The name Tambour Work refers to the embroidery frame used to hold the fabric. It consisted of two iron hoops, one fitting snugly inside the other, covered with velvet or another fabric with a nap or "tooth" to hold the work securely in place. This is similar to modern embroidery hoops. The whole effect was that of a "tambour drum", a forerunner of the modern tambourine. A Tambour needle looks like a modern sewing machine needle with the sharp (point) close to the eye and an opening or gap on the side of the eye.

The Tambour stitch is worked thus: above the work the right hand holds the tambour needle. Below the work, the left hand holds the thread. The needle pushes through the fabric, catches the thread in the eye and pulls a loop back through the fabric. While the needle is still held inside the loop, another loop is pulled through the fabric and the first loop is left behind, being held in place by the second loop. It should be noted here that all embroidery was done with one hand on top of the work and one hand below the work. Surface stitching, the manipulation of the thread above the work came into use later in time and the modern chain stitch was developed then.

The size of the stitches created by Tambour was very small and the needle used was not much thicker than the embroidery thread. Hooks like these were also used in the bobbin lace making industry to pull working threads from section to section in a lace pattern. These hooks were not much more than a fine wire bent at the tip. Tambour work is period to the sixteenth century and was done in French and Italian cloisters.

Queen Elizabeth I's wardrobe records include small white caps decorated with Tambour work.

Lace and embroidery techniques continued in this manner until the end of the eighteenth century. Lace was a traded commodity at the time and business was conducted on a "lace standard" as well as "gold standard".

Lace making was a guild business and not a cottage industry, although lace makers worked in cattle barns to keep warm, all materials used were weighed by the guild and once the lace was finished, it and all scraps had to match the starting weight. All lace and embroidery was made on a foundation pattern, a frame or fabric, or on a pillow.

The end of the eighteenth century was ushered in by two major events that changed the lace making industry for ever, namely the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution.

The Industrial Revolution raised incomes for some, threw many out of work, made investors very rich and created the concept of leisure time.

The French Revolution closed the cavernous gap between the lives of the nobles and royalty and the lower classes. When the upper classes met their end, the various trades and services that catered to them also fell on hard times. Guilds and the market collapsed, and out of work. Craftsmen were without a market for their wares. However, with the demise of the guilds, lace makers could teach their craft to others and enterprising merchant-class women started up craft schools in their own name. The merchant class, no longer dependent on the favors of the court and no longer bound by sumptuary laws, rose to become the new "nobility"and the conspicuous consumption of the old regime continued on with the new.

One of the many symbols of freedom that came out of the French Revolution was Crocheted Lace. Since the people were free from the foundation and restraints of the old government, lace making became a statement of being freed from the old ways of manufacture. The word "frivolitaire" was used to describe crochet and this new technique was categorized under "Punto en Aria", literally "stitch made in the air".

Crochet is worked without a foundation pattern. Soon ladies of quality and leisure were crocheting everywhere as a sign of their freedom from tyranny. The novelty of crocheted lace did wear off and the market was restored for bobbin and needle made laces. Thus crochet fell out of favor until the Great Potato Famine struck Ireland in the mid nineteenth century. In an effort to bolster the Irish economy as well as help feed the thousands of starving Irish, crocheted lace was introduced to the Irish poorer classes by nuns and charitable English women. Queen Victoria did her part by making Irish Crocheted Lace popular in english society as well as throughout the continent.

With the onset of the twentieth century, lady's magazines published patterns for many types of homemade crafts and crocheted lace continued.

It should be noted that up to this point in history, all crochet was done with fine cotton or linen thread, not yarn. Knitting was still the method of choice for working with wool, so socks, sweaters, comforters were still knitted. The bulky yarns and super sized hooks which are much used today came along during the post World War Two era and reached a heyday in the 1960's with the various back-to-nature movements. Because heavy yarns and large hooks worked up much faster than the fine steel hooks manipulating fine thread, the Jiffy Crochet gained favor. A person could quickly turn out a handmade article without putting too much time into the work.

"The Legacy of Lace", Harnick and Nilsson, Crown Publishers, New York, 1988
"The Identification of Lace", Earnshaw, Shire Publishing House,United Kingdom, 1986
"The Encyclopaedia ofVictorian Needlework",Caulfiield and Saward, orig. publication by A. W.Cowan,London,1882, facsimile reprint by Constable and Company, United Kingdom, 1972
"The Art of Lacemaking", Collier, David and Charles Publishing,London,1986