About the Race
Lace is a general term for fabric made by twisting threads into openwork patterns. It has a long history, and in ancient Rome, 1 meter of lace was worth 10 gold coins.
In the past, there were no machines and everything was made by hand, so lace was loved by royalty and aristocrats as a symbol of wealth and power.
When lace machines were invented during the Industrial Revolution, lace, which had previously only been worn by royalty and aristocrats, began to become available to the general public. When lace machines were introduced to Japan at the end of the Taisho period, Japan expanded production to become one of the world's leading lace-producing countries, thanks to its delicate and beautiful embroidery.
However, due to the effects of the oil crisis and the mass production of cheap lace from overseas, domestic lace production is currently on the decline.
What is embroidery lace?
Embroidered lace is lace that has been embroidered onto fabric using an embroidery machine.
It is a time-consuming and labor-intensive lace with many steps as each stitch is sewn slowly, but ecaL's embroidery lace is characterized by its three-dimensional and delicate beauty that can only be expressed by a few craftsmen with rare machinery and many years of experience.
Manufacturing process
1. Design
Designs are created based on various concepts. Creating embroidery lace designs requires specialized knowledge, and each step is carefully planned to ensure there are no problems.
2. Data creation
Data is created to operate the lace machine based on the design. A wealth of experience is required to create accurate data, as the stitch direction and density must be determined and the movement must be made stitch by stitch.
3. Manufacturing
Once we have created a sample and confirmed that there are no problems with the thread, fabric, or data, we move on to actual production. Basically, all of the setting of fabric, needles, front and back threads, etc. is done by hand.
4. Shirring, inspection and repair
Unnecessary jump stitches are cut off (shirring process), and if there are any problems with the pattern, they are repaired by hand one by one.
5. Refining
In addition to dyeing, various processes are used depending on the material and properties of the embroidery, such as dissolving water-soluble fabrics and processing that makes use of the thermoplastic properties of the fibers.
6. Cutting and final inspection
The fabric is cut to fit the product and pattern. The embroidery and fabric are carefully inspected one by one for defects, and if there are no problems after passing them through a needle detector, the product is complete.
A new future for embroidered lace
We have been sincerely engaged in the manufacture of embroidery lace for approximately 80 years.
Even as the trends of the world change dramatically with the times, the desire to live a rich and beautiful life remains unchanged in people's hearts as it has been for a long time.
In a world overflowing with various things, we are pleased that you have taken an interest in ecaL's products.
We hope that ecaL's embroidered lace will gently add a touch of class to the landscape of the "rich and beautiful life" that you imagine.
