THE ART
OF
MODERN LACE-MAKING.

PRICE:
FIFTY CENTS OR TWO SHILLINGS.

PUBLISHED BY
The Butterick Publishing Co. (Limited).
London and New York.

1891

PRINTED IN NEW YORK.

INTRODUCTION.

Owing to the growing popularity of the fascinating art of lace-making and the appeals of our readers to place it within their reach, we have prepared this pamphlet. In making it a perfect instructor and a reliable exponent of the favorite varieties of lace, we have spared neither time nor expense, and are most happy to offer to our patrons what a celebrated maker of Modern Lace has pronounced as "the finest book upon lace-making to be found on either continent."

The illustrations, in the main, are direct reproductions from genuine, hand-made modern laces, such as any lady may make who masters the instructions found upon these pages.

The beauty of these laces is beyond question, their durability all that can be desired, and their textures may be varied from an extreme delicacy to a sumptuous opposite. In introducing the art of modern lace-making into the realms of our readers, we feel all of the pleasure we are sure we thus convey.

The Butterick Publishing Co.,
Limited.

CONTENTS.

Lace-Making
ANCIENT AND MODERN METHODS.

The art of making lace in one form or another has existed from the earliest ages. There are Scriptural references to various web-like fabrics, which were of rude construction, no doubt, but whose general characteristics were identical with those productions of modern skill which have for centuries been known as lace. Homer and other ancient writers constantly mention net-works of fancifully embroidered materials; gold thread-work was known to the Romans; and as Egyptian robes of state are depicted upon the tombs of the earlier dynasties as being fashioned from a looped net-work or crochet, it is probable that the Israelites learned the art from the Egyptians. Museums contain specimens of lace dating back to periods that to us of the present day seem mere dreams of reigns and eras, and history includes a scattered literature of lace which proves that the art must have been practised almost from the beginning.

Up to the Sixteenth Century, however, open work embroidery was the favorite decoration, and from it the tangible origin of lace seems derived. During the Renaissance period the first book of embroidery patterns and lace-work appeared. The earliest volume bearing a date was printed at Cologne in 1527; and it was during the reign of Richard III. of England that the word lace was first used in the descriptions of the royal wardrobe.

At first the best known laces were those of Venice, Milan and Genoa. The Italians claim the invention of point or needle-made lace; but the Venetian point is now a product of the past, and England and France supply most of the fine laces of the present time.

Lace-makers in the various European countries are trained to the work from childhood; but it is said that the makers of Honiton lace, the fabric of which Queen Victoria's wedding gown was made, are rapidly decreasing in numbers, so that there are few persons now living who understand the construction of this exquisite "pillow" lace. The costly point and Honiton and the dainty Mechlin and Valenciennes of bygone days can only be produced by trained lace-workers, whose skilful fingers weave bobbins of cobweb-like thread to and fro over the "pillow" necessary to antique methods; and for this reason fine lace-making is practically beyond the skill of the amateur. Besides, some of the threads in the very filmy laces are so fine that they cannot be successfully manipulated except in a moist atmosphere, such as that of Great Britain; and even there some of the more exquisite specimens must perforce be made in underground rooms, since it is only there that the proper degree of moisture can be obtained. In dry climates these gossamer-like threads would roughen and break at almost the slightest touch.

Referring to the known origin of some of the earlier laces, a writer upon the subject says:

"They say it was a woman, Barbara Uttmann, who invented pillow lace in the 16th century. Women have ever been patrons of lace-making. Victoria has kept the Honiton laces in fashion, and it was the Duchess of Argyle who introduced lace-making in Scotland. The Countess of Erne and Lady Denny and Lady Bingham began it in Ireland, and Lady De Vere gave her own Brussels point for patterns when the first Irish point was made at Curragh. It was Elizabeth of Denmark who introduced lace-making in that country, and the Archduchess Sophia who started lace schools in Bohemia. "Now at least I can have laces," said Anne of Austria, when Louis XIII., her husband died, and her court was famous for its cleanliness and its Spanish point. Colbert had three women as coadjutors when he started lace-making in France. It was because Josephine loved point d'Alençon that Napoleon revived it. Eugenie spent $5,000 for a single dress flounce, and had $1,000,000 in fine laces."

Victoria's favorite, Honiton, is not considered a particularly beautiful lace, although its weaving is so tedious and difficult. "Real Honiton laces," so says an authority, "are made up of bits and bits fashioned by many different women in their own little cottages—here a leaf, there a flower, slowly woven through the long, weary days, only to be united afterward in the precious web by other workers who never saw its beginning. There is a pretty lesson in the thought that to the perfection of each of these little pieces the beauty of the whole is due—that the rose or leaf some humble peasant woman wrought carefully, helps to make the fabric worthy the adorning of a queen or the decoration of an altar, even as the