Mechlin lace is a bobbin lace

Bobbin lace

Bobbin lace is a lace textile made by braiding and twisting lengths of thread, which are wound on bobbins to manage them. As the work progresses, the weaving is held in place with pins set in a lace pillow, the placement of the pins usually determined by a pattern or pricking pinned on the...

 originally produced in Mechelen

Mechelen

Mechelen Footnote: Mechelen became known in English as 'Mechlin' from which the adjective 'Mechlinian' is derived...

. It is one of the best known Flemish laces. It is fine, transparent, and looks best when worn over another color. It was made in Mecheln, Antwerp, Lier

Lier, Belgium

Lier is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises the city of Lier proper and the village of Koningshooikt. On January 1, 2010 Lier had a total population of 33,930. The total area is 49.70 km² which gives a population density of 669 inhabitants per...

 and Turnhout. It was used for coiffures de nuit, garnitures de corset, ruffles and cravat

Cravat

The cravat is a neckband, the forerunner of the modern tailored necktie and bow tie, originating from 17th-century Croatia.From the end of the 16th century, the term band applied to any long-strip neckcloth that was not a ruff...

s.

Mechlin lace is known for its floral patterns, fine twisted-and-plaited, hexagonal ground, and its outlined designs. It looks much like Brussels lace

Brussels lace

Brussels lace is a type of pillow lace that originated in and around Brussels. The term "Brussels lace" has been broadly used for any lace from Brussels, however the term strictly interpreted refers to bobbin lace, in which the pattern is made first, then the ground, or réseau, added, also using...

, however it is made all at once, with the réseau or ground made at the same time as the pattern on the pillow. Also, the plait is shorter, and the mesh smaller than those of Brussels lace. All Mechlin laces are outlined with a loosely spun silk cord used to define the pattern, whereas Valenciennes lace

Valenciennes lace

Valenciennes lace is a type of bobbin lace which originated in Valenciennes, in the Nord département of France, and flourished from about 1705 to 1780. Later production moved to Belgium in and around Ypres. The industry continued onto the 19th century on a diminished scale...

 isn't. Mechlin lace is also more expensive than Valenciennes lace, as it takes more time to make because of the different réseau.

Sometimes Mechlin is grounded with an ornamental réseau, instead of the usual hexagons. In the regular hexagonal réseau, the two sides parallel

Parallel (geometry)

Parallelism is a term in geometry and in everyday life that refers to a property in Euclidean space of two or more lines or planes, or a combination of these. The assumed existence and properties of parallel lines are the basis of Euclid's parallel postulate. Two lines in a plane that do not...

 to the long axis of the lace are plaited three times, and the other four sides crossed. The same threads pass across the whole width, and thus form both the ground and the pattern.

Mechlin net is a machine imitation of the Mechlin lace ground.

History

Originally the term 'mechlin lace' was used for any bobbin lace from Flanders

Flanders

Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...

. Mechlin lace grew in popularity throughout the late 17th century and the 18th century, and was mentioned several times. The 1657 inventory of the Maréchal de la Motte included 'a pair of Mechlin ruffles'. Jean-François Regnard

Jean-François Regnard

Jean-François Regnard , "the most distinguished, after Molière, of the comic poets of the seventeenth century", was a dramatist, born in Paris, who is equally famous now for the travel diary he kept of a voyage in 1681....

, when visiting Flanders in 1681, wrote of the lace and lace-makers. When the English prohibition was removed in 1699, Mechlin lace became the grand fashion in England, and it was advertised in the London Gazette. It was very popular at this time in France and Holland as well. The earliest with a réseau (open net) ground wasn't made until 1720, and at this point the term became specific to this lace with the open net. In 1755 Mechlin lace went into decline in England, and by 1834 there were only eight manufacturers left. Machine-made Mechlin lace started to be produced in 1819. Another machine was invented in 1847 which exactly followed the hand movements a lace-maker would make. Manufacture has since died out.

Mechlin lace was also very popular with the English royalty. Queen Mary II

Mary II of England

Mary II was joint Sovereign of England, Scotland, and Ireland with her husband and first cousin, William III and II, from 1689 until her death. William and Mary, both Protestants, became king and queen regnant, respectively, following the Glorious Revolution, which resulted in the deposition of...

, in spite of the prohibition against imported laces, purchased two yards of knotted fringe for her Mechlin ruffles in 1694. Queen Anne

Anne of Great Britain

Anne ascended the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland on 8 March 1702. On 1 May 1707, under the Act of Union, two of her realms, England and Scotland, were united as a single sovereign state, the Kingdom of Great Britain.Anne's Catholic father, James II and VII, was deposed during the...

 purchased quite a bit of it— 83 yards in 1713. George I

George I of Great Britain

George I was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1 August 1714 until his death, and ruler of the Duchy and Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire from 1698....

 had a Mechlin cravat, and it was a favorite of Queen Charlotte

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was the Queen consort of the United Kingdom as the wife of King George III...

 and Princess Amelia

Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom

Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom was a member of the British Royal Family as the youngest daughter of King George III of the United Kingdom and his queen consort Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.-Early life:...

.