Chapter XII: Part 12

In working leaves of this kind in darning stitch, you must draw your stitches at the top and bottom of the leaf rather tighter than in the middle, so as to give them the proper shape. If you wish to make them very slender at the bottom, you can finish them off with a few overcasting stitches.

Fig. 647 represents two leaves completed, one with one vein and the other, with two.

POINTED SCALLOPS IN DARNING STITCH (fig. 648).—The simplest way to work these scallops is to carry a thread, as shown in the illustration, to and fro over the square, from the knot in one corner to the middle of the bar above and downwards to the opposite knot, round which the thread is carried and passed upwards again to the middle. As the scallop must always be begun from the top, you will have, two foundation threads on one side and three on the other. Here likewise, you must push the threads as closely together as possible with the needle.

POINTED SCALLOPS IN BUTTON-HOLE STITCH (fig. 649).—Another quite as pretty and easy way of working pointed scallops on a netted foundation is by making two button-hole stitches before crossing to the opposite side. As shown in the foregoing illustration, you begin by stretching single or double foundation threads across; then beginning at the point, you make, alternately right and left, 2 button-hole stitches over the foundation threads, so that the working thread is only carried across to the opposite side after every second stitch.

VEINED POINTED SCALLOPS (fig. 650).—A third way of making pointed scallops is by first stretching a thread to and fro across the middle of the square, after which you slip the needle from left to right under the middle thread, and underneath the left bar from above. Then you carry the needle, from right to left, over the foundation thread and under the right bar and so on. The one thread must be drawn tightly round the other, in order that the stitches may form close and evenly shaped veins, like small cords, on the wrong side of the scallop. There must be enough stitches to completely cover the foundation thread that crosses the middle of the square.

POINTED SCALLOPS IN VENETIAN STITCH (fig. 651).—The prettiest scallops of all are those worked in Venetian stitch. You begin, by making from 8 to 10 button-hole stitches over one bar of the netting, then you work on with the same stitch backwards and forwards, making one stitch less in each row, until you come to the one which forms the point of the scallop and is fastened to the bar above; you carry the working thread back on the wrong side to the lower bar, and then under the button-hole stitches to the next square of the netting. Scallops worked in this manner, can be overcast round the edges in the way described further on, in fig. 660.

WHEELS EMBROIDERED ON NETTING (figs. 652 and 653).—To make wheels or spiders, as they are also called, you have first to fasten the thread to the middle knot of four squares, thence you carry it diagonally right and left, fig. 652, right detail, across the empty squares of netting and the knot, and return to the middle, overcasting your first thread by the way, so as to form a closely twisted cord. This is called cording a thread.

Having reached the centre, carry the working thread round and round, under and over the corded threads and under the bars of the netting till the wheel covers half the bars.

Fig. 653 shows, on the right, a finished wheel, and on the left, another way in which it can be made, and indicates the course of the thread over and under the lines, as in a darn. These details show also how, when the foundation thread of the wheel starts from a corner, it is left single in the first square until the wheel is finished; then the needle is slipped back along the little spoke, opposite to the single thread, and through the wheel, and the single thread is corded like the others.

RIBBED WHEELS (fig. 654).—Make the foundation of the wheels as before, over 8 threads. To form the ribs at the back of the wheels, see fig. 654; make a back stitch, on the right side, over a bar of the netting, and carry on the needle under one bar, so that the thread that lies outside always crosses 2 bars of the netting.

In this case you must make circles of thread enough, to cover the bars completely, not half, as before.

The same stitches, as fig. 654 shows, can be made on either side of the embroidery, and so as to form, either a square or a lozenge (see fig. 655).

WHEELS SET WITH BUTTON-HOLING (fig. 656).—A very pretty lace-like effect is produced by encircling the wheels in large squares of netting with a double setting of stitches. The left detail of fig. 656 shows how the thread, having been passed under the wheel and twisted once round the single thread, is carried all round the square and forms 8 loops.

The arrow shows the way in which the loops are taken up, and the first ring of stitches round the wheel is finished.

The second detail of the same figure explains the course the thread, that forms the second ring, has to take through the loops and between the bars; whilst the white line shows the passage of the thread over the second ring. The third detail represents a wheel, completed.

STAR WITH ONE-SIDED BUTTON-HOLE STITCHES (fig. 657).—The pattern represented in fig. 657, is the quickest to work that we know of. Two button-hole stitches made upon the outside bar of a square and a simple crossing of the thread at the bottom, produce elongated triangles which should always be begun from the knot. Two triangles stand exactly opposite to each other in one square, and the square that comes in the middle of the four thus filled, is ornamented with a small wheel.

ROUNDED CORNERS OF NETTING (fig. 658).—Darning stitches, made over a thread carried diagonally across one square and the adjacent corners of that and two other squares, produce the figure illustrated in fig. 658. The accompanying detail shows the mode of working.

The number of stitches depends on the material you use; there should be no more than can lie quite flat, side by side, on the diagonal thread.

LINEN STITCH, SET WITH DARNING STITCH (fig. 659).—There are some patterns it would hardly be possible to work on netting unless you could soften the outlines by darning stitches, as shown in the foregoing figure.

