Hi Vicki et al., The very fine thread in the late 17th and early 18th C was all handspun linen, made from flax from cultivars that produced very fine and long fibers. These cultivars were completely destroyed during the French revolution, so very fine thread could not be produced again until fine cotton thread from better spinning technology and the import of long-staple cotton.
I don't have a reference for these assertions right now (I'm sitting in the Archaeology Museum in Heraklion, Crete, so rather far from my library :-D), but I think the info is in Pat Earnshaw's book (do I remember correctly that there's one specifically on thread?) Nancy On Tue, Nov 1, 2022, 12:56 Vicki Bradford <[email protected]> wrote: > ... As a spinner as well as a lacemaker, it also struck me that as fine as > the threads were, they were also most likely at least two-ply, thus making > the observation even more amazing. As far as I can find, the first machine > spinning originated with the invention of the Spinning Jenny in around > 1765, but some information suggests that the thread produced from these > machines was coarse and not strong. In any case, earlier laces would then > most likely have used handspun thread? ... > > - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
