Lace--what is called 'real lace' is a kind of non-loom weaving or twisting.. a braid (3 strands) is a simple twist.
i am sure you have seen those 'handy pocket sewing kits' that have a 'braid' a flat 'woven type' ribbon, where the weave is at cross hatches--and each strand of the braid is a lenght of sewing thread-- that's an other sort of braid..
real lace is made on a 'pillow'- with many strands of thread, (100 to 300 is not uncommon!) that are hand woven, (braided/twisted) into place. its called 'pillow lace'.. because the strands are temporarily held in place with straight pins, so the lace is made on a oversized pin cushion or pillow. It takes hours, and lots of skill-and unlike the ribbon of sewing thread, some of the threads are double or triple twisted, to lock them in place.
crocheted and knit lace are techniques that are much simpler, that imitate pillow lace. (and crochet does it better, generally speaking.)Both are much, much faster!
tatting (which in actuality is the same stuff as fish netting!) is an other technique for imitating lace. it has some limits, but it make very interesting 'lace' all the same.
sumptuary laws regualated just who could and could not wear lace (and even those who could had to pay a heavy tax on lace) but like drug laws that are often very narrow, (which is why in late 1980's and 1990's there were spurts of 'designer' drugs-- chemicals that had a similar effect to a known drug, but were slightly chemically different, and so 'technically' not illegal,) the nuevo riche, and undeserving rich(as the law thought of them) figured out ways to have 'lace' that technically, legally wasn't 'lace'.
now days, most lace is made by machine, and since, often the machines 'braid/twist' the hundreds of strands, identially to how a human would do it, it's really made the same as Pillow lace--just hundreds of times faster! Hand made lace can still be found, and it still costs a kings ransom.
there are sevearl other techniques for lace making, (battenburg lace (made by embroidering narrow ribbons together) eyelet (embroidered fabric, that is cut and peirced to create lace like open work) cut work, (similar to eyelet, but larger openings,) 'drawn thread work' (plain woven fabric is partially unwoven, and strands are embroidered to create a lace like effect (this last one is very geometric) ... sumptuarly laws, and 'bon fires of vanities' were not much more successful than the current war on drugs, in curbing peoples desire for decorative clothing.
sampler
