Tape lace

Lace in which the pattern is made using strips or tape set in a background of either thread bars (brides) or net. The quality is judged by whether the tape lies flat and curves continuously (which can be achieved only by using bobbins) or is ready-woven, in which case the tape is gathered at the bends and corners, and inevitably puckers. The best Genoese tape lace of the 17th century is bobbin-made; among the ready-woven tape laces are the Belgian and French laces of the 1880s, such as so-called Renaissance lace.