Reticella

Reticella lace

Reticella (or reticello, Italian spelling) is the connecting thread between embroidery (on fabric) and lace (no foundation fabric).

It's origins can be found in cutwork, the removal of certain threads of the ground fabric, leaving holes in the fabric which were neatened on the edges with buttonhole stitch. This drawn work was called Punto tagliato and looked like netting. When the holes left from withdrawing the threads were large enough, fillings were executed. This required the addition of needle threads to provide strength and stability in the form of cross bars.

With the foundation fabric only being used as an outline for the design, the designs were soon using a grid of threads done entirely free of the fabric. This was the first true Punto in Aria. The finished lace was then applied to fabric.

The foundation thread, or Fil de Trace, is couched on stiff backing which has the design printed on it. The threads are couched down over the design smoothly and carefully, and the fillings are worked with a finer thread in buttonhole stitch and Genoa, a form of weaving.

The word reticella was first recorded in 1565. It was done in geometric designs, beginning with a square and later, circles. It's rather coarse in appearance, and larger threads make it easy for the beginner to learn. Named for an Italian city, many different forms of lace received their names from the city in which certain designs were worked.

Many patterns are available today, and designing is relatively easy. The background to this page is one design, found in the book The Needle-Made Lace of Reticella, by Jules and Kaethe Kliot. This book is available from Lacis.

Reticella (also reticello or in French point coupé or point couppe) is a needle lace dating from the 15th century and remaining popular into the first quarter of the 17th century.

Reticella was originally a form of cutwork in which threads were pulled from linen fabric to make a "grid" on which the pattern was stitched, primarily using buttonhole stitch. Later reticella used a grid made of thread rather than a fabric ground. Both methods resulted in a characteristic geometric design of squares and circles with various arched or scalloped borders.

Books of patterns for reticella designed by Federico de Vinciolo (France, 1587) and Cesare Vecellio (Italy, probably from the 1590s but printed 1617) were popular and were frequently reprinted.

Reticella developed into Punto in Aria.

Reticella and Punto in Aria are closely related needlelaces from Italy. The geometric designs are easily recognizable to those who see these laces. Reticellas were made in abundance from the late 1400's to the early 1800's. They start with a fabric from which threads were cut and withdrawn. The remaining threads form a framework upon which additional threads were stitched and woven to form elaborate patterns. The original technique of Reticella marked the transition between fabrics made lacy by cutting out and withdrawing threads, and lac,e made stitch by a stitch without a substructure. The early Reticella work has the threads withdrawn in only one direction. Later work finds threads being drawn-out in both directions. Eventually so many threads were drawn-out that the foundation became very flimsy and lace makers devised a new framework without even bothering to use the original foundation fabric. This was to be known as Punto in Aria, or "In the air". On the threads that remained, needle weaving is done using the buttonhole stitch to form the designs. Most of the designs were worked around the gridwork of squares with diagonal crossings. Early work is very geometric and later wheels were introduced and the characteristic triangles with inside ornaments of great beauty. As finer laces were introduced Reticella Lace's popularity fell into decline but was revived when larger items like tablecloths, were Reticella was often combined with embroidered linen. An arrangement of alternating squares of cut work, embroidery and Reticella were used to create wonderful effects. 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 with then basted together. The pattern was then layed 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. Released from the constraints of the warp and weft design of Reticella, the ground threads could be curved and doubled in any direction the designer chose. The outlines threads were based on to the parchment pattern, usually in pairs. These threads follow the contours of the motif and were couched into position through pricked holes in the parchment. Some of the most popular designs seen in Punto in Aria include human figures, animals, boats, birds, urns, jewels, seaweed, scenes from the Bible, double headed the Eagles, dragons, scrolls and flowers. But the same basic buttonhole stitch was used to cover the outline stitches as in Reticella. Another way of making this lace was done over a frame. These frames are unusual in this country where the fabric foundation is more common due to the freedom of design but when a long edging is needed the frames are very useful. This picture shows a frame for making Punto in Aria. It is very unusual to find one of these frames. You will notice that the stitches on the top show the worked lace, and on the bottom, the work in progress.