When employed as a setting to linen stitch, there should be fewer than in fig. 658; you may also, instead of interrupting them at every corner, carry them all round a square, (see the right detail of the figure).

LINEN STITCH SET WITH CORD STITCH (fig. 660).—Many figures are also either corded or edged with twisted thread; both ways are represented in the illustration. In the latter case you can use the same thread as for the linen stitch, or if you wish the setting to be very pronounced, a thicker one. For instance, if the netting be made of Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C No. 25[A] we recommend Fil à pointer D.M.C No. 15 or 20[A] for the setting. This difference of material is especially noticeable in the old Cluny Guipure, where the figures worked in linen stitch are edged with a thread like a cord. But if the linen stitch be bound with cord stitch, the same thread must be used for it, as for the foundation. A soft material, like Coton à repriser, makes the best padding for the overcasting stitches.

FLOWER IN DOT STITCH ON A FOUNDATION OF LINEN STITCH (fig. 661).—With the help of this stitch, which is described in the chapter on white embroidery and represented in fig. 179, a great variety of little supplementary ornaments can be made, on every description of netted ground.

BORDERING IN BUTTON-HOLE STITCH (fig. 662).—Scalloped edges in netting should be button-holed; 2 or 3 padding threads should be run in first, following the bars of the netting, over which the button-holing is done; the bars of the netting must not be cut away until the edge be finished.

CUT WORK IN EMBROIDERED NETTING (fig. 663).—Cut work here means half covering the bars of the netting with button-hole stitches and half cutting them away with scissors. The inner bars are frequently ornamented with a double button-hole edging and knotted picots, see figs. 698 and 699 in the next chapter. You slightly separate the stitches of the first row of button-holing so as to be able to introduce the thread of the second row between them.

STRAIGHT LOOP STITCH (fig. 664).—In the first row you carry the thread over one bar and slip it through behind a knot; in the second you do the same thing, only that above, your needle will pass under 3 threads, two of them the threads of the loop of the first row and the third a bar of the net. In every square 4 threads cross each other.

WAVED STITCH (fig. 665).—This stitch, which forms a close waved ground, is produced by passing the thread in each row of the netting over a square and behind a knot. When the pattern admits of it, as it mostly does, a considerably thicker thread is used for this stitch and for the stitches represented in figs. 667, 668, 669 and 670, than that in which the netting is made. When the netted ground is of Fil à dentelle D.M.C No. 50,[A] the embroidery upon it may very well be done in Cordonnet 6 fils. D.M.C No. 10[A], or Fil à pointer D.M.C No. 30.[A]

INTERSECTED LOOP STITCH (fig. 666).—Begin by covering the whole surface to be embroidered with plain loop stitches, then stretch threads diagonally across the squares of the netting and the loop stitches; one set of threads running over the stitches and under the knots of the netting, the other under the first and second threads of the loop stitches and over the first crossed threads and the knots.

The laying and stretching of these threads must, it is hardly necessary to say, be systematically and regularly done.

GROUND WORKED IN HORIZONTAL LINES (fig. 667).—Make half cross stitches over 4 squares of netting, by passing the thread alternately over and under 3 knots, and under 3 squares of the netting. In the second row, cross the threads over those of the first row, as is shown in our engraving.

GROUND WORKED IN STITCHES PLACED ONE ABOVE THE OTHER (fig. 668).—Cover a whole row of squares with cross stitches and leave 3 rows of squares empty. When you have a sufficient number of rows of cross stitches, take a long needle and pass it upwards from below, and from right to left, under the two bars of the third upper square; then pass downwards to the first square of the 3 bottom rows and under the bars from right to left, so as again to leave 3 squares between the fresh stitches. The next row of stitches is made in the same manner, so that the stitches are not only set contrary ways but reciprocally cover each other.

LATTICED GROUND (fig. 669).—Begin by running the thread, to and fro, under two vertical bars and over three horizontal ones. When the ground is entirely covered, carry your thread from right to left, under the bars over which the first rows of threads are crossed; then take it over the long crosses, that correspond to 5 squares of netting, and pass it in the same line under the bars of the netting. In coming back, the long stitches cross each other over the stitches of the first rows.

GROUND WORKED IN RUSSIAN STITCH (fig. 670).—Pass the thread from left to right, under a bar of the netting, carry it downwards over 4 squares and pass it again, from left to right, under the bar, then upwards, again over 4 squares of netting and so on. The stitches of the next rows are made in the same manner; you have only to see that the loops formed by the stitches all come on the same line of knots.

GROUND WORKED IN TWO SIZES OF THREAD (fig. 671).—Herewith begins the series of stitches, referred to at the beginning of the chapter, copied in part from one of the oldest and most curious pieces of embroidered netting we have ever met with. The copies were worked with Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C No. 25 and écru Fil à dentelle D.M.C No. 70[A]; the former being used for the darning and the almond-shaped stitches between; the latter for the button-hole stitches. Wherever two sizes of thread are used for one pattern, all the stitches in the coarse thread should be put in first and those in the fine, last.

GROUND WITH WHEELS AND LOOP STITCH (fig. 672).—You begin with the coarse thread and finish all the wheels first, making them each over 4 threads of the netting; then with the fine thread, you make loop stitches between them, in rows, as shown in figs. 641 and 642.

