A History of Lace

Lace has been called the fabric made of air, and once you have looked closely at a fine piece you understand why. It is mostly holes, held together by thread so fine it seems impossible that human hands made it. For hundreds of years lace was worth more than gold by weight, fought over by queens and copied by spies. The history of lace is a story of patience, fashion, and a craft that very nearly disappeared. Let me walk you through it.

Where Lace Began

True lace, the kind made purely of thread with no woven cloth behind it, is younger than you might guess. It blossomed in the early sixteenth century in two corners of Europe at almost the same time: in and around Venice and Milan in Italy, and in Flanders in what is now Belgium. The very first written mention of bobbin lace dates to 1536 and points to Venice, and the earliest printed pattern books came from the same city in the 1550s. Venice was the place where the new craft spread out to the rest of Europe.

Two Ways to Make Lace

From the very start, lace makers worked in two quite different ways, and the two regions each became famous for one of them.

In Venice the favourite method was needle lace. The maker uses a single thread and a single needle, building the design stitch upon stitch until a fabric slowly appears out of almost nothing. It is painstaking work, and a fine piece could take a skilled woman months.

In Flanders the makers leaned toward bobbin lace, which braids and twists many threads at once. Each thread is wound onto its own little wooden bobbin, and the maker crosses and plaits them over a firm pillow, following a pattern marked out with pins. It is faster than needle lace, though watching the bobbins fly is still a marvel.

The Age When Lace Ruled Fashion

Through the seventeenth century, lace became the ultimate sign of wealth and rank. Look at any portrait from the period and you will see it: enormous lace collars and cuffs framing the faces of kings, queens, and wealthy merchants. Because every inch was made by hand, lace was outrageously expensive, and laws were even passed in some countries to stop ordinary people from wearing it above their station.

Whole towns lived by the needle and the bobbin. Centres like Brussels, Honiton in England, Alencon in France, and of course Venice each became known for their own distinctive styles, and skilled lace makers were so valuable that some countries tried to stop them leaving and taking their secrets with them.

The Machine Age and the Great Decline

The handmade golden age could not last. In 1809 an English inventor named John Heathcoat patented a machine that could make a wide net fabric which did not unravel when it was cut. For the first time, lace could be made by machine, quickly and cheaply. As you might expect from the history of the sewing machine and so many other inventions, the hand workers were terrified. In 1816 a mob attacked Heathcoat’s factory and destroyed dozens of his frames.

There was a brief, lovely revival when Queen Victoria chose Honiton lace for her wedding veil in 1840 and started a fashion for it. But the tide could not be turned. By around 1870 almost every kind of handmade lace had a cheap machine made copy, and the slow handcraft went into a steep decline that lasted the rest of the century.

A Few Famous Names

If you ever go antique hunting, you will start to hear the old lace names, and each one carries a little geography lesson. Chantilly lace, fine and usually black, came from the French town of the same name and was a favourite for shawls and veils. Alencon, known as the queen of lace, was a crisp needle lace prized at the French court. Honiton, from Devon in England, was a delicate bobbin lace of separate motifs joined together, the very type Queen Victoria chose. Brussels lace from Belgium was so fine it was almost weightless. Knowing the name often tells you exactly where a piece was born.

There is romance in the smaller stories too. Lace was so valuable that it was a favourite of smugglers, who hid it inside hollowed loaves, umbrellas, and even coffins to slip it past the customs men. A bride’s lace veil was often the most expensive thing she would ever own, handed down carefully from mother to daughter. For a fabric that is mostly empty space, lace has carried an extraordinary amount of human hope and history.

Lace Today

Handmade lace never quite died. Lace guilds, county classes, and devoted enthusiasts kept the needle and the bobbin alive through the twentieth century, and you can still learn either craft today. Most of the lace we sew with now is machine made, in cotton, nylon, or a soft stretch blend, and it is wonderful for adding a pretty, feminine touch to lingerie, blouses, and special occasion dresses. Every time you stitch a length of lace trim onto a garment, you are touching the end of a story that runs all the way back to sixteenth century Venice.

If you would like to sew with lace yourself, our guide to the many types of lace fabric is the perfect place to begin, and our free lace jacket pattern shows just how lovely it can look made up.

Lace Fabrics For Sewing Projects: So Many Types!

Sew Yourself A Pretty Lace Jacket – Free Pattern And Tutorial

You will find plenty more lace friendly projects, from camis to lingerie, in our free sewing patterns library. And if you enjoy these little journeys back in time, you might also like our short histories of buttons and tassels.