Picot

Picots are nodules made of thread which protrude from the edge of the fabric (normally as part of whitework or needlepoint lace) or a bar (in cutwork) or from the surface of the fabric (normally as part of surface embroidery).

Where picots have been used to embellish bars in needlepoint lace, the bars are sometimes referred to as ‘dotted bars’. The alternative name of ‘pearl’ can also be used to refer to a bar, as well as to the picot itself.

N.B. there are two surface embroidery stitches with picot in their names: woven picot and detached woven picot.

Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/215050.