GROUND WORKED IN DARNING AND LOOP STITCH (fig. 673).—The darning stitches are made in the coarse thread, over 4 squares of the netting, in a horizontal direction, with loop stitches, in the fine thread, made between them, over the same number of squares.

GROUND WORKED IN TWO SIZES OF THREAD (fig. 674).—Carry the coarse thread, from right to left, under the first knot of the netting, and then under the next, from left to right. This has to be done twice, to and fro, so that the squares of the netting are edged on both sides with a double layer of threads.

When the whole foundation has been thus covered, take the fine thread and make loop stitches in the squares between the other rows of stitches, passing the needle for that purpose over the double stitch. Lastly, intersect the loop stitches with straight threads and pass the needle each time through the knot of the netting.

GROUND WORKED WITH CROSS STITCHES IN ONE SIZE OF THREAD (fig. 675).—This pattern, very like the foregoing one, consists of 3 diagonal rows of stitches, worked to and fro, with cross stitches made over them.

You may also begin with the cross stitches, in the fine thread, and work the triple stitches over them, in the coarse.

GROUND WORKED WITH DARNING AND CORD STITCHES (fig. 676).—Patterns, executed chiefly in darning stitches, in a comparatively coarse thread, present a closer and heavier appearance than those we have been describing. Here, every other square of the netting is filled, as closely as possible, with stitches; the empty squares between are intersected diagonally with corded threads.

GROUND WORKED WITH SQUARES AND WHEELS (figs. 677, 678, 679).—A ground very often met with in old embroidered netting, consists of diagonal lines of squares, closely filled with darning stitches, alternating with diagonal lines of squares, each with a small wheel in the middle.

In fig. 678, the darning stitches, and the wheels, which are both worked with the same material, cover 4 squares of the netting.

Larger expanses of netting may also be entirely filled with wheels, fig. 679. To make a really satisfactory grounding of this kind, you should be careful always to carry your thread over the bars of the netting and under the threads that are stretched diagonally across.

GROUND WORKED IN CROSS AND DARNING STITCH (fig. 680).—You begin, as before, by making the close darning stitches, and then proceed to the cross stitches. To give them the right shape, finish all the rows of stitches one way first; in the subsequent rows, that cross the first ones, you introduce the thread between the stitches that were first crossed.

GROUND OF GEOMETRICAL FIGURES (fig. 681).—This pattern, quite different from all the others, consists of simple geometrical lines. Fasten the thread to a knot of the netting, then carry it, always diagonally, under 3 other knots and repeat this 3 times, after which, carry it once round the bar of the netting, to fasten it, and back again to the knot which it already encircles, and from thence begin a new square. Owing to your having always to bring the thread back to the knot whence the next square is to begin, you will have 4 threads on two of the sides and 6 on the two others.

In the second and subsequent rows, the needle has to pass twice under the angles that were first formed, in order that, over the whole surface, all the corners may be equally covered and connected.

NETTED INSERTION WORKED IN PLAIN DARNING STITCH (fig. 682).—The taste for ornamenting not only curtains but bed and table linen also, with lace and insertion of all kinds, to break the monotony of the large white surfaces, is becoming more and more general and the insertion here described will be welcome to such of our readers as have neither time nor patience for work of a more elaborate nature.

The way to make straight netting has already been fully described in figs. 625, 626, 627, 628, 629 and 630, and darning stitch in fig. 637.

To those who wish to be saved the trouble of making the netting themselves, we can strongly recommend various fabrics, intended to take its place, more especially Filet Canevas, which is an exact imitation of the finest hand-made netting. The centre part of the pattern in fig. 682, is worked in rows of horizontal darning stitches, the narrow border in vertical ones.

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GROUND OF NETTING EMBROIDERED (fig. 683).—We have already had occasion, in the foregoing explanations, to point out the advantage of embroidering with two sizes of thread, but it is only in a piece of work of a certain size that it is possible really to judge of the excellent effect produced by the use of two threads of different sizes.

The principal lines of the pattern, which are in darning stitch, are worked in a very coarse thread with a strong twist, Fil à pointer D.M.C, whilst the loop stitches are in Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C.

Our model was worked in écru thread but there is nothing to prevent several colours being introduced, for instance écru, black or Gris-Ficelle 462 for the netted foundation; Rouge-Cardinal 346, for the darning stitches, and Chiné d’or D.M.C green and gold or blue and gold, for the loop stitches and the threads that are carried across inside.

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EMBROIDERED SQUARE OF NETTING WITH TWO KINDS OF LACE SUITABLE FOR THE BORDER (figs. 684, 685, 686).—Large pieces of embroidered netting are generally made up of squares and stripes, joined together with ribbon and fine linen insertions. It is easier and less cumbrous to make the netting in separate pieces. Squares of different patterns can also be combined with crochet and pillow lace, in this case of course the squares have to be arranged with some system.

Fig. 685 represents a lace edging intended for the square fig. 684, which shows how even in such a simple pattern as this, several colours may be successfully introduced.

Fig. 686 is a handsomer and more elaborate pattern for the same kind of purpose. The loop stitches and the linen stitches should be worked in a very light shade; instead of the colour indicated at the foot of the engraving, Rouge-Géranium 353, Violet-Mauve 377 or Jaune-Rouille 365 may be used; for the netting and the loop stitches you may combine, with the first shade, two shades of Brun-Caroubier 303 and 357, with the second, two shades of Jaune-vieil Or 678 and 680 and with the third, two shades of Rouge-Cardinal 346 and 348.

