Chantilly

This is the lace made at Chantilly, Oise département, north of Paris. Lace was made there from the 17th century, but the silk laces for which Chantilly was famous date from the 18th century. In the 19th century black, white, and blonde (made from silk in its natural colour of beige; see blonde lace) laces were made. By 1840 good machine-made imitations were available; both they and the more expensive handmade kind were fashionable from midcentury, when shawls and even whole mantles of Chantilly were worn with the crinoline. Designs were of naturalistic flowers, ribbons, and the like, often on a spotted background.

Chantilly Features

  • Tüll point ground. This stitch is called point ground in Buckspoint ofr Point d’Alencon in Bayeua lace. C-T-T-T
  • Halfstich used exclusively in motifs C-T
  • Honeycomb stitch for fillings and in less often in motifs. It is the most used decorative stitch. C-T-T pin C-T-T
  • Footside is worked on the left hand side. There are at least 12 ways to make a footside.
  • Picot is a double picot made with 7 twists. There will always be picots along the outside edge of the lace. There is a passive pair to the inside of the picot that gets worked in whole stitch.
  • Gimp is heavy and not spun. Passive pairs are carried along with the gimp in a bundle. Theses pairs are taken in and out of the bundle as needed.

Chantilly Materials

  • Thread
    • Danish Silk 250 unboiled 3 ply, (500m) Traditionally black silk was used but Chantilly was also worked in white.
    • Gimp Danish Silk 120 boiled 6 ply, (250 m) Use the Gimp thread doubled.
  • Pins: Pick a pin that is long and fine.
    • Mechlin (38 x .40) steel, 200 pins
    • (30 x .55mm) 1 1/16″ gold brass, 100 gr.
    • Silk pins
    • Insect Pins
  • Bobbins: Light Thread <=>Light Bobbin. I tried three different bobbins in the class the Mechelen Bobbin, the Duchesse Bobbin, and the Binche Bobbin. They all worked find but I liked the Binche bobbin the best for how it felt to use, how it moved on the pillow and how nicely it went into the bundle holders. You can put lots of these bobbins on the pillow and they don’t take up much room. Start the thread on the bobbin with a hitch or a slip knot. Wind the thread on the bobbin of the bobbin and put a hitch on the top where the wood is bare. Use and extra loop on the hitch or put in some extra twists. The thread is not boiled so is not as slippery as other silk thread.

Chantilly Bibliography

  • Chantilly by Dutch Lace Education Technique and patterns for Chantilly lace.
  • Chantilly in der Mode. 2-volume set in German on Chantilly lace: Historical text by noted European lacemakers & a technical workbook. Copiously illustrated.
  • Schwarzarbeit (Chantilly) by Ulrike Löhr. Modern Chantilly pattern book w/ 33 patterns, technique & history.
  • Motive in Tüll by Ulrike Löhr. Compaires of point ground lace from various regions.
  • JAGD nach Strich und Faden by Ulrike Löhr Mixed pattern book including traditional Mechlin, Chantilly, Point de Paris.

Chantilly Photos

Chantilly Links

  • Picture of Chantilly Lace at Britannica.com
  • Chantilly Lace defined at defined at Britannica.com

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