Where does Eyelet come from?

Eyelet comes from the United Kingdom, England, first documented in the 1800s.

Plate No. 108fabric

Punched holes ringed with stitching: broderie anglaise.

First documented: 1800s
Origin: England, United Kingdom
Fiber: cotton
Weave: woven cloth with embroidered punched holes
Family: lace

Plate No. 108 · fabric

Eyelet

Eyelet, known formally as broderie anglaise, is not a true lace but woven cotton punched with small holes whose raw edges are bound with embroidery, the holes arranged into floral and scalloped patterns. It rose in the mid-nineteenth century as an affordable, washable substitute for costly handmade lace, perfect for the white summer cottons of dresses, blouses, pinafores, and christening gowns. Where lace is made of holes, eyelet is cloth made holey, the democratic cousin that put openwork within everyone's reach.

Illustration: a whitework embroidery room in an English market town in the 1860s, women bent over wooden embroidery hoops near a bright window, baskets of white cotton cloth and spools of thread on a long table, a pinafore hung to one side, figures small and turned away — A whitework embroidery room in an English market town in the 1860s, women bent over wooden embroidery hoops near a bright window, baskets of white cotton cloth and spools of thread on a long table, a pinafore hung to one side, figures small and turned away.

Named for

Named for the eyelets, the small stitched holes; the embroidery itself is called broderie anglaise, English embroidery.

Also known as

broderie anglaise

Common questions

What is Eyelet made of?: Eyelet, known formally as broderie anglaise, is not a true lace but woven cotton punched with small holes whose raw edges are bound with embroidery, the holes arranged into floral and scalloped patterns.
Where does Eyelet come from?: Eyelet comes from the United Kingdom, England, first documented in the 1800s.
What is Eyelet named after?: Named for the eyelets, the small stitched holes; the embroidery itself is called broderie anglaise, English embroidery.