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PATTERN FOR GROUND (fig. 687).—The peculiar charm of this most unpretending pattern is chiefly due to the variety of material and colour introduced into it. The netted ground is made of dark brown Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C No. 25, worked over, in the first instance, with loop stitches in a pale grey, which are afterwards connected by darning stitches in Coton à repriser Gris-Tilleul 392.

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The same material in Rouge-Géranium, is used for the little centre squares and the pink crosses, and isolated darned squares are framed with loose cord stitches in Coton à repriser colour Jaune-vieil-Or 680.

We can also recommend, for the same pattern, the following combination of colours, all to be found on the D.M.C colour card; namely, Bleu pâle 668 for the netting; Chiné d’or, gold with dark blue for the loop stitches; Ganse turque D.M.C No. 12 (Turkish gold cord) for the darning stitches, between the loop stitches; Coton à broder or Cordonnet 6 fils in Rouge-Cornouille 450, for the detached darned squares and Coton à repriser, in Jaune-d’Or 667 for the setting of all the different parts of the pattern.

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EMBROIDERY ON NETTING WITH DIFFERENT-SIZED LOOPS (fig. 688).—The netting, described and represented in fig. 620, with plain, oblong and double loops, here forms the ground for the embroidery.

In order to make the isolated loop stitches, the thread which forms the cross in the middle must be carried to the middle of the bar, the loops that form the stitches must be finished and the thread carried back to the knot whence it started. It must then be taken three times backwards and forwards over the foundation thread and the two bars of the netting, when the stitches, into and over 3 squares of the netting, should be made. The last row in the engraving shows the pattern in the successive stages of its development.

SQUARE AND EDGING IN CUT NETTING (figs. 689 and 690).—Few patterns admit of such a successful application of all the stitches hitherto described, as the square and edging presented to our readers in the two subjoined figures. On a netted ground of rather fine thread, we have in the first place, linen stitch, in the border, worked in rather a coarser thread than the ground; then raised wheels, button-holed bars with picots in the centre, plain wheels very close together, and long ribbed bars worked in darning stitch.

The edging, to match the square, is worked in the original in pale shades, in contrast to the square which is executed entirely in écru thread. The squares in the netted footing of the lace are loosely overcast with pale Violet-Mauve 316, the same colour is also used for the wheels in the outside edge, each of which fills a square, and for the loop stitches round them; whilst the middle one of the three upper ribbed wheels and the star are worked in dark Violet-Mauve 315. The crosses in linen stitch, the three lower ribbed wheels and the long ribbed bars in darning stitch, are in Gris-Tilleul 392.

NETTED INSERTION (fig. 691).—This is a copy of a beautiful piece of embroidered netting, to all appearance, several centuries old, and in a state that rendered, even the most delicate handling almost impossible.

After several experiments, the best result has been arrived at, and the Turkish cord in which the original is made, has now been manufactured for netting purposes, as well as for other kinds of decorative work, already alluded to, and referred to again later on.

The first foundation, that is, the actual netting, for a thing of this kind, should be made in white or écru thread, with very small meshes; the pattern itself is embroidered on the netting with Ganse turque D.M.C No. 12; this material, écru and gold mixed, gives the work a glittering and peculiarly elegant appearance, unobtainable in any other.

The execution is extremely easy, it being worked entirely in darning stitch; but the drawing should be copied with great accuracy and the wide braid very carefully sewn on with close stitches round the squares, which are filled in with darning stitches made in Ganse turque No. 12.

Any netting pattern can be copied in this braid, and the simplest piece of work of the kind is worth mounting on a rich foundation of silk, brocade, velvet or plush. To give a single example, the insertion here described and illustrated, was mounted on slate-blue plush and has been universally admired.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] See at the end of the concluding chapter, the table of numbers and sizes and the list of colours of the D.M.C threads and cottons.

IRISH LACE.

Irish lace, also known under the name of Renaissance lace, from its having been first made in the sixteenth century, is an imitation of the earliest pillow laces; it ought, properly speaking, to be called French lace, having been invented in France and thence introduced into England and Ireland.

It is composed of braid or tape, formed into figures, joined together by needle-made, corded or button-hole bars and fillings of different kinds, or by bars alone.

The lace stitches and bars are almost the same as those used in fine Venetian point, but they are executed in a coarser material so that this section of our work may be considered as a preparation for the different kinds of lace, to be described in the next chapter.

MATERIALS (fig. 692).—The braids used for making Irish lace are an English speciality and manufactured exclusively in England; they are very various in shade, width and thickness, and are to be had white, unbleached, grey and pale yellow, narrow and wide, coarse and fine in texture, with and without holes, open edge and picots, with large medallions and small.

Fig. 692 represents the kinds most commonly used, in their original size, together with a specimen picot, or purl, as they are called in England, for the outside edge, also to be had ready made, for those who do not care for the trouble of making them themselves.

For the stitches and bars by which the braids are joined together, the best material is Fil à dentelle D.M.C,[A] (lace thread) a smooth even thread, now made in every colour to match the braids.

