The Craft of Lace
Cape of Bedfordshire bobbin lace
WHAT is lace, and what is it that makes lace so different from other textiles? Perhaps the most striking feature is the part that is missing: lace is full of holes! These holes are formed as the lace is made, and not cut out afterwards. The fashionable laces of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were made using bobbins or needle, and these are still the two main techniques. However, lace can also be made using a crochet hook, knitting needles or a tatting shuttle, and machine-made nets can be embroidered to give patterned laces.
In this section of our website you can view a video showing how bobbin lace and needlelace are made, and you can also read more details on the origins and history of lace. In addition there are sections on the various of different types of lace, illustrated with examples from the Guild’s own collection. As a British lacemaking organization, our emphasis is on laces from the British Isles, but we also describe some of the main continental laces. We hope to provide a more comprehensive coverage in the not too distant future.