HAND-MADE LACE. —Lace proper, or hand-made lace, usually consists of two parts : a ground of plain nets ork, composed of honeycombed or six-sided meshes, formed in different ways, according to the variety of the article being produced. On this ground, the second part, the pattern, is worked. Sometimes the ground is dispensed with, and the parts of the pattern are connected by threads irregularly attached, overcast with the button-hole stitch, and ornamented according to the style of the design. In some kinds, there is no ground at all, the objects represented joining each other. In the varieties known as Mechlin, Valenciennes, and Buckingham laces, and in several others, the pattern or " gimp " is made with the ground.. Brussels and Honiton laces are composed differently, the gimp being worked separately, and then sewn on the ground. Around the edge of the pattern, there is generally a little raised cord, called " cordonnet," The upper edge of lace is often com posed of very small loops, which constitute what is called a " pearl " edge ; whilst the lower or " footing " is a narrow lace, by means of which the work is attached to the material whereon it is to be worn. The fabric as a whole is exceedingly intricate. To the uninitiated, the ingenious entanglement of threada is an insoluble myatery, and still more ao is the fact that out of this tangle are produced the meat beautiful designs geometric figures, leaves, flowers, and creations of the fancy of the most elaborate kind.
Hand-made lace may be broadly divided into two classes: (1) " point," or needle-made kinds, of which, some of the best as well as the earliest are the ancient laces of Italy, Spain, and Portugal, and for which Alencon, in France, has more recently become noted ; (2) " pillow-lace," which, as its name indicates, is made by weaving, twisting and plaiting together upon the "lace-cushion" a number of threads supplied from bobbins.
Point-lace, as previously indicated, probably originated in the convent, and its invention is usually claimed for Italy. During the 16th century, it became widely known, and was in almost general use, being applied to a great number of purposes. The lace of this period was chiefly of geometric design combinations of squares, circles, and other figures in repetition.
It was probably not more than of a century after the invention of poiot-lace, that the art of pillow-lace making was invented—the credit of this is generally assigned to the Netherlands. It was subsequently introduced into Germany by Barbara Etterlein, a lady of Nuremberg parent age, who went to reside in the Hartz mountains, where she married a rich master miner, Christopher Uttmann, of Anuaberg. In the mining districts of the Hartz,
it was customary for the workmen to wear their hair confined in nets, which were woven by the females. Barbara, observing this, introduced the pillow, and taught them to make a plain lace ground, as an improvement upon the artioles they were fabricating. This art, it is alleged, she had acquired from a Brabant refugee.
Pillow-lace making became so popular, that Frau Uttmann set up a workshop at Annaberg, where she taught the art to many, and made lace of various patterns.
After her death, on Jan. 14th, 1575, an inscription placed upon her grave claimed for her the invention of pillow-lace. Whether this claim is justly grouuded or not, cannot he decided here, but the fact is certain that, from Annaberg as a centre, the art spread over Germany, and thence into surrounding countries.
Point- or needle-lace is usually the production of one thread, upon which loops are made and joined to each other by intersections, in such a manner as to form patterns. In pillow-lace making, on the contrary, more threads are used, the number sometimes reaching 400-500, and in exceptional eases, 1500. It will be obvious that the manage ment of such a number of threads is a more complicated matter than that of dealing with one, and that the fabrication of the beautiful patterns into which they are formed needs a more complete instrument than the simple needle. A series of pins, with a cushion in which to arrange them, were found the most pliable instruments, and to afford the greatest facility for the interweaving or twining of the threads. Pillow-lace is made by simply twisting, plaiting, and weaving together a number of threads, in such a manner as to form them into any desired pattern. The process is to first draw the pattern upon parch ment, and make holes in the outline of the design, wherein to insert pins, around which the threads are twisted so as to form meshes. Fine and coarse threads can be combined, and two or more can be worked together for a time and then separated. With the progress of the work, the pins are moved to new positions. In making figured lace, it is necessary that the threads should be so arranged as to allow of their being passed around each other as often as required. In pillow-laces, the pattern is chiefly made by weaving the threads so as to form what may be termed a portion of plain cloth, Fig. 885 ; the ground or mesh by plaiting, Fig 887; and in other descriptions, by intertwining the threads, as in Fig. 886. The ground of Brussels and Honiton lace is formed as in Fig. 887, which represents a 4-thread ground.