TRANSFERRING DESIGNS FOR IRISH LACE.—The best way is to trace them on oiled tracing linen with a watery ink, free from greasy matter. This tracing linen, which is of English make, is white, glazed on one side only; the unglazed surface should be turned uppermost, as it takes the ink better.

As this tracing linen is quite transparent, the pattern can be transferred to it at once without recourse to any other process.

It will be found less trying for the eyes to lay a piece of transparent coloured paper, or stuff, under the pattern whilst you are copying it. The Irish lace designs are almost all drawn with double lines, between which the braid is tacked on with small back stitches. We may mention at once that it is advisable to make the stitches longer on the right side than on the other, or at any rate to make them of the same length.

TACKING DOWN AND GATHERING IN THE BRAIDS (fig. 693).—Where the lines of the pattern describe a curve or a circle, the outside edge of the braid, as shown in fig. 693, must be sewn down firmly, so as to form little folds or gathers on the inside edge, which are first tacked down and then gathered in with small overcasting stitches in fine thread, so as to fit exactly to the pattern.

The stitches, made for the bars and the fillings, must never be drawn so tightly as to drag out the edges of the braids and thus spoil the outlines of the pattern. Nor should the stitches be caught into the tracing cloth, but only rest upon it.

When the embroidery is finished, turn the work the wrong side up, cut every second or third tacking stitch and pull the threads carefully out, from the wrong side, when the lace will separate itself from the backing without difficulty; it has then to be damped and ironed also on the wrong side. (See the concluding chapter on the different processes for finishing off needlework).

It is of no consequence which are made first, the bars or the fillings; we however incline to the former, more especially in the case of button-hole bars, as they are easier to do than the fillings and once done, there is less risk of puckering or drawing the edges together, in making the fillings.

THE STITCHES.—We shall now proceed to describe a series of bars and stitches, which, if carefully studied, will serve as a preparation for making all the finer kinds of laces described in the ensuing chapter.

Without pretending to have exhausted the infinite variety of lace stitches that exists, we hope to have brought before our readers’ notice a sufficiently numerous selection to satisfy all tastes and capacities.

With regard to the names, the same stitches are known by so many different ones, that excepting in the case of those universally accepted, we have disregarded them altogether and merely numbered the stitches in their order.

PLAIN TWISTED BAR (fig. 694).—Secure the thread to the braid and throw it across from one braid edge to the other, put the needle in downwards from above, and overcast the first thread, so as to form the two into a cord. If you do not make enough overcasting stitches to tighten the two threads, the bars will be loose and untidy and spoil the general appearance of the work.

DOUBLE TWISTED BAR (fig. 695).—Throw three foundation threads across the space to be filled and overcast them loosely, so that they remain visible between the stitches.

PLAIN BUTTON-HOLE BAR (fig. 696).—Throw three threads across and cover them with button-hole stitches, made from right to left.

In making this and the subsequent bars, we recommend turning the needle round and holding it as it were the reverse way, so that the eye not the point passes first under the threads; strange as it may seem, it is easier in this manner to avoid splitting the threads. The working thread should always issue from the edge of the braid, one or two threads before the foundation threads of the bar, to prevent the bars being of unequal width, or getting twisted at the beginning.

BUTTON-HOLE BARS WITH PINNED PICOTS (figs. 697 and 698). After covering half, or a third of the bar with button-hole stitches, pass the thread without making a loop, under the foundation threads, and fasten the loop with a pin, fig. 697, then slip the needle, horizontally from right to left, under the 3 threads and tighten the knot close to the last button-hole stitch.

Fig. 698 shows a picot made in the same manner, but with several button-hole stitches inserted between the loop and the button-holed bar.

BAR WITH LACE PICOT (fig. 699).—Here the picot is made by bringing the thread out through the loop and beginning the button-hole stitches, 4 or 5 in number, according to the size of the thread, quite close to the pin, so that they entirely cover the loop. The pin must be stuck in the width of 4 stitches, distant from the bar, and the foundation threads should be completely hidden under the bar.

BAR WITH PICOT MADE IN BULLION STITCH (fig. 700).—Put the needle halfway into the last button-hole stitch, twist the thread ten or twelve times round it from left to right, draw it through and tighten the thread, so that the spiral on the thread form a semicircle, then continue the bar (see also for the bullion stitch figs. 179 and 661).

BAR WITH BUTTON-HOLE PICOT (fig. 701).—Cover rather more than half the bar with button-hole stitches, carry the thread three times to the 6th stitch and back, then button-hole these threads that are attached to the bar in the same way as the bar itself and finish the bar in the usual way.

These button-hole picots are generally used for edging lace; they may in their turn be adorned with small pinned picots to produce a richer effect.

BAR WITH TWO ROWS OF KNOTS (fig. 702).—Over two foundation threads, make double knots, far enough apart to leave room for the knots of the next row between.

These double knots consist, in the first place, of one plain button-hole stitch and then one reversed, that is, made by bringing the needle out in front of the thread and passing it under the loop; the result being that the thread will lie behind the thread and not before it, as in an ordinary button-hole stitch.

