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point de reprise icon
point de reprise

  • Darning stitch
  • Genoa stitch
  • Genoa two thread stitch
  • Genoa three thread stitch
  • Point de Venise
  • Single Point de Venise
  • Double Point de Venise
  • Needle-weaving
  • Darned points
  • Darned pyramids
  • Point de fillet
  • Reprise stitch
point de reprise main image

This needle-weaving stitch is formed by working over and under two or more parallel threads to fill an area.  The base threads are traditionally either a filet lace net or a drawn thread area where threads have been withdrawn in both directions to form a square grid.  The stitch can also be used to embellish bars (normally of two threads) where it is more commonly known as woven bars; when it is worked over bars of three threads it is known as double point de Venise or Cordovan lace.  It can also be worked on a triangular net in which case the point de reprise can also be triangular - see the end of this entry for Mrs Beeton’s diagram illustrating this.

There is a variation where the thread is taken over the bar and then comes up behind the weave, not in front of it.  This will feature in a future RSN Stitch Bank release under the name Russian stitch.

Point de reprise is historically used as one of the simplest stitches in the filet lace technique, which dates to the medieval era and was popular across Europe.  A square net is hand knotted and designs are worked into the squares using a small number of stitches.  A 19th century revival called guipure d’art uses point de reprise alongside other more decorative stitches.

N.B. this stitch is sometimes known as point de Venise, but there is another stitch which is more widely known by that name.

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Bar Drawn Parallel Woven Reversible Filling Whitework Cutwork Filet lace Guipure d’art

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Method

This example has been worked on a filet net ground, the same method applies to working across a withdrawn thread grid or laid thread bars.

The ends of your thread can be attached with a knot stitch or a tail can be left which will then be woven through your stitching after it has been worked.

The size of your net/other apertures and the weight of your thread will dictate the number of lines of weaving but they should always be an even number.

In step 4 some authors don’t repeat the over/under pattern from the previous weaving, instead they do the alternate pattern.  This is personal preference unless you are working point de reprise as the first part of point de toile, in which case the dividing gridline must become part of the weave.

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1
point de reprise method stage 1 illustration
point de reprise method stage 1 photograph
1

Take your thread over the first net gridline and then weave it under and over the subsequent gridlines.

2
point de reprise method stage 2 illustration
point de reprise method stage 2 photograph
2

At the end of your design area take your thread around the furthest gridline and weave back in the opposite direction.

3
point de reprise method stage 3 illustration
point de reprise method stage 3 photograph
3

Continue in this way, tightening your thread when you change direction if necessary.

4
point de reprise method stage 4 illustration
point de reprise method stage 4 photograph
4

To cross over to the next net square, take your thread over the dividing gridline and resume weaving by mimicking the over/under pattern of the previous row.

5
point de reprise method stage 5 illustration
point de reprise method stage 5 photograph
5

Continue weaving in this way.

6
point de reprise method stage 6 illustration
point de reprise method stage 6 photograph
6

A completed area of point de reprise.

point de reprise

Structure of stitch

Bar Drawn Parallel Woven Reversible

Common uses

Filling

Embroidery Techniques

Whitework Cutwork Filet lace Guipure d’art

Related Stitches

Woven picot Woven bars Russian stitch

Identifying point de reprise

The stitch can be identified by a simple woven structure which runs in one direction and so the weaving stitches are parallel.  The area covered can be a small area between two parallel bars/gridlines or a large area across dozens of lines of net.

If an area is woven in two directions to mimic a tabby-woven fabric, see linen stitch.

References

  • S. F. A. Caulfeild, Blanche C. Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework (1882) , p.240
  • S. F. A. Caulfeild, Blanche C. Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework (1882) , p.236
  • S. F. A. Caulfeild, Blanche C. Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework (1882) , p.407
  • Pauline Knight, The technique of filet lace (1980) , p.64
  • Isabella Mary Beeton, 'Beeton’s Book of Needlework', Beeton's Book of Needlework (1870). Available at: http://www.beetonsbookofneedlework.com/ (Accessed: 01 December 2021)
  • S. F. A. Caulfeild, Blanche C. Saward, The Dictionary of Needlework (1882) , p.241
  • Victor Touche, 'Handbook of Point Lace ', Internet archive (1870). Available at: https://archive.org/details/handbookofpointl00touc/page/n7/mode/2up (Accessed: 18 February 2022)
  • Margaret Swain, The Needlework of Mary Queen of Scots (2004) , p.124-5

Examples of point de reprise

Whitework bird from the RSN collection

Threads from the ground fabric have been withdrawn to leave an open grid in the bird's wing and the flower. The bird's lower wing and the flower are worked in point de reprise; the upper wing is worked in a pulled thread stitch.

Point de reprise

This diagram from Mrs Beeton's Book of needlework shows point de reprise worked into a triangular trellis formed by honeycomb filling stitch.

Guipure d’art tablemat

This late 19th century piece features point de reprise on the central motif in the close-up image. As is typical of the era, a slightly heavier thread is used for the stitching than that used to form the net.

Image from the private collection of Kate Nolan