Greek lace is considered one of the earliest forms of all lace. Some types of Greek lace include reticella, Roman lace, cutwork, Venetian guipure, and Greek point lace [1]
Greek lace is considered one of the earliest forms of all lace. Some types of Greek lace include reticella, Roman lace, cutwork, Venetian guipure, and Greek point lace [1]
Greek lace was first made from 1480 to 1620, the designs being always a rigid geometrical type. Greek Lace was used in large quantities for the decoration of ecclesiastical vestments and cere cloths. The earliest types of Greek lace were created by straight lines buttoned over in repetition. In the beginning, Greek lace specimens were primarily formed in the simplest type of geometrical outlines. Originally, this lace was made from a tracing on parchment and then woven on a cushion in order to create the ornate pattern. As time passed and the process developed, greater variety of geometrical designs were created and shown in the lace. Patterns became more full, and the bars more ornate. The complex designs of the Greek lace were always formal and often arranged with excellent artistic effect. Geometrical outlines such as circles and triangles were slowly added to the lace to enhance its dimensions. The Ionian Islands are recognized as being the home to the creation of the Greek lace. [1] Reticella was mentioned in the Sforza Inventory in 1493, which spread the idea and technique even further. Other countries like Germany, France, Spain, Flanders, and England all made only a very limited extent of the Greek Lace, but it eventually was mocked and imitated, creating more types of lace. [1] However, Greek lace became popular outside of the main manufacturing countries.
Between the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, the term Greek lace may have originated from the time when the Ionian Islands were in the possession of the Venetian Republic. A true lace is created when a thread is looped, braided, or twisted to other threads independently from a fabric in one of 3 ways: (1) with a needle, when the work is distinctively known as “needlepoint lace” (2) with bobbins, pins on a pillow or cushion, when the work is known as ‘pillow lace” (3) by machinery. Originally, lace was made with linen, silk, gold, or silver threads, but now lace is often made with cotton thread. [2] There is no evidence to prove that Greek Lace was ever produced for commercial purposes in Greece. It is speculated that the term may have originated between the 15th and 18th century, when the Ionian Islands were under the rule of the Venetian Republic.
In modern day, Greek lace, or Reticella, is generally considered a furniture lace. Greek Lace is also used as decoration rather than clothing. Authentic Greek lace is now predominantly made in Italy. Modern Greek lace is made with flax thread only, rather than the silk that was originally used. [1]
Mass production of lace is also common. While it is not authentic, the patterns often have resemblance to the geometric structures of Greek lace. Modern popular uses for lace are primarily for decoration and wedding attire. Due to its popularity, it became very widespread around the world and was modified to create other types of lace, modernly known as imitations. [1]
Since Greek lace is one of the earliest form of needle lace, there are many different variations that are difficult to distinguish. One of the biggest differentiations between different types of old Greek lace is whether it is “Italian or Flemish.” However, specimens have shown that there are no standard differences between the two. [3] Very early Greek lace can be identified by lace trimmings. [4] Authentic Greek lace is identified by the procedure of buttoning over the thread in specific patterns and can ideally be distinguished from others. [3] When Greek lace is made by machine, it is made entirely differently. It is either woven, where two threads are used, or embroidered, when a pattern is embroidered onto something that is later removed. [5]
Tatting is a technique for handcrafting a particularly durable lace from a series of knots and loops. Tatting can be used to make lace edging as well as doilies, collars, accessories such as earrings and necklaces, and other decorative pieces. The lace is formed by a pattern of rings and chains formed from a series of cow hitch or half-hitch knots, called double stitches, 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.
Hardanger embroidery or "Hardangersøm" is a form of embroidery traditionally worked with white thread on white even-weave linen or cloth, using counted thread and drawn thread work techniques. It is sometimes called whitework embroidery.
Drawn thread work is one of the earliest forms of open work embroidery, and has been worked throughout Europe. Originally it was often used for ecclesiastical items and to ornament shrouds. It is a form of counted-thread embroidery based on removing threads from the warp and/or the weft of a piece of even-weave fabric. The remaining threads are grouped or bundled together into a variety of patterns. The more elaborate styles of drawn thread work use a variety of other stitches and techniques, but the drawn thread parts are their most distinctive element. It is also grouped with whitework embroidery because it was traditionally done in white thread on white fabric and is often combined with other whitework techniques.