BRANCHED BARS (fig. 703).—Where you have a larger surface to cover with bars, you are generally obliged to make them with branches. For this purpose you prepare the threads as for an ordinary bar and cover them halfway with button-hole stitches; then you carry on the foundation thread to the next bar, button-hole it also halfway, lay the next foundation thread, and finally button-hole all the half-covered bars till you reach the dotted line, from whence you lay the last foundation threads.

The last bar is worked over 2 or 4 threads, so that the working thread can be taken back to the edge of the braid by means of the last button-hole stitches.

PLAIN RUSSIAN STITCH (fig. 704).—Stitches of all kinds can be used, as well as bars, for joining braids together that run parallel to each other, and for filling up the spaces between. These stitches, which serve as an insertion, are some of them very elementary, whilst others require great skill and patience to execute.

The simplest of all is the Russian stitch, which bears a great resemblance to the crossed stitch, shown in fig. 39, and the crossed back-stitch, fig. 176.

You pass the needle from left to right, under the edge of the braid, then again from right to left under the opposite edge, taking care always to leave the thread in front of the needle.

TWISTED RUSSIAN STITCH (fig. 705).—Instead of passing the needle behind the thread, pass it before it and round it, so that the needle always comes out again beneath the thread, which will then be twice twisted.

COLUMN STITCH (fig. 706).—At the bottom, the stitch is made like the plain Russian stitch, and at the top, like the one in fig. 705, with the difference that the second thread is passed three times round the first.

INSERTION OF SINGLE BUTTON-HOLE STITCHES (figs. 707 and 708).—Make very loose button-hole stitches along both edges of the braid, all the same size and the same distance apart, and vertically, opposite to each other.

When these two rows are finished, pick up each loop with Russian stitch, either single, fig. 704, or twisted, fig. 705. Fig. 708 shows the double Russian stitch made in each loop; it may be trebled or quadrupled, according to whether you wish your insertion to be very transparent or not.

INSERTION WITH BEAD STITCHES (fig. 709).—Join the opposite rows of loops together by four stitches. The threads of these stitches must lie quite flat, side by side, and not one on the top of the other. After the fourth stitch, you wind the thread round the bottom loop and then carry it on to the next, whence you repeat the four stitches as above.

CLUSTER INSERTION (fig. 710).—Over the middle of two finished plain bars and one half-finished one, a short distance apart, you make five button-hole stitches and overcast the remainder of the third bar. The first bar of the next cluster must be set quite close to the last.

INSERTION WITH BRANCHES (figs. 711 and 712).—Throw the thread across the middle of the space between two edges of braid, and lengthways, from one end to the other, pass the needle horizontally under four or five threads of the braid, across the insertion; then carry it in a similar manner, first to the left and then to the right, take up the same number of threads of the braid and connect the three loops together by a knot, as is clearly shown in fig. 711.

Fig. 712 represents a similar beginning, and a similar interlacing of the threads, but ornamented this time with a wheel, added after the knot has been made over the loops.

INSERTION WITH LEAVES IN DARNING STITCH (fig. 713).—Fasten on the thread where, according to the illustration, the first leaf in the insertion ought to come, carry it across to the opposite side, draw it through the edge of the braid and bring it back to the point whence it started, lay threads across to both sides, like in figs. 711 and 712, unite them by a knot, such as described in fig. 711, lay the thread once more round the middle leaf, and finish the leaf in darning stitch, working downwards from the top, as described in the preceding chapter in figs. 646 and 647. As may be seen from the second middle leaf, your darning stitches have to be made over five threads, subdivided into two and three.

INSERTION WITH SMALL WHEELS (fig. 714).—Here, you have to make two rows of Russian stitches opposite each other and carry the thread to the point of intersection, then, you make a wheel over five threads and pass the needle under the completed wheel to reach the next point of intersection. Half wheels may also be added at the edge of the braid, as in figs. 658 and 659.

INSERTION WITH BIG WHEELS (fig. 715).—Carry the thread horizontally across the middle of the space intended for the insertion, to the opposite side, and then conduct it by means of overcasting stitches into the corner; thence make a loose loop over to the opposite corner, pass the needle under six or eight threads of the braid edge, slip it under the horizontal thread first laid and behind the loop, and finish the stitch on the other side in the edge of the braid.

Throw the thread again across the empty space and over the first thread, bring your needle back to the middle, make a big wheel over four threads, passing each time under the same threads, then overcast the single thread, come back to the edge of the braid and make the second loop, bringing out the thread at the same place where the other stitches came out.

INSERTION WITH CONES (figs. 716 and 717).—Over plain but very distended Russian stitch, make darning stitches backwards and forwards, beginning at the point and reaching to the middle, so as to form small cone-shaped figures.

To reach the point of the next cone you overcast the thread of the Russian stitch several times.

You may also, as in fig. 717, double the Russian stitch and make the darning stitches in such a manner that the points of the cones touch each other and their bases meet the edge of the braid. The same thing, worked the reverse way, that is, with the points turned outwards to the edge, produces a not less pretty effect.

INSERTION WITH EMBROIDERED SQUARES (fig. 718).—After making rows of loose button-hole stitches along the braid edges, as in figs. 707, 708, 709, run a thread through the button-hole stitches; this thread serves as the foundation to the Russian stitches by which the two edges are joined together. The empty square space left between the Russian stitches is then filled up with button-hole stitches, like those in fig. 651, in the foregoing chapter.

