Identifier: dictionaryofnee01caul (find matches)
Title: The dictionary of needlework : an encyclopaedia of artistic, plain, and fancy needlework dealing fully with the details of all the stitches employed, the method of working, the materials used, the meaning of technical terms, and, where necessary, tracing the origin and history of the various works described
Year: 1882 (1880s)
Authors: Caulfeild, S. F. A. (Sophia Frances Anne), 1824-1911 Saward, Blanche C
Subjects: Needlework
Publisher: London : A.W. Cowan
Contributing Library: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Library

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r is so expen-sive, and the work is confined to the pattern formed withthe needle and applique upon bobbin net. The use ofAlencon during the reigns of Louis XIY. and XV. wasuniversal, and it was then at the height of its fame. Theprices given were enormous, and yet every article of attirewas trimmed with it, and such large furniture as bed-hangings, and vallances to cover baths composed of it. the pattern upon separate pieces of parchment, whichnumber, so that no error in the joining occurs. Thesepieces of parchment prick with little holes along the out-lines of the design, and follow the outline with a doubledthread, called Fil de Teace, caught down to the parch-ment at regular intervals, as shown in Fig. 3. The groundmake either with the Bride—thus: Throw a thread acrossa space from one part of the pattern to another, andcover it with a line of Buttonhole stitches worked closetogether—or with the Honeycomb Reseau or AlenconGround, and finish by filling up the pattern either with
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Fig. 3. ALENCON LACE, showing Roseau Ground and Fil de Trace. The lace hangings of the bed at the baptism of the Dukeof York, 1763, cost £3783, and a single toilette 6801 livres.When we consider the time that Alencon took to make, andthe number of hands it passed through, these prices arenot surprising; and we must also take into account thatthe fine Lille thread of which it was composed cost 1800livres the lb. The lace is made as follows: Draw thepattern upon copper, and print it off on to parchment,from the use of which its name Vilain is derived, that wordbeing a corruption of vellum. Place small sections of thick rows of Point de Bruxelles or with Point deGrecque or other open Fillings. In the oldest speci-mens of this lace, these Fillings were all Buttonhole; in themore modern, they were remarkable for their lightnessand beauty, the Alencon workwomen excelling all otherlace makers in these fancy stitches. The Cordonnet, orouter edge, of the lace is always thick, and horsehairis

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