Passementerie

A few years ago I was delighted to discover the French word for decorative textile trims & braids: Passementerie. Such a wonderful word for such beautiful creations, Wikipedia defines the word as: Passementerie or Passementarie is the art of making elaborate trimmings or edgings (in French, passements) of applied braid, gold or silver cord, embroidery, coloured silk, or beads for clothing or furnishings.

While I don't know very much about their history and construction techniques, I really like these trims, tassels and braids, and will be doing some research into them when I can find the time.

Here are a few antique French examples, I love the one made up of wooden drops covered in woven silk with a chenille tuft at the end, this has been made somewhere about 1900 in a Louis Phillipe style c1830. I like the orange silk fringe with the fancy gimp along the top, this is a Napoleon III trim dating to about 1860, as is the multi-coloured tassel trim made from wool. The woven silk bands are simple but lovely, the bottom one is made up like a ribbon, the one in the middle of the bottom picture is made up like a braid.

www.morgaine-le-fay.co.uk