Punto in Aria is an early form of Needle lace

Needle lace

Needle lace is a type of lace created using a needle and thread to stitch up hundreds of small stitches to form the lace itself....

, devised in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It is considered the first true lace because it was the first meant to be stitched alone, and not first onto a woven fabric.

It is a closely related needle lace to Reticella

Reticella

Reticella is a needle lace dating from the 15th century and remaining popular into the first quarter of the 17th century....

, and their designs have many similarities when compared side-by-side. However, the Punto in Aria was an important improvement on the Reticella method, and was a breakthrough in needle lace design

History

The Reticella was the design that was the catalyst of the transition between fabrics made into lace by subtracting threads after needling, and lace made from scratch without fabric support. The Reticella design required one to draw out threads after stitching onto fabric. As that design evolved, an increasing number of threads required withdrawing. Eventually, so many threads were drawn-out that the foundation became very flimsy and lace makers devised a new framework that did not require original foundation fabric. This was to be known as Punto in Aria.

Design

Punto in Aria retains many of the characteristics of Reticella but also is able to go beyond the geometric framework. The lace makers devised a linen and parchment base for their work. This base consisted of two or three layers of fabric with the parchment pattern on top. The layers were then basted together. The pattern was then lain over with a gimp which was basted down through the pattern and layers of support fabric. When the lace was finished, the basting stitches were cut between the layers thus leaving only the Lace.

External links

• Punto in Aria - Virtual Museum of Textile Arts