From initial drawings similar to these, the process of making Alencon lace includes several successive steps such as stitching the design onto the parchment, creating the outline of the pattern and the background net, shading the designs with fill stitches, ornamenting, and embroidering to create relief. The lace is then detached from the parchment using a razor blade, and the fill stitches are polished with a lobster claw. Until the 19th century, each of the thousands of lacemakers mastered one aspect of the whole know-how. This division of labor has not prevented the oral and practical transmission of the global lace-making technique to the very few current holders who master all its stages.