Bobbin Lace Definition: Definitions for the Clothing & fabric Industry

Lace Factories   Textile List   Fashion Industry News   Fashion   fabric Search  Textiles   Textile Articles

Bobbin lace is a delicate lace that uses wound spools of thread (the bobbins) to weave together the shapes in the lace. The lace is held in place with very fine lace pins while being worked and is made on a lace pillow (a cloth form traditionally stuffed with straw or sawdust).

Pairs of bobbins are twisted or braided to form meshes (also called "ground") or woven to form solid shapes, depending on the type of lace made.

Many styles of lace were made in the heyday of lacemaking (that stretched possibly between the 1500s-1700s) before machine-made lace became available.

The advent of machine lace at first pushed lace-makers into more complicated designs (ones that the machines couldn't handle) and then eventually pushed them out of business almost entirely. The resurgence of lace-making is a recent phenomenon and is mostly confined to a hobby status.

Some well-known types of bobbin lace are:

  • Honiton - A very fine English lace with many flowers
  • Torchon - Well-known for its variety of beautiful grounds
  • Cluny - Flowers, braids and picots make this light and "lacy"
  • Bedfordshire lace (Beds) - this has flowing lines and picots (to foil the machines)
  • Buckinghamshire lace (Bucks) - also very "lacy" with characteristic hexagon ground and often with a gimp thread (a heavier thread worked through for emphasis)
Textile & Clothing definitions and Glossaries.
fabric & Textile Industry Definitions
Embroidery & Embroidery Industry Terms
Sewing Terms & Definitions

Discussion boards are a great place to meet other members of the fashion industry, get advice, and share information.  This forum was created to discuss the topic of this page.  If you have questions, or information to improve this page, please join in the community discussion below.  Please keep the communication on topic and for the purpose of education.
 
comments powered by Disqus
Fashion Industry


Apparel Search   Add Your Company   Contact Us   About Us   Advertise   News Letter   Legal   Help
Copyright © 1999-2023 Apparel Search Company.  All Rights Reserved.