Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-03-22
LACE MAKING IN NEW YORK.
An Order for Gen. Grants New House.
Some Rare Pieces of Lace
Owned Here.

LACE MAKING IN NEW YORK.
Some Rare Pieces of Lace
| Owned Here.
From the N. Y. SUM-
| In little third-story room on Broadway a
woman sat making some coarse lace about six
| inches broad From the pillow on which her
pattern was pinned hung large roll containing
many yards.
THAT is an order for Cen Grants new house.-
said she. .'We are just Introducing copies of old
! lace for trimming house furnishings. That is
is genuine point applique"
That seems to be coarse lace Is not real
point lace made with a needle, and is it not fine
work ~
mo; very few Of the modern points are all
needle work. The Brussels points all have
some machine work. This lace costs SIS yard
GU see we use some of this lace tape for filling
In the patterns. but il is the same design as this
OF which every stitch is needle work." added
the lace worker taking pattern from another
worker I'VE are making one yard of that lace
and when it is done We shall get $50 for it, 1t
Is Is, TO match fiounce. This is a very old lace.
| Inc owner wants to wear it upon a ball dress
very soon, but has not enough to trim the dress
We'll. and has given us this order. When it is
done 1t will be an exact copy of the old lace"
| But the new lace does not have the worn
yellow look Of the other?'
"A little coffee and saffron will make it look
200 years old. and it will have a worn look, too
when it is done. 1t is to be darned in where
you see those half finished figures so as olook
original fiounce"
as much point lace made I'm New York;"
"A good many small pieces If lady needs
several yards she does not often care to pay the
large price reproductions cost. She buys some
OF the new. comparatively cheap. half machine
made points, or waits until she can find genuine
old lace. Since lace collecting and lace albums
| have become fashionable there is very little
| Old lace in the market. The large stores don't
l nrAf npd 1AoI In, old
sales where ladies well-known in society dis
posed OF their laces to friends. / do not know
OF any genuine old lace sold recently in New
| York.
| % Are there any good lace makers here?"
! There are about twenty French and Belgian
women who pretend to make lace, but in real
lty they only mend and clean it. We employ four
women who do very fine work One learned her
stitches when she was six years old. from her
mother, who was employed all her life at Allen
con. Another does fine cushion work-Valen-
clennes. Mechn or any kind of spool or bobbin
lace. Then we have an English woman who
learned her trade on HOnitOn, and the
other is needle point worker. There is con-
| slant work for good lace women in joining lace
and changing it into fashionable articles. For
instance, etake point lace cape and some
flounces and put it together into an over
skirt. SO that when worn the joining cannot
| be distinguished. Ladies frequently bring
in pieces of lace that have been cut
| up by some dressmaker One of our
women joins it, filling in the pattern that is gone
| so that the seam is not seen. We copy many old
laces for children's collars and cuffs This set
OF Greek lace is going to California as soon as it
is finished 1t is for "a miss l2 years old. and we
| charge so for the set. You see there is a great
deal of fine work there. The cuffs reach to the
elbow. and the collar is almost as deep as cape
Another narrow collar. not yet finished, will fall
over this ribbon which is to tie the collar and
| fall in long bow and ends in front. n is copy
| from bit of old lace. and the pattern is a very
choice one. 1t hardly shows that any of the
figures are separate work. We can make up
in some of the charity schools are very good lit
| tie lace workers. They make leaves and flowers
that contain but one or two kinds of stitches. and
| experienced workers put them into the design
with needle or twisted work"
| sis that collar Of the fashionable shape?"
I'm these fine collars no two people want the
! same thing. If they want something that is
generally worn. they 60 to the stores and buy it
ready made The person who ordered this
! brought in an old book with engrayings and
| asked if could copy collar from it,
| us there enough old lace in New York to
keep many lace workers employed upon it?'
1.-The trouble is not that people have not real
| iaces, but they don't wear them. Few people
| of money invested in laces. Mrs. Cyrus Field
has point lace dress worth many thousand dol
lars. Now know of as many as a hundred
choice pieces of point de F,aise in this city which
you know, is the oldest of all the point laces.
Mrs. John Jacob Aston once lent to an exhibi-
| ton for a charitable purpose six pieces of sew
| enteenth century point de Tenise. besides
| beautiful specimens of point fArgentin, point
coupe French point and point de Genes,
she has some lovely pieces of Louis
XIV. Malines laces and seventeenth CEN
tury English point. Mrs. s. L. NJ. Barlow
has large quantity Of beautiful old lace. Mrs.
Hamilton Fish and Mrs. Jay have Venetian
point flounces. 1t is the lace with some history
rod with hot
the most Of Mrs. Frederic Stevens has two
pieces OF lace made for Marie Antoinette by the
republic OF Venice. Mrs. August Belmont has
| great deal of handsome lace, several pieces of
rose point, and an old chalice veil of raised
Venetian point that is about 800 years old
Light, fmsy laces are so much worn now that
many ladies have old lace we never hear Of l
went to wealthy lady's house not long ago to
see about some work. 1t was about six O'Clock.
and she was in dinner dress. She wore velvet
brocade-the costume must have cost several
| hundred dOllars-and in the neck and sleeves
| of the dress was lace that never cost over sixty
cents yard Her appearance wasn't fine in
| lace workers eyes. But some of the modern
| lace is as fine and handsome as the antique
| and better adapted to full ruffies. We do not
regret the taste for the light, fluffy laces. They
wear out quickly, and people spend more in
| the end than if they bought the strOng-fbred
| old laces. But the taste for fine lace work is
not increasing. Half the ladies who spend
| large sums of money in dress only care for
something light and white around the neck
| and wrists, and il their maids put in something
| clean they give it no further notice.
Now and then you hear of fashionable
woman who has fine taste about lace, indie
pendent of fashion. remember an old custo-
| mer Of ours had. beautiful first ball dress
made for her daughter which was her own idea,
| and much admired. 1t was plain white CASH
| mere. trimmed with broad Valenciennes of an
| odd snOwdrOp pattern. There was no other
| trimming, except some long white ostrich
piumes in the loopings. 1t was after Valen-
ciennes was beginning to go out of fashion;
| but that lady knew all about laces and knew
how few of them young girl ought to wear"
'Is Valenciennes used now"
| "NOt much except for layettes. Nothing
| seems to take the place of narrow Valenciennes
for trimming babies clothes. 1t is the most
| suitable lace for breakfast caps and morning
dresses, and many ladies use it for those pur-
poses. It is completely out of fashion for
evening wear. There has been a quantity of
! poor imitation in the market, and people have
grown tired Oft Clothing manufacturers used
| it for all sorts Of things. Some of the Sixth
| avenue stores had shilling calicoes made UP
| and trimmed with two-inch imitation Valen-
l oia