Traditional Idrija lace
Idrija is home to the famous bobbin lace – Idrija lace. When exactly and how the lacemaking in Idrija started, is unknown. It is presumed that the knowledge of this craft was either brought from the German or the Czech provinces more than three hundred years ago.
The oldest written record mentioning bobbin lace making in the Idrija area dates back to 1696. The term 'bobbin lace making' means more types of lace making. The types of lace are: needle lace, crochet lace, knitted and bobbin lace. In Idrija only bobbin lace is made. As the name suggests it is made with bobbins, specially designed wooden sticks, called klekeljni, which hold cotton or linen threads.
At first the lace was made of rough flax thread and was mainly meant for use on the domestic market: to decorate churches and liturgical clothing, to decorate homes and clothes of rich people. The knowledge of lacemaking was passed on from generation to generation, from mothers to daughters. In this time period Idrija Lace developed to its recognisable style, the commonly used technique was making tape lace with seven pairs of bobbins.
The demand for lace of high quality was growing and the first schools to improve and upgrade lace makers’ knowledge and thus the quality of lace were established. In Idrija Lace School Idrija was established in 1876 and it has operated continuously since then. With these products vendors conquered foreign markets and were winning top awards at various world exhibitions. Through courses and schools that teachers from Idrija were working in, at the turn of the 19th into the 20th century lace making spread from Idrija to the nearby regions (Cerkno, Trnovski gozd, Selca, Poljane pri Škofji Loki). Most women in Idrija were making lace at that time. Even though their payment was relatively poor, making lace still brought them a steady source of income.
During the Italian occupation after 1920 the conditions on the lace markets changed – Idrija could only compete with a greater quantity of lace produced, which conditioned a simplified technique to be introduced, so that the lace were simpler to make (with five bobbin pairs only), cheaper and accessible to nearly everybody. The number of lacemakers in miners’ families after WWII started to decrease gradually. Lacemaking today is a popular activity for many retired woman in Idrija. Some of them meet and advance their knowledge in different associations whereas some of them still make lace for sale.
Idrija lace is an inherent part of Slovenian cultural heritage. It preserved itself through time and evolved. The people of Idrija keep the art of bobbin lace making, a most complex dexterity, alive and present at an annually held international Idrija Lace Festival. The organizer, the Idrija Heritage Centre, promotes and works to win world recognition of lace, by organizing various events and activities during the festival.
Idrija lace enthusiasts can read more about the Idrija Lace Festival by visiting its official website: http://www.festivalidrijskecipke.si.
Idrija Lace BROCHURE - DE
Idrija Lace BROCHURE- ITA
Idrija Lace BROCHURE - FR
