Centuries ago, the art of filet lace was passed down from person to person: mother to daughter, grandmother to granddaughter, teacher to student. While that still may be possible today in places where filet lace is still made, not everyone will have the advantage of individual and personal attention.
For those who want to learn to make filet lace, but are unable to locate a teacher nearby, there is another option. Over the centuries many books have been written about filet lace. Here is a list of some of the more recent ones.
1. Filet Lace, Introduction to the Linen Stitch by Marie-Jo Quinault (This book has excellent instructions about how to make the linen stitch in filet lace. It also contains samples to make and detailed instructions.)
2. Filet Lace Patterns by Pauline Knight (The patterns contained in this book are mostly done with the darning and linen stitch, though there are sections on Filet Richelieu and Filet Guipure. The book is full of graphs and photos of finished examples of different figures.)
3. Filet Lace, Stitches and Patterns by Margaret Morgan (This book contains clear instructions and photos for at least a dozen different stitches that can be used for filet lace. In addition, it has graphs for more than a dozen different designs and projects.)
4. Knotting & Netting by Lisa Melen (This book contains photos to illustrate the instructions for netting (diamond, circular and square mesh), and several filet lace stitches. It also shows and explains how to finish the work.)
5. The Technique of Filet Lace by Pauline Knight (This book contains historical background in text and a wide variety of photographs of historical filet lace. Most of the sample patterns are worked in darning or linen stitch. There are some diagrams and examples largely taken from a Victorian Filet Lace Bedspread.)