INSERTION WITH HALF BARS (fig. 719).—Fasten on the thread in one of the corners of the braid and conduct it by means of overcasting stitches to the middle of the insertion, draw it through the edge of the braid on the right and make button-hole stitches over it, to the middle of the space to be filled, then carry the thread to the left, draw it through the left edge, a little higher up than on the other side, and make the same number of stitches over it as over the first. You can vary this insertion with very good result by making more stitches on one side than on the other, but it should never be more than 10 or 12 stitches wide.

PLAIN NET STITCH. FIRST LACE STITCH (fig. 720).—Make rows of button-hole stitches to and fro, loose enough to form loops into which the stitches of each subsequent row are set. You must be careful to make the same number of stitches in all the spaces that are of the same size, and also, when you begin a row with a whole stitch, to begin the return row with a half, and so on, in regular rotation.

The number of stitches should vary with the width of the pattern and the decreasing and increasing should always be done at the edge.

The loops must be as many threads of the braid edge long, as they are wide.

DOUBLE NET STITCH. SECOND LACE STITCH (fig. 721).—You leave the same distance between the stitches here as in the preceding figure, but in each of the loops of the first row, you must make two button-hole stitches close together. It is as well to round the loop a little less than is usually done in net stitch.

THIRD LACE STITCH (fig. 722).—Here, you make three button-hole stitches close together, joined to the next three by a loop of thread, just long enough to hold the three button-hole stitches of the subsequent row.

FOURTH LACE STITCH (fig. 723).—Working from left to right, make two button-hole stitches rather near together, and leave twice as long a loop between them and the next two stitches as between the two first.

In the next row, which is worked from right to left, make one stitch in the loop between the two stitches that are close together and three or four in the long loop.

FIFTH LACE STITCH (fig. 724).—As in fig. 723, you begin this stitch from left to right, but making three stitches very close together with an intermediate loop as long as the three stitches in one.

In the second row, you make one button-hole stitch in each of the loops between the three stitches and six or eight in the long intermediate loop.

SIXTH LACE STITCH (fig. 725).—Over wide loops, made from left to right in the first row, make in the second, enough button-hole stitches entirely to cover the thread.

In the third row of stitches, put the needle into the small loop between two sets of button-hole stitches, so that the close stitches shall form vertical lines across the surface they cover.

This stitch admits of every sort of modification, such as, for instance, making the third row of stitches on the button-hole stitches, in the middle of the ones on the small loop; or making one row of close stitches first, and then three open rows; in the former case you should always make an uneven number of button-hole stitches, so that you have the same number on both sides of the needle, which you must put in between the two threads that form the middle button-hole stitch.

SEVENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 726).—Begin, working from right to left, by making one row of pairs of button-hole stitches, a very short distance apart; in the second row you make one button-hole stitch between each of these pairs, and in the third row, two button-hole stitches in every long loop. Here, the stitches must not be crowded together but have a small gap left between them.

EIGHTH LACE STITCH (fig. 727).—This stitch is generally known as the “pea-stitch” on account of the holes occasioned by the different distribution of the stitches.

The first row consists of stitches, set rather closely together, and all the same distance apart. In the second row, you make one button-hole stitch in the last stitch of the first row, then, missing two loops and three button-hole stitches, you make two stitches in the next loops and so on. In the third row, you make three stitches in the big loop, and one in the loop between the stitches of the second row.

NINTH, AND TENTH LACE STITCH (figs. 728 and 729).—Both, the small and the big pointed groups of stitches, begin with a row of close button-hole stitches.

Fig. 728 requires three rows; in the second you miss two stitches and make two in the next loops; in the third, only one stitch is introduced between the two loops of the lower row.

Fig. 729 requires five rows. The stitches of the first must be set as closely together as possible; in the second row you make four stitches and miss two of the first row, in the third row you make three stitches, in the fourth, two and in the fifth, one only. The long loops of the last row must not be too slack so that the first stitches of the next scallop may quite cover them.

ELEVENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 730).—This stitch is not really more difficult to work than those we have been describing, but requires rather more attention to learn.

The first row consists of plain net stitches; in the second, you have three button-hole stitches in the middle net stitch; in the third, three button-hole stitches in the whole loops on either side of the three button-hole stitches of the second row, and one stitch in the half loops that precede and immediately follow them; the fourth row is similar to the second.

In the fifth row the close stitches are changed. The three button-hole stitches are made in the third whole loop, before and after those of the fourth row, so that between two groups of three stitches you have six single button-hole stitches and seven loops.

TWELFTH LACE STITCH (fig. 731).—Fasten on your thread, take it by overcasting stitches over the braid edge, half a c/m. from the corner, and make three button-hole stitches downwards, quite close together. The next loops, over four or six threads of the braid, must be left long enough to be on a level with the first stitch reaching downwards from the edge.

In the second row, you cover the long loops with three button-hole stitches and draw the intervening thread quite tight.

The third row is like the first, with the difference, that you put the needle in between the two threads of the button-hole stitch, instead of through the loops.

THIRTEENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 732).—The stitch here represented, as well as the two next ones are looped from left to right and then again from right to left.

