While Spain, Italy, France, England, and other countries would like to claim the invention of lace, no one knows for certain the exact origins of this exquisite material. It's almost  hard to imagine that lace started as  some form needle point hand embroidery -a humble pass time  or hobby for women. Later on, lace making became an art form  and a profession, evolving  into all the different varieties that most of us have come to love.