BOBBIN LACE

The term "lace" is very broad and sometimes even the experts don't agree with its definition and classification. We have normally been calling "lace" very different kinds of textiles such as crochet, knitting, tatting, lacis, etc., but nowadays needle lace and bobbin lace are considered the "real" lace.

Bobbin Lace, the lace I am most interested in, is a delicate and beautiful textile which is made with threads wound around sticks or bobbins. The weft and the warp of the textile is worked at the same time, crossing and twisting these bobbins. The motifs are usually worked in a more dense stitch, whereas the ground is usually made with a looser stitch.

Another characteristic of bobbin lace is that it is worked on a pillow (in Spain a vertical long and cylindrical pillow) to which a pattern is attached (although not always so) that indicates the way to work. At strategic points, where the threads are crossed, a pin is situated to keep them in place. As work advances, the pins can be taken away.

Bobbin lace can be of two types: continuous lace such as Torchon (here in Spain we call it popular lace), and non continuous lace, such as Brugges lace.

Continuous thread lace is always worked with the same number of threads and is made in one and only continuous piece. The resulting lace is not very wide, as too many bobbins would be required. For example, to make a 15 cm wide edging, we would need between 200 and 1000 bobbins, depending on the size of the thread used.

On the other hand, non continuous thread lace is worked in pieces. Separate individual pieces are made and joined later to a ground, that requires more additional bobbins. Some of these laces are made in not very wide stripes, which are joined later with a hook.

The history of lace is not very well known. As the material used (silk, linen or cotton) is perishable, the oldest data are not reliable. But what is sure is that its origin is in Europe: this craft started either in Spain, Italy, France or Flanders.

The first pictures with costumes decorated with lace date from the 15th century. The first pattern books known belong to the 16th century. In the 16th/17th century, gold and silver laces were already made in Spain. The golden years of bobbin lace are the end of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th. And until the beginning of the 19th century, there have been important lace industries, also in Spain (Almagro, Arenys de Mar and Camariñas, for example).

The material used was linen, but also silk or metals, such as gold and silver. Since 1800 cotton has been used, substituting linen.