Lace

Lace was very popular, both as a manufactured textile and, over the course of the nineteenth century, as the preferred type of “fancy work” done by well-brought-up ladies in the form of crochet.

According to the National Museum of American History, “Lace is an ornamental openwork fabric created by looping, twisting, braiding or knotting threads either by hand or by machine. The main categories of handmade lace are needle lace, bobbin lace and decorated nets.

“Needle lace is created by making looped or knotted variations on the buttonhole stitch with a threaded needle on top of a pattern. Bobbin lace is created by twisting, crossing or plaiting multiple threads wound on bobbins. It is also made on a pattern, called a pricking. Bobbin and needle laces can be combined in the same piece of lace, and handmade or machine made nets can be decorated with various forms of embellishment, including darning or embroidery, or the application of motifs made by needle or bobbins.

“Among the many other lace-making techniques are tatting, netting, crocheting, knitting, macramé, and sprang.”