Sashiko is a type of traditional Japanese embroidery or stitching used for the decorative and/or functional reinforcement of cloth and clothing. Owing to the relatively cheap nature of white cotton thread and the abundant nature of cheap, indigo-dyed blue cloth in historical Japan, sashiko has a distinctive appearance of white-on-blue embroidery, though some decorative pieces may also use red thread.
Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided 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 shawl is a simple item of clothing, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, and sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular or square piece of cloth, which is often folded to make a triangle, but can also be triangular in shape. Other shapes include oblong shawls. It is associated with the inhabitants of the northern Indian subcontinent—particularly Kashmir and Punjab—and Central Asia, but can be found in many other parts of the world.
Darning is a sewing technique for repairing holes or worn areas in fabric or knitting using needle and thread alone. It is often done by hand, but it is also possible to darn with a sewing machine. Hand darning employs the darning stitch, a simple running stitch in which the thread is "woven" in rows along the grain of the fabric, with the stitcher reversing direction at the end of each row, and then filling in the framework thus created, as if weaving. Darning is a traditional method for repairing fabric damage or holes that do not run along a seam, and where patching is impractical or would create discomfort for the wearer, such as on the heel of a sock.
Filet lace is the general word used for all the different techniques of embroidery on knotted net. It is a hand made needlework created by weaving or embroidery using a long blunt needle and a thread on a ground of knotted net lace or filet work made of square or diagonal meshes of the same sizes or of different sizes. Lacis uses the same technique but is made on a ground of leno or small canvas.
Punto in aria is an early form of needle lace devised in Italy. It is considered the first true lace because it was the first meant to be stitched alone, and not first onto a woven fabric.
Reticella is a needle lace dating from the 15th century and remaining popular into the first quarter of the 17th century.
Tenerife lace or “roseta canaria”is a needle lace from Canary Islands. The first name comes from the fact that the lace made on the islands was exported from that island. The origin of this lace is uncertain and it is not known on which island the technique was born.
Embroidery in India includes dozens of embroidery styles that vary by region and clothing styles. Designs in Indian embroidery are formed on the basis of the texture and the design of the fabric and the stitch. The dot and the alternate dot, the circle, the square, the triangle, and permutations and combinations of these constitute the design.
Cutwork or cut work, also known as punto tagliato in Italian, is a needlework technique in which portions of a textile, typically cotton or linen, are cut away and the resulting "hole" is reinforced and filled with embroidery or needle 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, 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".
English embroidery includes embroidery worked in England or by English people abroad from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day. The oldest surviving English embroideries include items from the early 10th century preserved in Durham Cathedral and the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry, if it was worked in England. The professional workshops of Medieval England created rich embroidery in metal thread and silk for ecclesiastical and secular uses. This style was called Opus Anglicanum or "English work", and was famous throughout Europe.
Embroidered lace is embroidered on a base using a needle. The base varies according to the type.
Embroidery was an important art in the Islamic world from the beginning of Islam until the Industrial Revolution disrupted traditional ways of life.
The term Hedebo embroidery covers several forms of white embroidery which originated in the Hedebo (heathland) region of Zealand, Denmark, in the 1760s. The varied techniques which evolved over the next hundred years in the farming community were subsequently developed by the middle classes until around 1820. They were applied to articles of clothing such as collars and cuffs but were also used to decorate bed linen.
Suzhou embroidery, Su embroidery or Su xiu is the embroidery created around the city of Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. It is one of the oldest embroidery techniques in the world and is the most representative type of art in Chinese embroidery. It already has a history more than 2,000 years and is an important form of handicraft in the history of Chinese art and folk custom, representative of Chinese traditional folk arts. It is famous for its variety of stitches, beautiful patterns, elegant colors, and consummate craftsmanship.
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| Needle lace |
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| Bobbin lace |
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| Tape lace | |||||||||
| Crocheted lace | |||||||||
| Machine-made lace | |||||||||
| Other handmade laces | |||||||||