As it is more unusual to make the loops from left to right than the reverse way, the proper position of the needle and the course of the thread are shown in the illustrations.

Fig. 732 requires, in the first place, two button-hole stitches very close together in the edge of the braid, then a third stitch covering the two first stitches and set quite close to them; the connecting thread between these stitches must be tightly stretched so as to lie almost vertically, that the stitches may form straight lines.

FOURTEENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 733).—This begins, likewise, with two button-hole stitches, above which you make two button-hole stitches instead of one, as in fig. 732, producing an open ground with vertical bars.

FIFTEENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 734).—This resembles the two foregoing stitches and consists of three button-hole stitches, made over the edge of the braid or the intermediate bars, and joined together afterwards under one transverse stitch.

SIXTEENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 735).—You begin this by a row of net stitches worked from right to left, or as the engraving shows, by a row of stitches called «seed stitches».

The second row, worked from left to right, consists of short bars, set slanting and shaped like a seed, and made the same way as the picot in fig. 699. The first stitch is carried through the loop of the row below, the second over both threads and far enough from the loop to leave room for three other stitches. The first of the four button-hole stitches of the next group must be set quite close to the last.

SEVENTEENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 786).—Here we have the same pattern as the preceding one without the row of net stitches; the engraving shows us at the same time, the proper direction of the needle and thread for the row that is worked from right to left.

EIGHTEENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 737).—This is the first of a series of lace stitches, often met with in old Venetian lace, and which can therefore with perfect right be called, Venetian stitches.

Owing to the manner and order in which the rows of stitches are connected and placed above one another, they form less transparent grounds than those we have hitherto described.

In these grounds you begin by making the row of loops, then you throw a thread across on the same level and in coming back, pass the needle through the row of loops under the thread stretched across, and under the stitch of the previous row.

NINETEENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 738).—The close stitch here represented is more common in Venetian lace than the loose stitch given in fig. 737.

TWENTIETH LACE STITCH (fig. 739).—By missing some loops of the close ground in one row and replacing them by the same number in the next, small gaps are formed, and by a regular and systematic missing and taking up of stitches, in this way, extremely pretty grounds can be produced.

TWENTY-FIRST LACE STITCH (fig. 740).—These close lace stitches, can be varied in all sorts of other ways by embroidering the needle-made grounds.

In fig. 740, you have little tufts in darning stitch, and in a less twisted material than the close stitches of the ground, worked upon the ground.

If you use Fil à dentelle D.M.C (lace thread) for the ground, you should take either Coton à repriser D.M.C (darning cotton), or better still, Coton surfin D.M.C[A] for the tufts. The ground can also be ornamented with little rings of button-holing, stars or flowerets in bullion or some other fancy stitch.

TWENTY-SECOND LACE STITCH (fig. 741).—For the above three stitches and the three that follow, the work has to be held, so that the finished rows are turned to the worker and the needle points to the outside of the hand. In the first row, from left to right, take hold of the thread near the end that is in the braid, lay it from left to right under the point of the needle, and bring it back again to the right, over the same. Whilst twisting the thread in this way round the needle with the right hand, you must hold the eye of the needle under the left thumb.

When you have laid the thread round draw the needle through the loops; the bars must stand straight and be of uniform length. Were they to slant or be at all uneven, we should consider the work badly done.

In the row that is worked from left to right, the thread must be twisted round the needle, likewise from left to right.

TWENTY-THIRD LACE STITCH (fig. 742).—This is begun with the same stitches as fig. 741, worked from right to left. You then take up every loop that comes between the vertical bars with an overcasting stitch, drawing the thread quite out, and tightening it as much as is necessary after each stitch. You cannot take several stitches on the needle at the same time and draw out the thread for them all at once, as this pulls the bars out of their place.

TWENTY-FOURTH LACE STITCH (fig. 743).—This is often called the Sorrento stitch.

Every group of three bars of stitches is separated from the next by a long loop, round which the thread is twisted in its backward course. In each of the succeeding rows you place the first bar between the first and second of the preceding row, and the third one in the long loop, so that the pattern advances, as it were in steps.

TWENTY-FIFTH AND TWENTY-SIXTH LACE STITCHES (figs. 744 and 745).—These two figures show how the relative position of the groups of bars may be varied.

Both consist of the same stitches as those described in fig. 741. The thread that connects the groups should be tightly stretched, so that the rows may form straight horizontal lines.

TWENTY-SEVENTH LACE STITCH (fig. 746).—Begin by making two rows of net stitches, fig. 720, then two of close ones, fig. 738, and one row like those of fig. 741.

If you want to lengthen the bars, twist the thread once or twice more round the needle. You can also make one row of bars surmounted by wheels, as shown in fig. 765, then one more row of bars and continue with close stitches.

TWENTY-EIGHTH LACE STITCH (fig. 747).—Between every group of three bars, set close together, leave a space of a corresponding width; then bring the thread back over the bars, as in figs. 737, 738 and 739, without going through the loops. In the second row, you make three bars in the empty space, two over the three bars of the first row and again three in the next empty space. The third row is like the first.

TWENTY-NINTH LACE STITCH (fig. 748).—This stitch, known as Greek net stitch, can be used instead of button-hole bars for filling in large surfaces.