[kuht-wurk] 
| 1. | openwork embroidery in which the ground fabric is cut out about the pattern. |
| 2. | fretwork formed by perforation or cut in low relief. |
| 3. | ornamental needlework in which spaces are cut from a ground material into which are inserted decorative figures that were made separately. |
| 4. | point coupé (def. 1). |
[Fr. pwan koo-pey] | 1. | Also called cutwork. a process for producing lace in which predetermined threads in the ground material are cut and removed in order to provide open areas for the insertion of ornamental patterns. |
| 2. | Also called cutwork lace. the lace produced by this process. |
| cut·work (kŭt'wûrk') n. Openwork embroidery in which the ground fabric is cut away from the design. |
cutwork
in fabric, designs obtained by cutting out pieces of a length of material and either filling the spaces thus created with stitches or joining the pieces themselves together by connecting bars of thread. In Europe the technique of filling the spaces with stitches originated in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries in Italy and preceded needle lace; it continued as an embroidery technique. In Elizabethan times, ruffs were often decorated in cutwork.
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