Embroidered net lace is a needle lace form, which developed in Europe from about the fourteenth century onwards. There are two main forms of embroidered net lace, depending on the type of net being used, namely a hand knotted net ground (filet), or a machine made net ground (tulle or bobbinet), both with a stitched design.

Needlepoint lace is a needle lace form of lace, whereby a ground material is no longer an essential part of the finished product or indeed it is completely absent. Needlepoint lace can be described as a single-thread technique using embroidery stitches. In general, the main stitch used for needlepoint lace is buttonhole stitch. The basic techniques of needlepoint lace, roughly following its development, can be distinguished as follows: 

Floss silk are the filaments from the soft, internal covering of a silkworm cocoon, and in particular from the places where the cocoon is not damaged by the caterpillar. Floss silk is normally classed as a continuous filament. The silk is unravelled off the cocoon, dyed and then made into hanks.

The mahmal is an embroidered palanquin (a form of travelling tent), specifically associated with the (symbolic) transport of the kiswa, the covering of the Ka`aba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. A mahmal in its more general meaning was a covered construction perched on the back of an animal, usually a camel, and used to carry people, especially noble ladies and brides, who required a degree of privacy.

The decorated Ka'aba key bag is used to hold the key to the Ka`aba, a sacred Islamic building in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. 

For centuries, lined and graph paper charts have been domestically and commercially available for creating counted thread embroidery designs, especially in cross stitch and tent stitch. Until the middle of the nineteenth century, coloured charts in Europe and America had to be hand painted in order to indicate the correct colours. Later in the century, machine printed charts became available.

Appliqué net lace production involves the gluing or stitching down of pre-made motifs (slips) onto a background made of net. It became popular in the eighteenth century. Early examples of appliqué net lace are made with handmade net, while later ones tend to use machine made net.

Dacron is an American trademark for polyester, a type of synthetic fibre. It was first marketed in the USA in 1951. By the beginning of the twenty-first century the trademark was used for a variety of polyester fibres and products, including an artificial sinew thread that is basically a waxed, polyester yarn.

Goldwork templates are made out of card, felt, leather, parchment or something similar. They are used at professional workshops and by embroiderers that produce goldwork

Page 170 of 202