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Handmade History, Episode 9: A Brief History of Lace
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Handmade History, Episode 9: A Brief History of Lace

Show Notes

This is our very first episode suggested by a listener! Thank you, Emily!

Lace is a huge topic. There is lace everywhere. It’s like tie-dye or nalbinding, only there’s much more information on it because the Victorians were super obsessed with it, which we will talk about later.

So, this is a very brief introduction, and I hope we’ll go down some rabbit holes in future episodes.

Early origins of the word

What is the lace that we are talking about?

Places that are associated with lace include

Pre-1500s

Lace and Spain (extremely briefly)

A lot of European lace came from Italy

However, the earliest lace pattern book we have was actually printed in Zurich, Switzerland, based on Italian designs

1500s and 1600s: a pinnacle of lace in Europe

Foreign lace in other lands

This is an example of the kinds of the foreign/domestic policy that lace drove in Europe in the 1600s.

At this same time, lace was made by many people in many countries

From Europe, colonizers also spread lace to other parts of the world

Goa, India

Portuguese nuns had also brought lace to Sri Lanka in the mid-1500s

Machine lace invented in France in 1820

However, the handmade lace tradition continued

For example, in Belgium:

Victorians and lace

Thank you for listening!

We mentioned San Diego Sewn’s Wrap LA in Love quilt project. You can find it here: https://sandiegosewn.com/blogs/san-diego-sewn-sharing-the-experience/wrap-la-in-love

And send any lap-sized or larger quilt, new or gently used, to a family who has lost their home in the fires.

Email us at handmadehistoryhosts@gmail.com - we’d love to hear your suggestions!

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Sources:

https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/isabellas-lace

https://www.laceguild.org/a-brief-history-of-lace

https://www.gardnermuseum.org/experience/collection/13696

https://www.oed.com/dictionary/lace_n?tab=factsheet

https://archive.org/details/NewModelbook1561

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lappet#/media/File:Framptons.jpg

https://www.jstor.org/stable/25136406

https://www.craftsy.com/post/how-to-filet-crochet/

https://elinorofkentdale.wordpress.com/filet-lace-tutorial/

https://www.jstor.org/stable/26405466

https://www.jstor.org/stable/25586125

https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1890?amount=1200

https://www.sfomuseum.org/exhibitions/lace-sumptuous-history/gallery#1

https://parker.stanford.edu/parker/catalog/zh635rv2202

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/singapore-sarong-kebaya-and-style-peranakan-fashion-national-heritage-board-singapore/6AVxGAwa3F7DJA?hl=en

https://asiainch.org/craft/lace-work/

https://www.indiainch.org/craft/lace-and-crochet-embroidery-of-goa/

https://lacesouthamerica.commons.bgc.bard.edu/

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/lace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ofq_nGwLTD8

https://lacemakersproject.com/patron-saints-of-lacemaking/#:~:text=In%20her%201875%20book%20History,Day%2C%20the%2025th%20November%2C%20as

https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw02074/Queen-Elizabeth-I

Book: The Golden Thread by Kassia St. Clair (affiliate link: we get a small commission if you purchase at this link at no cost to you)

Also, Alicia got the book Echoes by Susan Crawford for Christmas this year. The pattern she mentioned is actually called Agatha, not Marple!