Editing Needle lace

{{Short description|Lace made with a needle and thread}}
[[File:NeedleLaceBorder ErzgebirgeGermany1884.jpg|thumb|Needle lace borders from the [[Ore Mountains]] of Germany in 1884, displayed in the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]]]]
[[File:Carolus -Private Collection - detail naaldkant.jpg|thumb|upright|Needle lace, detail]]
[[File:Parchment With Unfinished Needle Lace (England), 17th century (CH 18637569).jpg|thumb|Parchment With Unfinished Needle Lace (England), 17th century (CH 18637569)]]
[[File:Runner (ST557) - Lace-Needle Lace - MoMu Antwerp.jpg|thumb|Runner (ST557) - Lace-Needle Lace - MoMu Antwerp]]

'''Needle lace''' is a type of [[lace]] created using a [[Sewing needle|needle]] and [[yarn|thread]] to create hundreds of small stitches to form the lace itself.

== Origins ==
The origins of needle lace date back to the 15th century and embroidery. [[Cutwork]] and [[Drawn thread work|drawn work]] were developed to add interest to white on white embroidery, and the methods used in these techniques led to needle lace.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Bath |first=Virginia Churchill |title=Lace |publisher=Penguin Books |year=1979 |location=New York |language=en}}</ref> {{Rp|pages=56–57}} A second expert puts the development of needle lace in the following century, the 16th, in Italy, also stemming from embroidery, the [[openwork]] on [[linen]] technique called ''[[reticella]]''.<ref>{{cite book |editor=de Dillmont, Thérèse |title=Needle-made Laces: 1st series |date=1902 |publisher=Dollfus Mieg & Cie |location=Mulhouse, France}}</ref>  To show off their wealth in that period in Italy, the aristocracy favored wearing rich cloth embellished by embroidery and braid. As the century progressed, the small areas that were cut from the fabric to highlight the needle lace were replaced by much larger areas of cutwork. The needlework was dependent on remaining threads running vertically and horizontally, leaving squares and rectangles, which led to geometric designs.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Lace: a guide to identification of old lace types and techniques |date=1989 |publisher=Batsford |isbn=978-0-7134-5701-8 |editor-last=Toomer |editor-first=Heather |location=London |editor-last2=Voysey |editor-first2=Cynthia}}</ref>{{Rp|page=17}}

Venice was a center of needle lace making in the 1400s, as documented by official records. In the 1500s, city officials decreed that young men in Venice were prohibited from lace wearing until they had turned 25.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=57–58}} Lace was a prized possession, appearing in lists of people's assets.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=57–58}}

== Materials ==
A variety of styles developed where the work is started by securing heavier guiding threads onto a stiff background (such as thick paper) with stitches that can later be removed. The work is then built up using a variety of stitches—the most basic being a variety of [[Buttonhole stitch|buttonhole]] or [[blanket stitch]]. When the entire area is covered with the stitching, the stay-stitches are released and the lace comes away from the paper.

Needle lace is also used to create the fillings or insertions in [[cutwork]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Blomkamp |first=Hazel |title=Needle Weaving Techniques for Hand Embroidery |publisher=Search Press |year=2017 |isbn=9781782215172}}</ref>

== Structure ==
In its basic form, the only equipment and materials used are a needle, thread and [[scissors]]. Often there is a supporting substrate that is used to tether the outline stitches for the basic framework, and then many types of stitches will fill in the open spaces subsequently.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jacqueline |first=Peter |title=Practical Guide to Needle Lace |publisher=Schiffer Craft |year=2020 |isbn=9780764358692}}</ref> Many different needle lace styles and traditions have developed over the centuries, and distinctive stitches can characterize different styles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Earnshaw |first=Pat |title=Needle-Made Laces: Materials, Designs, Techniques |publisher=Ward Lock Ltd |year=1989 |isbn=9780706366204}}</ref> Many needle lace texts are available to assist contemporary lacemakers to reproduce the classic stitches.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Barley |first=Catherine |title=Needlelace: Designs and Techniques Classic and Contemporary |publisher=B T Batsford Ltd |year=1994 |isbn=9780713468106}}</ref> Modern lacemakers can also explore contemporary design and novel uses for needle lace beyond the traditional reproduction work.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jill Nordfors |first=Clark |title=Needle Lace : Techniques and Inspiration |publisher=Search Press, Limited |year=1999 |isbn=9780855328979}}</ref> 

The [[Royal School of Needlework]] contains a stitch library of many types of stitching, including some needle lace techniques.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Needlelace - RSN StitchBank |url=https://rsnstitchbank.org/technique/needlelace |access-date=2024-01-28 |website=rsnstitchbank.org}}</ref> For example, [[Hollie point|Hollie Point]] structure and steps can be examined in detail.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hollie stitch - RSN StitchBank |url=https://rsnstitchbank.org/stitch/hollie-stitch |access-date=2024-01-28 |website=rsnstitchbank.org}}</ref> 

== References ==
{{reflist}}
* {{cite web | url=http://www.marlamallett.com/lace.htm |title=Structures of Antique Lace |work=A Collection of Antique Laces |access-date=July 26, 2005}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
* [http://www.KenmareLace.ie/  Kenmare Lace And other forms of Irish Lace]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130809053008/http://lace.lacefairy.com/Lace/ID/NeedlelaceID.html Needlelace] - Lace Identification and Types
*''[https://www2.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books/archive_036.pdf Old Point Lace: How to Copy and Imitate It]'' (1878) by Daisy Waterhouse Hawkins. Chatto and Windus, London.

{{Lace types}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Needle lace| ]]
[[Category:Textile arts]]