Before I begin showing you how to make the laces, let me show you some of the types of
laces made and more will be discussed along the way. Among my favorite laces are Alencon
and Venetian Point.
Alencon Point
The lace pictured is a transitional form of Alencon that is between guipure and lace.
Venetian Point
The people who bought it thought it looked like carved ivory, it was made with silk
and had a wonderful patina.
In France, lace was made by a number of specialist, each trained to work a part of the lace.
Each title detailed the order of the steps taken to produce that lace.
Parchment and Lace
The Piqueuse punched the holes in the parchment and linen for the design. You can
see the tiny prick marks in the pcture of the bird.
The Traceuse couched two threads over the design lines. This was the
foundation for the lace stitches.
Reseau
The Reseleuse and the Fondeuse made the grounding mesh called reseau.
The Remplisseuse worked the Toile. This is the solid cloth of the pattern that is
worked in the buttonhole stitch.
The Brodeuse worked the cordonnette or the heavy outlines that surrounds the Toile.
The Modeuse was a more competent stitcher who would place ornamental fillings or
a’jours in the design. These fillings are often more open than the Toile.
The Ebouleuse removed the finished design from the patterns for safe keeping.
The Regaleuse assembled the parts and tacked it on the sheets of paper.
The Assembleuse worked temporary joins of all the designs elements, these joins were
called Point de Raccroc.
The Brideuse, the Boucleuse and the Gazeuse were quality control on the project and
they also corrected faults in the sewing.
The Mignonneuse did the engrelure, a narrow piece of lace sewn between the lace and
the garment. There is an excellent example of engrelure at the top of the Alencon
pictured above.
If you ever wondered why there is so little lace available today after so much was
made, it is because these pieces or motifs were cut from one garment to another
over and over again until they were disintegrating. Up until the 1700's the lace
was used as 'coin' in many shops. I cannot even imagine the hours spent cutting
apart the lace for the motifs so the lady could get something different.
The Picoteuse added the loops and picots to the cordonnette and the raised bands of the
lace. In the picture above you can see an edge has been added to the left side of the motif.
After the motif was made the Picoteuse added picots or little loops and then came back
and made loops from picot to picot and then added Buttonhole stitches and more picots to
the loops.
The Affiqueuse blocked and finished the lace with an instrument called an afficot. The
lace could be uneven with dents and bulges in the middle of the motifs and had to be fixed.
This step is very much like ironing is today, but the silk could be ruined with a hot iron.
The affiqueuse held the afficot in the crook or bend and rubbed the silk with the back of the
afficot where it resembles a spoon. The rounded edges at the edge of the spoon and the point
in the crook aided in the reshaping that might have been needed.
It was a hideous job that would leave my neck and shoulders sore and aching, I would try and
talk my husband into doing it. Or any other strong back willing if I had the business of
selling lace.
Next Page, Copyright 2011, Linda Fontenot, www.AmericanFolkArts.com
History of Decorated Fabric continued