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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Northern Lights Lodge, post: 1961672, member: 13464&quot;]Black lace threads are a bit harder to actually see - as black thread shadows on itself.</p><p><br /></p><p>These pieces are enlarged quite alot.</p><p><br /></p><p>But let&#039;s do a side by side. Here are two similar pieces. The design elements of these two laces; point to being Chantilly lace.</p><p><br /></p><p>Light, open ground; floral design elements utilizing &quot;half stitch&quot;; dots in the netting.</p><p><br /></p><p>These two have like design elements. The straight edge, the open work ground or netting, the outline or cordonnet/gimp, the dots in the netting and the more solid leaf / foliage areas. Compare what you see as the same and different.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]246514[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Machine made on the top of this photo; handmade on the bottom of this photo.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]246516[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Let&#039;s address what is very much the same:</p><p>#1. This openwork stitch in the center of the floral area... almost impossible to tell apart.</p><p><br /></p><p>#2. The dot in the net; again...almost impossible to tell apart without magnification...perhaps the machine dot is a bit more solid.</p><p><br /></p><p>Also #6. The netting; to the naked eye, they are almost impossible to identify without magnification. They look very similar.</p><p><br /></p><p>#3. The footing edge. This is a big clue. The machine example has a rather &quot;undefined&quot; stitch. Where as; the handmade example has a clearly defined thread path. A set of (2) threads departs the netting...works its way through the darker vertical (2) pairs of threads. It then, is exchanged with the outer pair of threads; and the new pair after working again through the double set of vertical threads; waits to be again united with the netting. In a nutshell, you can see the thread path clearly - a zig-zag.</p><p><br /></p><p>#4. Another big clue. The outer scalloped edge of the machine piece is very frayed. That is because it is really a &quot;cut&quot; edge of (lace) fabric. Often that darker cordonnet and picot edge is actually sewn on and over time; is pulled away. In the handmade example, the thread path can be clearly followed again with a pair of threads going around the darker cordonnet or gimp, working the picot and then returning into the body of the work.</p><p><br /></p><p>#5. This is another big clue. These are &quot;suppose&quot; to be the same open stitch known as a &quot;half stitch&quot;. In the handmade example, it has a very light, open, airy, clearly defined look. The threads have quite a diagonal look, in a manner of speaking.</p><p>Now look at the machine made example. It looks almost solid; there is nothing light and airy about it. It looks more horizontal than diagonal. And again; has that &quot;garbled&quot; appearance, rather than a clear thread path.</p><p><br /></p><p>*I might also point out here that one of the beautiful observations in handmade Chantilly (and some additional bobbin laces), is the use of &quot;half stitch&quot;. The way that half stitch operates makes it naturally conducive to shading. A hint of this can be seen in a few of the lower flower petals in the hand made example.</p><p><br /></p><p>I hope you enjoyed this one and learned a few things!</p><p>Leslie[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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