Needle lace is made using only a needle and thread: You make the lace from scratch without a fabric base. There are different types of needle lace. In this video tutorial I’ll show you to make flat Venetian point lace.
I’m making this Venetian needle lace motif for my hand-embroidered Edwardian mixed lace blouse.
Venetian Needle Lace
What Is Needle Lace?
Needle lace – aka point lace or needlepoint lace, is lace made only with a needle and thread. Even though the name is similar, “needlepoint lace” should not to be confused with “needlepoint” which is a type of embroidery.
Unlike lace-like cutwork and other whitework embroidery, needle lace is considered “real lace” – not embroidery – because it’s made with only a needle and thread without a fabric base.
Related: 50 Historical Types Of Whitework Embroidery & Needle Lace
What Is Venetian Needle Lace?
Venetian lace – aka Venetian point or Punto di Venezia – is a beautiful floral needle lace. It evolved from Punto in aria – the first real needle lace. Venetian lace is similar to other types of needle-point lace such as Brussels point lace: Venetian lace, however, has a greater variety of lace filling stitches and openwork than Brussels point lace according to Thérèse de Dillmont.
Even though Venetian needle lace is a very old form of lace from the 1600s, it remained popular through the ages until today. In this tutorial, I focus on Venetian needle lace in the Victorian and Edwardian era.
Raised Vs. Flat Venetian Needle Lace
Venetian needle lace can be worked raised or flat. For raised Venetian needle lace, the motifs are worked over filling threads creating a 3D effect. Raised Venetian lace is also known as Gros point de Venise, raised Venetian point and punto tagliato a foliami. Spanish point or point d’Espagne is an imitation of raised Venetian point.
Flat Venetian needle lace, on the other hand is worked flat without filling threads. Flat Venetian lace is also known as Point plat de Venise or flat Venetian point.
Varieties Of Venetian Needle Lace
And there are also other varieties of Venetian needle lace, such as rose point or coraline point. Rose point lace is a very delicate, ornamental variation of raised Venetian point. The picots of rose point are more like rosettes unlike the plainer picots of traditional Venetian point.
Coraline point is another, more natural variation of Venetian point with smaller motifs and more visible net ground.
Materials For Venetian Needle Lace
The materials you’ll need for Venetian needle lace are:
- cotton thread or linen thread *
- sewing thread
- needle
- a piece of strong paper
- pencil
- scissors
* Older forms of Venetian needle lace were made with linen thread. In the Victorian and Edwardian era, linen thread was still used for Venetian lace because linen thread is stronger than cotton thread. However, in the 1900s, non-mercerized (matte) and mercerized (shiny) cotton embroidery thread was also used to make Venetian needle lace.
‘Very twisted cotton or flax threads should be used for making needle-made laces and with none but a very evenly twisted thread it is possible to make really fine lace’ (Needle-Made Laces, 1890).
Related: How To Make Edwardian Net Applique
Stitches Used For Venetian Needle Lace
The basic stitches of needle lace are open and close buttonhole stitches. But with just these simple stitches, an incredible variety of lace filling stitches can be made. You can find various lace stitches that you can use to fill the motifs of Venetian lace between page 442 and page 467 in the “Encyclopedia Of Needlework” from 1890. And there are more lace filling stitches in “The Priscilla Battenberg And Point Lace Book” from 1912.
‘The different lace stitches […] consist of button-hole stitches set more or less closely together; by grouping them together in different ways a great variety of patterns can be obtained. […] open-work stitches are suitable for wide figures and close stitches for narrow ones.’ (Needle-Made Laces, 1890)
For my flat Venetian needle lace medallion, I used the following lace stitches:
- close buttonhole stitch over a stretched thread (Venetian stitch, line stitch, nineteenth lace stitch)
- double net stitch (point de Sorrento)
- point de Venise stitch (combination of double net & side stitch, thirteenth lace stitch)
- Spanish point stitch (twenty-third lace stitch)
- Greek net stitch (twenty-ninth lace stitch)
- pea stitch (one of the Brussels point stitches, Brussels net stitch, eighth lace stitch)
- diamond stitch (point de Valenciennes, Valenciennes stitch)
- cones
- buttonhole rings
- scrolls with buttonhole picots
- buttonhole bars with lace picots (dotted point de Venise bars, dotted Venetian bars)
- groundwork with Raleigh bars
How To Make Venetian Needle Lace
To make Venetian needle lace, baste thread to a piece of paper along the outline of the motifs. Then fill the areas of the skeleton pattern with various needle point stitches. Then connect the motifs with bars and picots. And then remove the finished needle lace from the paper and insert the Venetian lace into a piece of fabric.
