Glossary of Terms

applique: the stitching of design motifs to a continuous background such as a net or another fabric. Applied designs are often outlined to create a three-dimensional quality.

bobbin lace: a modified weaving of fine cotton or linen threads wound around bobbins that are set on a stiff cushion and then twisted or woven to create patterns. Continuous bobbin lace blends the ground and the motifs into one, whereas non-continuous bobbin lace creates the motifs as separate entities which are then joined together with decorative stitches.

crochet: a type of lace worked with a crochet hook from one continuous thread. Patterns can be quite intricate. The finest crochet laces are those made with very fine cotton or linen thread, using a very small hook.

cutwork: a type of embroidered lace where holes are cut into a fine fabric such as linen to create specific patterns and designs. The holes are then embroidered along the edges with a buttonhole stitch to create a finished edge.

drawnwork: an intricate process where linen fabric is made lacy by both pulling or drawing threads out and squeezing threads together. The drawnwork includes a wide variety of needle techniques to create the patterns, including embroidery, needle lace, and needle weaving. Typically, patterns are geometric, but they can be naturalistic and stylized.

embroidery: any working of needle and thread onto a woven cloth background. The background cloth can be cotton, linen, silk, or hemp. A myriad of stitches such as French knots, satin, buttonhole, or chain are applied to create the patterns.

knitted lace: a type of lace with a very open pattern, made using needles, two simple stitches of knit or purl, and a continuous thread. To quality as a lace, the needles and yarn or threads must be very thin. Many knitted laces are also made on machines, but still resulting in magnificent delicate patterns.

needle lace: a type of lace made using embroidery stitches onto a background material. The designs typically include a great deal of open work and raised outlining, known as cordonnet which gives a padded or three-dimensional quality to the work.

princess lace: A type of contemporary lace created by hand embroidering onto a net background. Some Belgian laces are still made today using this technique.

renaissance lace: a type of lace where the patterns are created using a narrow tape of cloth. The tape is basted onto a fabric with a pattern lightly drawn in the background and then needle stitches are used to join the tape pattern. Once the joining stitches are completed, the basting thread and background fabric is removed, creating the open pattern. Also called Battenburg lace.

tatting: identifiable through its distinctive circular pattern and picot edging, tatting is made using a fine gauge thread and a shuttle. Often used to edge other types of textiles, tatting was also used to create larger doilies and centerpieces.

Merletti - Fine Imported Lace and Linens
One Battery Park Avenue, Suite 2, Asheville NC 28801 -- (828) 254-6401