Choosing Lace for SCA Garb (1500-1600)

How to learn to distinguish types of lace:

• Look at lots of pictures of lace from your period, pay special attention to obvious distinguishing features. What makes this different from what you normally think of as "lace"? Where and how is it worn - on cuffs, collars, ruffs, edgings etc, or is this only seen on tablecloths?

• Look at photos of surviving pieces in museums, learn to distinguish bobbin from needle laces. Looking very closely at the photos you will be able to see how the threads run many threads woven together is characteristic of bobbin lace, solid areas appear to be woven. Needle lace is made with only one thread looped over itself in variations of the buttonhole stitch. Solid areas appear to be knit.

• Learn to make the stuff - you will soon find yourself able to recognize period lace from across a crowded room.

Things to avoid

• Mesh grounds, especially hexagons - this is a light delicate net with flowers and stuff worked in and maybe heavier threads outlining the motifs. also gentle wide scallops, these are charateristic of 18th century lace, it is what most people think of as "lace" and it is completely out of period.
• naturalistic looking flowers - period flowers in lace look more stylized than they do in later laces. they resemble architecture more than they do embroidery.
• Obviously polyester or nylong threads ("I'm Plastic!!!" they cry). Choose threads that look like natural fibers or real metal. The most common materials where white linen, gold and/or silver metal, white, black or colored silk. Sometimes 2 or more colers were used. Cotton is just fine, but should be starched.

Types of modern laces that copy period laces are:

• Handmade - I have seen some amazing lace from China that is even affordable (really!). Ask for Cluny, Le Puy, or Torchon style laces if anyone in the shop knows what they are. These are modern names invented in during the Victorian craft revival for 16th century style bobbin laces.
• Levers lace - this is the best of the machine made bobbin laces, the machine mimics the motions of the lacemakers hands. It's repetoire is somewhat limited, but within that scope it can take an expert to distinguish it from handmade. It is especially suited to Torchon and Le Puy laces.
• Chemical lace - this is an imitation needle lace made by embroidering cotton or polyester on a fine silk ground. The silk is then burned away in lye leaving the embroidery as freestanding lace. Sometimes you can find chemical laces inspired by period patterns.