Embroidering on Parchment
		Here is why I think lace makers in the 16th century used parchment as a base for embroidering reticella and punto in aria.
		II have tried embroidering lace free hand and embroidering it using a paper base. My lace looks a lot cleaner and the patterns are clearer when I couch the threads to a lace pattern. Parchment was available in period. I tried embroidering a piece of lace using a period parchment and period ink made by Mistress Angharad. I let the ink dry for a day before embroidering the white lace by couching it to the pattern. There was no discoloration to the lace made by the ink. Also it looks to me like the lady working on cutwork on the title page of a 16th century lace book is working on a paper base. I show close ups of the picture below.

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	x	detail from 17th century punto in aria (embroidered on parchment)	x	Title page from Singuliers et Nouveaux Pourtraicts", published in 1587. - Vinciolo, Federico. Renaissance Patterns for Lace, Embroidery and Needlepoint An Unabridged Facsimile of the "Singuliers et Nouveaux Pourtraicts" of 1587 (New York: Dover Publications Inc. 1971)	x	detail of lady on left of Singuliers title page - Singuliers included patterns for reticella/punto in aria and lacis - what she is working on looks a lot like a lacis pattern.	x	detail of lady on right of Singuliers title page - what she is working on looks a lot like a reticella pattern.	x
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		Needle point Lace or Punto in Aria in process - Italian - 17th century. - Abegg, Margaret,Apropos Patterns for Embroidery, Lace and Woven Textiles (Abegg-Stiftung, Riggisberg, 1978) p. 71.	x	parchment I embroidered fencers on - parchment and ink made by Mistress Angharad. This parchment and ink were hand made by Mistress Angharad.	x	Here is a detail from the parchment showing the holes from couching the lace threads to the fabric.	x	detail of what lady on right of Singuliers title page is working on - you can compare it to the reticella pattern below. It is a reticella pattern from Singuliers that I was in the process of working on.	x
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		detail from reticella pattern at right.		detail from reticella pattern at right - the white linen thread gets pretty dirty when you are working on it. I use Castile soap and Oxy Clean to whiten it when I am done.		detail of unfinished portion of retiella pattern on right - you can see the Singuliers pattern that hasn't been embroidered over.		Here is the reticella pattern from Singuliers that I was in the process of working on.
		detail from reticella pattern at right.						pattern from Singuliers I used to make reticella lace above (on page 42 of Singuliers).
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