Lace - reticella

The evolution of artistic laces can be traced down to the Renaissance fashion of emphasizing the beauty of the body. Needle lace grew out of the open-worked laces, by removing more and more of the perpendicular threads of the textile and connecting the created free areas with buttonhole stitch. These lace patterns strictly followed the perpendicular axis, filling the remaining base after the removal of the threads. Later the matrix was completely omitted and the basic thread was stretched using the thread of the lace itself. This completely flexible basic thread gave wider opportunities for the free application of the patterns. The simpler geometric forms were gradually superseded by the freer tendrils, the diverse floral and leaf patterns and the animal and human figures. To fill out the new patterns, more and more diverse lace stitches were applied.