  or halfhitch knots,  called  double  stitches  (ds),  over  a  core thread.  Gaps  can  be  left  between  the  stitches  to  form picots,  which  are  used  for  practical  construction  as  well as decorative effect. Lace Making dates to the early 19th century. The term for  Lace  Making  in  most  European  languages  is  derived  from French frivolité, which refers to the purely decorative  nature  of  the  textiles  produced  by  this  technique.  The  technique was developed to imitate point lace In German Lace Making is called Schiffchenarbeit, which  means  the  work  of  the  little  boat,  referring  to  the  boatshaped  shuttle,  and  in  Italian  Lace  Making  is  called chiacchierino, which means chatty.     

Types of Laces 

Hand Made Laces

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Machine made Laces

Bobbin lace: Sometimes called pillow lace, the lace design is drawn either on pillow or on a paper that is placed over the pillow. Small pegs or pins are stuck into the pillow along the design, and a large number of small bobbins of thread are manipulated around the pegs or pins to produce the lace. A number of threads, each on its own bobbin, are interlaced by twisting and plaiting around the pins to produce the motif in a mesh construction. As the lace is completed, the pins are pulled out and the lace is removed from the pillow. Making pillow lace requires great skill and dexterity, for as many as three hundred bobbins may be needed to make some patterns. Darned lace: It has a design darned by a chain stitch onto a mesh background. When made by hand, the design of darned lace is sewn with thread and needle passed in and out of a mesh net. There are two principal types of darned laceAntique lace – Has a darned lace pattern on a rectangular mesh ground. Filet lace – Has a darned lace design on a square mesh ground. Needle point lace: The design for needle point is drawn on parchment stitched to a backing of stout linen, and the lace is made by filling in the pattern with button hole stitches. When the lace is completed, the parchment is removed. Needle point lace is made entirely with a sewing needle and thread. A design is drawn on paper, thread is laid over the design, and the thread is then sewn in place with button hole and blanket stitches. Crochet lace: When handmade, this is made with a crochet hook, to form a series of loops, each one of which is finished with a fine stitch, working usually with specially twisted cotton thread. It originated in Ireland as an imitation of Venetian needle point. It is a comparatively inexpensive heavy lace. Irish crocheted lace is typified by a rose or shamrock design that stands out from the background. Tatting lace or Knotted lace: This is made by twisting and knotting thread by means of a small shuttle. When made by pass in a shuttle in and out of loops in a thread, it is called tatting. It is identified by a circle like motif and picots around the edges of the motif. Clover leaf and wheel designs are the most popular, but other patterns are also made.

 Nearly all the laces classified as real laces can be duplicated by

machine with slight variations and simplifications.  Leavers lace: The leavers lace machine can produce the most

intricate patterns from any type of yarn into fabrics up to ten yards wide. It is huge, complex machine that takes an operator two to three weeks to thread. Very thin, round, brass bobbins containing up to 300 yds each are individually conveyed by carriages moving back and forth from one warp to another. As each bobbin is moved to a predetermined position, it swings between the warp yarns and wraps its yarn around one warp before it is moved to another. Since there are about 20 bobbins per inch, very intricate designs are possible. The fabrics can be fairly expensive. Leavers lace is used to a great extent in the dress industry.  Nottingham

Lace: The Nottingham machine originated in Nottingham, England. It also utilizes swinging brass bobbins but produces a flat lace that is coarser than leavers lace. Its large overall patterns are used for such purposes as table cloths.

 Bobbin lace: The bobbin machine employs the braiding principle.

The lace produced has a fairly heavy texture, with an angular appearance and a uniform count. Bobbin lace lacks the fine texture and flowing lines of the laces produced by other machines.  Raschel lace: Knitting machines can be constructed to make lace

resembling levers and crocheted laces. The Raschel machine, which has its needles set horizontally instead of vertically as for knitting, can produce at high speed inexpensive lace fabrics of man-made filament yarns.  Ratine lace: It is a machine made lace that has a ground of

heavy loops resembling that of terry cloth.

Uses of Laces  All-over laces: An all over lace is a fabric up to 36” width with the 

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design or pattern spread over the width of the fabric and repeated  in its length. Many kinds of design motifs and colors are used. The  fabric  can  be  produced  in  widths  of  over  one  yard  (1m)  that  are  devoid  of  scallops.  The  fabric  is  cut  and  solid  from  the  bolt  like  woven dress goods. The dressmaker cuts it to pattern and makes  it up into formal evening, dinner, and cocktail dress and blouses. Flouncing: Flouncing applies to laces 18 to 36 inches wide with a  plain  edge  at  the  top  and  a  scalloped  edge  at  the  bottom  of  the  fabric. It is used for wide ruffles or flounces. Often these flounces  are arranged in tiers to form a skirt. Gallon: A galloon is a lace up to 18 inches wide with a scalloped  edge  at  top  and  bottom. It may  be used as an insertion between  two cut edges of fabric. Insertion: Insertion is a band of lace sewn between two pieces of  fabric  or  on  a  single  piece  of  fabric  at  the  straight  top  or  bottom  edges. A variety of insertion is footing, which has a straight edge  at  top  and  bottom  but  no  patterns.  Footing  is  often  used  at  the  bodice or at the bottom hem of a slip. Beading: Beading  has  slots  through  which  ribbon  may  be  run.  These  slots  may  be  found  in  edgings  or  galloons  but  are  much  more common in insertions. Edging: An  edging  is  a  lace  never  more  than  18”  wide  that  is  straight  at  the  top  and  scalloped  at  the  bottom.  It  is  sewn  to  the  edge of a dress, gown, blouse, handkerchief, or lingerie. Medallion: A  medallion  is  a  lace  in  a  single  design  that  can  be  appliquéd  to  a  fabric  ground  for  ornamentation.  It  is  sometimes  used in the corners of napkins, or towels or as an ornament for a  dress, blouse or lingerie.

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All lace should be hand washed using cool water and a mild detergent. If the item is a garment, button and zip completely to avoid snags that can tear the lace netting. Avoid vigorous scrubbing which will distort the fibers.  If you have an heirloom lace tablecloth that needs cleaning, you can make it more stable by basting it with white cotton thread to an old white cotton sheet. Wash the stabilized cloth by hand, rinse well and air dry. Remove the sheet by pulling the basting thread and store your clean, lace cloth. Lace should be air dried or dried flat, never in the dryer. Delicate pieces may need to be reshaped during drying. If ironing is needed, place a thick white towel over the ironing board and use a press cloth between the iron and the lace. This will prevent crushing the details of the lace and prevent snags that can rip or tear.