Draw The Pattern
Draw a pattern on a piece of strong paper with a pencil. Just draw the outlines of the motifs. It’s best to draw the outline in a continuous line instead of single, unconnected motifs. Popular motifs of Venetian point lace are flowers, leaves and scrolls.
Prick The Paper Along The Motifs
Prick the paper along the outline with a needle. Space the holes evenly. Don’t make the holes too close together to avoid tearing the paper. But also don’t make the holes too far apart so that the motifs aren’t clearly visible.
‘Prick holes all along the lines of the pattern, at exactly the same distance from each other’ (Encyclopedia Of Needlework, 1890).
Outline The Motifs With Thread
Baste two or three strands of embroidery thread along the outlines. Come out of one of the pricked holes, couch the outlining thread down with the basting thread and go down the same hole again. Outline the motifs in a long continuous line without cutting the thread in between. I used three strands around the edges and two strands to outline the inside motifs. The more strands you use, the more raised the effect will be.
You can use same colored or contrast colored sewing thread to baste the embroidery thread to the paper. Contrast colored thread makes it easier to see which threads to snip later. Same colored thread, on the other hand, is less noticeable if some bits of the basting threads are caught in the embroidery. Use what you prefer.
‘The tracing is done with a thread of medium thickness, which is secured at each hole by an overcasting stitch made with a fine thread. […] The tracing of the principal lines is generally done with a double thread’ (Encyclopedia Of Needlework, 1890).
Fill The Motifs With Lace Stitches
Now fill all the motifs with different lace stitches. You can find various lace stitches from the Victorian and Edwardian era in the “Encyclopedia Of Needlework” and in “The Priscilla Battenberg And Point Lace Book”. Close buttonhole stitches worked over a stretched thread is the most popular stitch of antique Venetian needle lace. But a variety of lace stitches were used. Some of the most popular lace stitches of antique Venetian needle lace were single and double net stitch, pea stitch and diamond stitch.
‘The first row of stitches has always to be made over the threads of the tracing.’ (Needle-Made Laces, 1890)
‘Flowers look best worked in an open or lattice stitch, leaves on the other hand in a thick close stitch.’ (Encyclopedia Of Needlework, 1890)
Groundwork: Connect The Motifs With Bars And Picots
After filling all the motifs with lace stitches, connect the motifs with bars. This is called groundwork. The bars of Venetian lace are usually embellished with picots.
‘After finishing all the lace stitches you make the bars that connect the motives […] experienced workers can easily work them with a free hand on the pattern by carrying the thread two or three times across the vacant space and passing it through the outlines of the motives […]
for the coarse Venetian point closely overcast bars should be used […] in very fine Venetian point the bars are also worked in button-hole bars in a single row. […] For laces of a certain richness, you ornament the bars with picots in the shape of scallops, semi-circles and rings’ (Needle-Made Laces, 1890).
I made a groundwork of Raleigh bars:
‘Raleigh bars are worked over a foundation or network of coarse thread, twisted in places so as to more easily fall into the desired form.’ (Madame Goubaud’s Point Lace Book, 1877)
I also made dotted Venetian bars. Dotted Venetian bars are buttonholed bars with lace picots.
‘Dotted Venetian Bars are worked like the Venetian Bars, but after every fifth or sixth stitch, leave one loose, and upon it work three or four button-hole stitches. These dotted Bars form the richest groundwork for Point Lace generally.’ (The Handbook Of Point Lace, 1870)
‘Dotted point de Venise bars are worked as follow: Stretch the thread from right to left, on this work five tight stitches of point de Bruxelles, then insert a pin in this last stitch to hold it open and loose, pass the needle under the loose stitch and over the thread […] and in this loop work three tight point de Bruxelles stitches. Then work five more stitches.’ (Madame Goubaud’s Point Lace Book, 1877)
By the way, point de Bruxelles stitch – aka Brussels lace stitch or single net stitch – is a buttonhole stitch.
And instead of a pin, you can also use an auxiliary thread to make the picots. I found the auxiliary thread easier to use than a needle.
‘To make the little picots […] you carry – at the desired point – the needle over a double auxiliary thread, held fast by the thumb of the left hand, bring the thread back over the bar and pass it once again through the loop of the auxiliary thread. This triple thread must be only just long enough to be covered by the three or four button-hole stitches that form the picot. When the bar is finished you remove the auxiliary thread.’ (Needle-Made Laces, 1890)
Buttonhole The Outlines & Edges
After connecting all motifs with bars, work buttonhole stitches around each motif and around the edge of the whole piece of needle lace.
