Cluny lace is a bobbin lace style, worked as a continuous piece. It is a heavy plaited lace of geometric design, often with radiating thin, pointed wheatears (closely woven leaves). [1] It is a guipure style of lace.
Cluny lace originated in France. It appeared in the nineteenth century in Le Puy and Mirecourt in Lorraine, reputedly using designs from the Museum of Antiquities at the Hotel Cluny, Paris. [2]
Cluny lace was also made in the English Midland lacemaking areas. [1] The laces shares common features with Bedfordshire lace. [3]
Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is split into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted or crocheted lace. Other laces such as these are considered as a category of their specific craft. Knitted lace, therefore, is an example of knitting. This article considers both needle lace and 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 pillow.
A bobbin or spool is a spindle or cylinder, with or without flanges, on which yarn, thread, wire, tape or film is wound. Bobbins are typically found in industrial textile machinery, as well as in sewing machines, fishing reels, tape measures, film rolls, cassette tapes, within electronic and electrical equipment, and for various other applications.
Guipure lace is a type of bobbin lace. It connects the motifs with bars or plaits rather than net or mesh.
Freehand lace is a bobbin lace that works directly on the fabric of the lace pillow without using a pricked pattern. Very few pins are needed for this technique
Bobbinet tulle or genuine tulle is a specific type of tulle which has been made in the United Kingdom since the invention of the bobbinet machine. John Heathcoat coined the term "bobbin net", or bobbinet as it is spelled today, to distinguish this machine-made tulle from the handmade "pillow lace", produced using a lace pillow to create bobbin lace. Machines based on his original designs are still in operation today producing fabrics in Perry Street, Chard, Somerset, UK.
Mechlin lace or Point de Malines is an old bobbin lace, one of the best known Flemish laces, originally produced in Mechelen. Worn primarily during summer, it is fine, transparent, and looks best when worn over another color. Used for women's clothing, it was popular until the first decade of the 20th century. It was made in Mechelen, Antwerp, Lier and Turnhout. It was used for coiffures de nuit, garnitures de corset, ruffles and cravats.
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, strictly interpreted, the term refers to bobbin lace, in which the pattern is made first, and the ground, or réseau added, also using bobbin lace. Brussels lace is not to be confused with Brussels point, which is a type of needle lace, though sometimes also called "Brussels lace".
Bucks point is a bobbin lace from the South East of 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 called English Lille. It is also similar to Mechlin lace and Chantilly 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. Typical basic stitches include whole stitch, half stitch, and twists, and common motifs include spiders and fans. Torchon lace was notable historically for being coarse and strong, as well as consisting of simple geometric patterns and straight lines. It did not use representational designs, for the most part.
Lace machines took over the commercial manufacture of lace during the nineteenth century.
Genoese lace is bobbin lace from Genoa. It is a guipure style of lace.
Part lace or sectional lace is a way of making bobbin lace. It characterises various styles, such as Honiton lace or Brussels lace.
Bobbin tape lace is bobbin lace where the design is formed of one or more tapes curved so they make an attractive pattern. The tapes are made at the same time as the rest of the lace, and are joined to each other, or themselves, using a crochet hook.
Russian lace is a bobbin tape lace. The tape is made with bobbins at the same time as the rest of the lace, curving back on itself, and joined using a crochet hook. It was made in Russia, but similar laces made elsewhere are also called Russian lace.
Bayeux lace was bobbin lace that was made at Bayeux in Normandy, France.
Point de Paris is a French bobbin lace of the 18th century, with slender trailing designs in a point de Paris ground. It was a simple lace, and did not compete with those of Flanders. It was revived in the late 19th century for trimming lingerie and 'fancy linen'.
Bobbin lace ground is the regular small mesh filling the open spaces of continuous bobbin lace. Other names for bobbin lace ground are net or réseau. The precise course of the threads and the resultant shape of the ground are an important diagnostic feature in lace identification, as different lace styles use different grounds.
The Pusher machine was a lace making machine, based on the bobbinet, that was invented in 1812 Samuel Clark and James Mart.
Cogne lace is a handmade bobbin lace that is made in Cogne, in the Aosta Valley in Italy. It takes the form of strips of lace, due to the manner in which it is made on a drum.