TO PLACE THE BRAID.—­No. 442 shows the design traced upon paper or tracing cloth, and lightly tacked to a foundation of leather or toile ciree.  Run on a straight line of braid for the lower edge, with fine stitches, working as shown from left to right.  Take another piece of braid, or the other end of the same piece, and begin to lay the braid by “running” stitches in its centre, keeping it as smooth and even as possible.  The outer edge presents no difficulty, but the inner edge will not lie evenly without being drawn in by a needle and thread, as follows:—­Thread a No. 9 needle with No. 12 Mecklenburg thread about 20 inches long, fasten the thread to one point, and insert the needle in and out of the edge of the braid, as if for fine gathering; this thread when drawn up will keep the braid in its place.  Two or three fastening off stitches should be worked when each circle, half circle, or rounded curve of a pattern is finished, as the drawing or gathering thread remains in the work, and forms an important, though unseen, part of its structure.

As much of the beauty of point lace depends upon the manner of placing the braid, ladies cannot bestow too much pains upon this part of the work, which is a little troublesome to beginners.  Many fancy shops now undertake this braid-placing for ladies, who can have their own pattern braided and commenced or braided alone at trifling expense.  Among these may be mentioned the following houses:—­Goubaud, 30, Henrietta-street, Covent-garden.  Boutillier, Oxford-street, W.

The stitches used in point lace may be divided into—­

STITCHES PROPER, or points.

CONNECTING BARS.

FINISHING EDGINGS.

WHEELS, ROSETTES.

The term point lace, or lace stitches (points), has of late been applied to every stitch executed with Mecklenburg thread, and many stitches are erroneously named by modern writers.  As there are more than one hundred stitches employed in this beautiful art, much study and opportunity of seeing specimens of old point lace is required to give a novice any idea of the various kinds of point lace; but by attention to the following stitches the rudiments of the art may be easily acquired and very beautiful lace produced.

The first stitch is POINT DE BRUXELLES, or Brussels lace stitch.  This stitch, as may be clearly seen in illustration No. 433, is a simple button-hole stitch worked loosely and with great regularity.  The whole beauty of Brussels lace depends upon the evenness of the stitches.  This stitch is sometimes employed as an edging, but is more often worked in rows backwards and forwards, either as a groundwork or to fill spaces, as in the point lace collar, No. 496.

[Illustration:  433.  Point de Bruxelles (Brussels Lace).]

[Illustration:  434.—­Point de Bruxelles (Brussels Lace Worked in Rows).]

Brussels Point is the foundation of nearly all the lace stitches.