A METHOD OR PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF LACE FROM EMBROIDERED PATTERNS OR DESIGNS
Year: 1885

page_text: I, JOHN KRUSI, of St Gall, in Switzerland, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of said invention for "A METHOD OR PROCESS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF
LACE FROM EMBROIDERED PATTERNS OR DESIGNS" to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the manufacture of lace from embroidered patterns or
designs.
Hitherto, a certain description of lace has been manufactured by forming
embroidered designs upon paper and washing the latter out. This mode of forming
embroidery was of very limited application, as polyedrical designs could not be
embroidered upon paper with as much facility as upon textile material; the mode
of manufacture hitherto resorted to rendering moreover necessary the application
of additional accessories to the embroidering machines used, the paper having to be
held fast while stitches were made by the needle so that these stitches formed below
the paper should not get out of place.
The latter stitches had to be first connected together in order to form a first
tissue upon the paper.
This invention enables designs and patterns to be embroidered upon textile
material without any additional accessories having to be applied for that purposo
to the embroidering machine employed and by its use all kind of suitable stitches
can be directly used as for all ordinary embroideries.
This invention consists in removing under certain determined conditions of
temperature the material which constitutes the base from the embroidery formed
thereupon. This is done by the action of suitable acids which destroy the
vegetable fibres of the said base leaving the embroidery uninjured in the form
of lace.
The material serving as a base may be treated by the acids before or after the
embroidering is effected, the principle of the process remaining the same. In the
first case the base upon which the embroidery stitches are applied, and which
consists in most cases of cotton, is immersed previous to being embroidered in a
bath of diluted sulphuric acid or hydrochloric acid (these acids being the most
suitable representatives of the oxygenated or hydrogenated acids). The solution
employed should contain about 25 parts by weight of water to 1 part by weight of
concentrated acid.

page_text: The immersed material is subsequently removed and dried in the shade in a room
at an ordinary temperature (about 20° Celsius). The base thus prepared retains its
solidity for a few days and can be embroidered with any desired embroidering
material such as cotton, wool, silk, so-called gold threads and the like, these being
used in their natural state. As soon as the base or material which has been treated
in the bath and dried is embroidered, it is subjected in a suitable place to a high
temperature (about 80° Celsius) when the said material falls away leaving the
embroidery in the form of lace, without the latter having suffered from its
contiguity to the prepared base.
In the second case, when the base is treated in the bath after having been
embroidered, the embroidering material, that is to say the threads applied by
embroidery upon the base and formed of cotton, wool, silk, so-called gold threads
or the like are treated previous to being used with a substance that will neutralize
the subsequent action of the acid bath upon the said embroidering material so as
to prevent the latter from being thereby affected.
For this purpose ammonia gas is preferably employed, when sulphuric or hydro-
chloric acid is used in the bath.
Instead of ammonia gas (NH³) a less volatile base than the former may be
employed such as a lye or alkaline solution, for instance soda lye (Na O, HO).
The embroidering material is saturated with the alkaline material and suitably
dried in order to be applied in the latter state upon the yet unprepared base.
When the latter is embroidered, it is immersed in an acid bath, composed of
about 5 parts by weight of water and one part by weight of concentrated acid.
It is afterwards removed, washed in clear water when the base falls. away and the
neutralized embroidery is left in the form of lace.
Dated thie. 30th day of June 1885

page_text: I, JOHN KRUSI, of St Gall, in Switzerland, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention. and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to the manufacture of lace from embroidered patterns or
designs.
Hitherto, a certain description of lace has been manufactured by forming
embroidered designs upon paper and washing the latter out. This mode of forming
embroidery was of very limited application as numerous designs could not be
embroidered upon paper with as much facility as upon textile material: the mode
of manufacture heretofore adopted moreover rendered necessary the application of
additional accessories to the embroidering machines used as the paper had to be
held fast while the first sticthes forming the skeleton of the embroidery were made
by the needle so that these stitches should not get out of place and these stitches
had to be connected together in order to form a first tissue upon the paper.
Now this invention enables designs and patterns to be embroidered upon
vegetable textile material directly and without application of additional accessories
for that purpose to the embroidering machine and by its use all suitable kinds of
stitches can be directly used such as are employed in ordinary embroideries.
The present process is not based upon a difference in the nature of the embroidery
base or of the embroidery; thus for instance the base need not consist of animal
fibre requiring to be removed from the vegetable embroidery by chemical means (as
for example, by chloride of lime) but the threads of the base as well as of the
embroidery may be of a vegetable nature.
The invention consists in removing under certain determined conditions of
temperature the vegetable material which constitutes the base from the embroidery
(which may also be formed of vegetable material) formed thereupon. This is done
by the action of suitable acids which destroy the vegetable fibres only of the said
base leaving the embroidery uninjured in the form of lace.
The material serving as a base may be treated by the acids before or after the
embroidering is effected, the principle of the process remaining the same. In the
first case the base upon which the embroidery stitches are applied, and which
consists in most cases of cotton, is immersed (previous to being embroidered) in a
bath of diluted sulphuric acid or hydrochloric acid, these acids being the most
suitable representatives of the oxygenated or hydrogenated acids. A suitable
solution is one containing 25 parts by weight of water to 1 part by weight of
concentrated acid.
The limits of strength of acid solution which have been found effective vary
from a solution of sulphuric acid of about 1 degree Beaumé (15 per cent SO,) to a
solution of about 5 degrees Beaumé (47 per cent SO,); an acid solution of about
1.8 degrees Beaumé is recommended as of medium strength,

page_text: The vegetable material after immersion is removed and dried in the shade in a
room at an ordinary, temperature (about 20° Celsius). The base thus prepared
retains its solidity for a few days and can be embroidered with any desired
embroidering material such as cotton, or wool, silk, so-called gold threads, and the
like may be employed, these being used in their natural state. As soon as the base
or material which has been treated in the bath and dried is embroidered, it is
subjected in a suitable place to a high temperature (about 80° Celsius) when the
said material falls away leaving the embroidery in the form of lace, that has not
been in any way injured by contiguity with the prepared base.
In the second case, namely when the base is treated in the bath after having
been embroidered, the embroidering material, that is to say the threads applied by
embroidery upon the base and formed of cotton, wool, silk, so-called gold threads
or the like are treated previous to being used with a substance that will neutralize
the subsequent action of the acid bath upon the said embroidering material so as
to prevent the latter from being thereby affected. For this purpose ammonia gas
is preferably employed, when sulphuric or hydrochloric acid is used in the bath.
Instead of ammonia gas (NH³) a less volatile substance may be employed such
as a lye or alkaline solution for instance soda lye (Na HO). The embroidering
material is saturated with the alkaline material and suitably dried in order to be
applied in the latter state upon the as yet unprepared base.
When the latter has been embroidered, it is immersed in an acid bath composed
of about 5 parts by weight of water and 1 part by weight of concentrated acid.
Afterwards it is removed, and washed in clear water, when the base falls away and
the neutralized embroidery is left in the form of lace.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. The herein described method or process of producing lace by embroidering
stitching or sewing on a vegetable textile fabric or base previously treated in an
acid bath and dried and subsequently exposing the embroidered material to a
temperature such that the textile fabric or base is decomposed or disintegrated.
2. The herein described method or process of producing lace by embroidering
stitching or sewing on a vegetable textile fabric or base not specially prepared with
embroidering material which has been previously treated with ammonia or with an
alkaline solution, and subsequently treating the embroidered material in an acid
bath and by washing in water so that the said base is removed and the embroidery
remains in the forin of lace.
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