‘Modern’ point lace

 

My 1882 edition of the Dictionary of needlework describes how to work this type of needlelace which was a popular pastime in the late nineteenth century. It describes point lace as any needlelace, except cut and drawn work, which is worked in buttonhole stitches on a parchment pattern. It goes on to explain that this modern type of point lace has been made since 1855, particularly in France where it is known as dentelle renaissance. The materials required are tracing cloth on which to draw the design, Toile Cire (which seems to be oil cloth) ‘to give firmness to the lace while in progress’ so I assume it is used as a backing cloth for the work, needles, linen braids and linen thread. A variety of linen braids were obviously available at the time but the book notes you could also make your own in bobbin lace if you preferred. It recommends using a fine thread such as Haythorne’s linen thread (I assume this is a brand name).

The first step is to draw the outline of the lace onto the tracing cloth and this is the suggested starting pattern. Then tack the braid loosely to the cloth. After that overcast all the edges of the braid, drawing up the thread at the inner edges of the curves so they sit flat. Then join the separate parts of the design with bars as shown by passing a thread across a space three times, buttonholing over the threads to the centre of the bar, where a picot is formed, and then continuing by buttonholing the other half of the bar. The centre of the braid shapes can then be filled with needlelace filling stitches. For beginners they suggest using point de Bruxelles as the filling stitch, which is a series of interlocked rows of loose buttonhole stitches. This seems quite a difficult stitch for beginners, as it is hard to maintain a good tension, but of course Victorian women all knew how to stitch and most were quite adept at something as well-known as buttonhole stitch.