A handmade lace consisting of intricate and delicate patterns, employing the technique of twisting and crossing threads held on bobbins or spools, bobbin lace is also referred to as pillow lace and bone lace. Bobbin lace-making has roots in the sixteenth century braiding traditions of Genoa, Italy and was passed to France, Germany and Scandinavia via the Spanish troops in the seventeenth century.

The lace is made with varied thicknesses of threads. Traditionally, it was made using coloured silk, bleached linen yarn, wool, cotton and gold and silver-coated threads. The primary tools to make bobbin lace are a pillow, pins, bobbins and prickings or pattern paper. Besides these materials, some laces would also need a crochet hook or other fine hooks. The process of making bobbin lace employs inexpensive tools and materials, making it more economical when compared to detailed cutwork laces. A simple piece of lace can require up to 24 bobbins, but only two bobbins – employing four threads – are in use at a time. The lace-making technique may appear complicated but only involves two moves: twisting and crossing. When the fastens have been made, pins are pushed through the pin-openings within the pricking into the cushion to make them firm. The motifs, which can be laid out with a gimp (a thick thread), are typically worked in a cloth stitch, similar to woven fabric or half fastening stitch. Bobbin laces can be made in three different ways. Straight laces are made in one nonstop cycle, which in some cases requires the utilisation of multiple bobbins; in part laces, the motifs are made independently and after that are joined with the base of the work, usually allowing a few lacemakers to work on one piece; and in lace braids, an interlace is worked with a couple of sets spread on the design with the bends sewed together. When the lace is finished, the pins are removed from the pillow and the lace is lifted.