‘When all the insides are done, the edges and outlines have to be closely buttonholed.’ (Encyclopedia Of Needlework, 1890)
‘To make all the details of a design stand out well and to give more precision to the edges of the motives the outlines are generally worked over with button-hole stitches.’ (Needle-Made Laces, 1890)
For raised Venetian needle lace, work the buttonhole stitches over 2 to 6 strands of padding threads. For flat Venetian needle lace, work the buttonhole stitches along the outlines without padding threads.
Remove The Needle Lace
Now it’s time to remove the needle lace from the paper. To remove the lace from the paper, snip the basting threads at the wrong side of the paper. And carefully roll the lace away from the paper. Use tweezers to remove the bits of basting thread that may be stuck in the needle lace.
‘The ends of thread that remain in the work are then removed with a pair of small pincers.’ (Needle-Made Laces, 1890)
Insert Needle Lace Motifs Into Fabric
‘The outside threads of the tracing are only embroidered over with overcasting stitches set wide apart […]
begin by marking out the desired place in the stuff with little running stitches, after which you remove the stuff taking into account what is necessary for the turning in which you tack down lightly on the wrong side of the stuff.
You then baste the lace motive into the empty space with big stitches and fix it to the edges of the stuff with button-hole or overcasting stitches. These stitches must be carried over the outside threads of the tracing and penetrate rather far into the edge of the stuff so as to have a firm hold once the stuff that projects beyond the turning-in is removed.’ (Needle-Made Laces, 1890)
Needle Lace FAQs & Troubleshooting
My Outline Thread Is Too Short
If you notice along the way, that your outline thread is too short, you can simply join a new thread. To join new strands of outline thread, baste over both – the old and the new outline threads – together for a short distance. The join along the outline will later be covered with close buttonhole stitches which strengthen the join.
How To Hide The Tails Of The Outline Thread
To hide the beginning and end tails of the outline thread, overlap the tails along the outline, just like when your outline thread is too short. Then baste over the tails together for a short distance along the outline.
My Basting Thread Is Too Short
If your basting thread is too short, you can simply tie a new basting thread to the old one. Or you can also leave long tails of the old and new basting thread hanging on the back of the paper. Then continue with the new basting thread.
How To Keep The Lace Clean As You Work
‘In order to keep your work perfectly clean and preserve it from unnecessary contact with your fingers, cover all those parts of the pattern you are not immediately engaged on, with a piece of blue paper with a hole, about the size of a pea, cut in it. This you move along as you go, working only at the part of the pattern which is visible through the hole, keeping all the rest carefully covered up’ (Encyclopedia Of Needlework, 1890).
Use The Needle With The Point Or Eye First
‘In working all the finer lace stitches, the needle should be held with the eye towards the worker and the point turned outwards.’ (Encyclopedia Of Needlework, 1890)
How To Begin & End The Embroidery Thread
In Venetian needle lace, you begin and end the embroidery thread and hide the tails like in other types of whitework embroidery, such as broderie anglaise. Simply work over the tails of the embroidery thread: This hides the tails and secures the thread in place.
Related: How To Make Broderie Anglaise Lace By Hand
‘All the different lace stitches that are used as fillings must be begun and fastened off at the outline threads’ (Encyclopedia Of Needlework, 1890). ‘When you have finished a row of stitches you slip your thread one or more times round the tracing threads and fasten the last row of stitches to the tracing threads by means of overcasting stitches. As you work all the threads should be fastened off in the tracing so that no one can see where they are fastened off because the tracing is generally embroidered over.’ (Needle-Made Laces, 1890)
How To Mend Needle Lace
One of the best things about needle lace is that it’s usually a very strong lace. And even if it becomes necessary to mend the needle lace, it’s easy to mend. You can baste the lace to a piece of paper, replace broken threads of the groundwork and fill damaged areas with new lace stitches.
‘It is possible to mend lace almost as effectively as embroidery.’ Baste the damaged needle lace to a piece of paper. ‘Follow out the principal points with a soft pencil. […] The lines and spaces […] are now sewn over with cotton, the stitches being taken quite loosely […] The pattern is again worked over with a sort of darning stitch […] Lace of a very large and decided design can sometimes be better repaired if the principal pieces, such as flowers and leaf are made separately.’ (Every Woman’s Encyclopaedia, 1910-2)
Related: 50 Tips On How To Darn & Mend Your Clothes – Historical Sewing
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