Filet lace

<h2 id="history">History</h2>

<p>Filet lace is a form of decorative <a href="/facts/Net_(textile)/a627DIvT">netting</a> and as such can be presumed to have derived at some point from the <a href="/facts/Fishing_net/5bvae5A3">fishnet</a> that a community would require for fishing, hunting, transporting, etc. and not necessarily because they were living close to the water.
</p><p>The Latin word <i>filatorium</i> is used to describe filet lace. Jourdain (1904) quotes a reference to <a href="/facts/Exeter_Cathedral/J6CpqoHc">Exeter Cathedral</a> possessing four pieces of filet lace in 1327. The Latin word filatorium place for spinning, from <i>filare</i> ('to spin'), from Latin <i>filum</i> (thread - noun).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> Ingram (1922) states that there was a "cushion of net-work in <a href="/facts/St._Paul%2527s_Cathedral/e51m9gYD">St. Paul's Cathedral</a> so [<i><a href="/facts/Sic/qB9MUUWF">sic</a></i>] early as 1295." Such work, in the 14th century, was also described as "<i>opus araneum</i>".<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a>
</p><p>Filet-work is the result of knotting a fabric of diagonal or square meshes to create an open fabric called lace. The tool to make a knotted net lace is a shuttle-needle and a gauge stick for measure of the meshes.
</p>
<h2 id="technique">Technique</h2>

<p>As mentioned above, filet lace is often created by doing embroidery stitches on a knotted net lace. The knotted ground lace can either be made by the lacemaker or purchased commercially in either handmade or machine-made varieties.
</p><p>Making the net by hand with a shuttle needle and a gauge involves anchoring the piece, using either a heavy cushion,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> a chair, or a stirrup around the worker's foot. Having a secure anchor against which to maintain tension, a square net is made starting from one corner and adding a new mesh on each row until the desired size is reached, then by decreasing. The individual meshes are formed on a gauge which helps ensure a uniform size and are created by knotting to a loop in the previous round: square mesh, diagonal mesh, circular, free form. By using a very fine thread and different sizes of gauge one can create complex and delicate lace work.
</p><p>The knotted lace is then stretched on a frame and embroidery stitches are added using a long blunt needle and a thread. Patterns are designed on a grid with a mark for the meshes to be filled with the thread. A path (or direction) is traced on this pattern and then you follow this path with the needle on the ground lace. 
</p><p>When a group of certain stitches are used, the technique takes a name; examples of this include filet Guipure, filet Richelieu, filet Soutache, linen stitch (<i>point de toile</i>), and <a href="/facts/Darning/p1AeSlfI">darning stitch</a> (<i>point de reprise</i>). There are also regional variants, such as filet di Bosa, filet Italien, filet de Gruyère, and Russian filet Guipure.
</p><p>Many designs involve weaving the main design in linen stitch, indeed some designs consist entirely of linen stitch. This creates solid and open areas on the piece. A geometrical design or a sampler can use several different stitches, when a figural design will use very few stitches or only the linen stitch.
</p><p>Filet lace is often seen in a single color of thread, usually white or <a href="/facts/Ecru_(color)/A0QPdUc5">ecru</a>, but countries all over the world have used colored thread, precious metal threads, wool, feathers, and other materials.
</p>
<h2 id="footnotes">Footnotes</h2>

<h3>Citations</h3>

<h3>Sources</h3>
<ul><li>Quinault, Marie-Jo (2003). <i>Filet Lace: Introduction to the Linen Stitch</i> Victoria, BC: Trafford. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 1-4120-1549-9 is a book with patterns to learn the embroidery on a knotted net</li>
<li>Carità (1909). <i>Lacis</i>. Sampson Low, Marston & Co.</li>
<li>Th. de Dillmont (1923). <i>Filet-Guipure</i>. Mulhouse (Frankreich)</li>
<li>Jourdain, M (1904). "Drawn Thread Work and Lacis". <i>The Connoisseur</i>. 10: 235–237.</li>
<li>Ingram, Caroline Patience (1922). "'Point Compté' or Lace Netting". <i>The Connoisseur</i>. 62: 92–94.</li>
<li>Vinciolo, Federico (1587). <i>Les Singuliers et Nouveaux Pourtaicts</i></li></ul>
<h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2>
<ul><li>The book <i>Renaissance Patterns for Lace, Embroidery and Needlepoint</i>, an unabridged facsimile of the <i>Singuliers et nouveaux pourtraicts</i> of 1587 by <a href="/facts/Federico_de_Vinciolo/MCguF1BS">Federico de Vinciolo</a>, contains approximately 50 patterns which are suitable for filet lace-embroidery on knotted net using the linen stitch.</li></ul>
<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Filet lace.

<ul><li></li>
<li><a href="http://www.filetlace.net">"Filet Lace by the Sea -- Supplies for Embroidery on a Filet Lace Net: Instruction, Patterns, Filet Nets, etc"</a>. Retrieved February 12, 2007.</li>
<li>Quinault, Marie-Jo (2003). <a href="http://www.filetlace.net"><i>Instruction Book to Learn -- "Filet Lace, Introduction to the Linen Stitch" -- Item No. FL01</i></a>. Trafford. <a href="/facts/ISBN_(identifier)/15AdSPa9">ISBN</a> 141201549-9. Retrieved August 8, 2014.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.filetlace.net">"Starting Kit -- Complete kit with all the material, supply & accessories you need to learn and produce completely finished & functional pieces you'll be proud to show -- Item No. FL104"</a>. Retrieved August 8, 2014.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.museocaprai.it/en/tecnica_Filet.htm">Filet Lace – Virtual Museum of Textile Arts</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books/dmc_guip_1.pdf">"Filet-Guipure (Part 1)"</a> (PDF). <i>Filet-Guipure [Filet Lace], Th de Dillmont, 1923</i>. Retrieved June 2, 2005.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books/dmc_guip_2.pdf">"Filet-Guipure (Part 2)"</a> (PDF). <i>Filet-Guipure [Filet Lace], Th de Dillmont, 1923</i>. Retrieved June 2, 2005.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/books/vfv_lace.pdf">"Vinciolo"</a> (PDF). <i>I Singolari e Nuovi Disegni 1606 (1909 facsimile)</i>. Retrieved June 2, 2005.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.cs.arizona.edu/patterns/weaving/lace.html">"Digital Archive of Documents Related to Lace"</a>. <i>University of Arizona</i>. Retrieved June 13, 2005.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.wanderingitaly.com/video/bosa-filet-lace.html">"Giovanna Ledda: Making Bosa Filet Lace at 92""</a>. <i>Wandering Italy</i>. Retrieved December 27, 2024.</li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Gwynne, Judyth L. (1997). The illustrated dictionary of lace (1. publ ed.). London: Batsford. ISBN 978-0-7134-7821-1. <a href="978-0-7134-7821-1" target="_blank">978-0-7134-7821-1</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>See Latin filatory. <a href="/w/index.php?title=Filatory&action=edit&redlink=1" target="_blank">/w/index.php?title=Filatory&action=edit&redlink=1</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"Filet lace (lace)". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved February 11, 2013. <a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/206829/filet-lace" target="_blank">http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/206829/filet-lace</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Carità (1909) recommends the cushion be made of lead; however, this should be replaced by sand or a C clip. <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Filet lace open-in-new

Filet lace