Lace was originally imported into Africa by European colonizers. Africans first began producing their own lace when Emily Hobhouse, a humanitarian activist, organized a lace school in South Africa to help women to earn money from home. These days, lace is still hand made in South Africa. Some of the country's finest lace is actually produced by inmates from a women's prison in Cape Town.
Handmade Lace
The first lace made by women in Africa was all made by hand. This skill was imported from Europe by Emily Hobhouse, who studied in Munich, Milan, Venice and Burano. Hobhouse's teachers visited farms on horseback and taught women to create lace with just a needle and thread. This method was very popular with women because it required little capital investment and could be done at home while children were sleeping or otherwise occupied. It required the women to tie extensive series of intricate knots in patterns. The first original South African lace pattern, called Wag-'n-bietjie after a local species of Acacia, was developed in 1900. Otherwise, women worked from pattern books imported from all over the world.
Tatting
The women inmate of Western Cape Correctional Services work primarily by tatting lace, following patterns set forth in pattern books. Tatting is another handmade method of crafting lace out of a series of knots and loops. This method, however, is done with a shuttle. A tatting shuttle holds a length of wound thread and guides it through loops to create knots. The women wrap their thread around one hand and hold the shuttle in the other. Tatting with a shuttle works much faster than crafting lace with just a needle, but it is still slow work. According to officials at the prison, all of the women who work tatting lace have volunteered for the job and several interviewed claim to enjoy it.
Bobbin Work
As a result of this history of lace making, South Africa is home to several collections and galleries that feature lace. These cultural artifacts create some demand amongst the public for lace goods, and there are currently a handful of businesses and artists in South Africa that manufacture lace. Most lace manufacturers work with a bobbin. Bobbin lace is made by braiding and twisting lengths of thread wound on bobbins. The lace is held by pins onto a lace pillow to keep the pattern from unraveling. Artisans can craft complicated lace patterns much faster on a bobbin then they can with either a needle or shuttle. You can see examples of South Africa's lacework in the town of Koppies.