Chapter VI: A Lesson in Stencilling 74 (4)

Sometimes you might like to make an eyelet to represent a grape. Some embroiderers call it a shaded or padded eyelet. After the eyelet has been traced make another row of tracing or padding below the lower half of the eyelet. Start from the centre side of the eyelet and make the second tracing deeper on the lower portion of the eyelet. If any space is left between these two rows of tracings fill in with other rows of uneven darning (Figure 144A).

When eyelets are used on the outer edge of a design, they should be buttonholed.

The next stitch to claim our attention is French knots. In France they are known as the English knot. They are used to fill in the centres of flowers. When working a piece of golden rod the natural effect is best produced by using French knots very close to each other. A row worked on each side of a row of feather stitching makes a pretty decoration on babies' dresses, caps or even on yokes of dresses for yourself.

A heavy thread is good to practise making the knot. The actual size or kind of thread to use should depend partly on the kind of material and partly upon the other style of work or stitches that you intend combining with it.

To work the knot, fasten the thread securely on the wrong side and bring the needle through to the right side. Now hold the thread down with your left thumb. With the right hand put the needle over and under the thread until there are three or four coils of the thread around the point of the needle. Now hold these coils down with the left thumb. Turn the needle so that its point will go down through the material as close as possible to the place through which it came (Figure 147).

A pretty idea for making knots for dress trimmings is to thread the needle with two strands of silk, each of a different colour.

Bullion stitch is an elongated French knot. It is used considerably in Mountmellick embroidery, to represent grains of wheat. Small leaves and daisies are oftentimes carried out in bullion stitch.

To make the stitch we will say that we are working on the conventional daisy. Bring the thread up to the base of the petal. Insert the needle so that the length of the petal lies on top of it. (See Figure 148.) Twine the thread around the needle point until there are as many coils as the length of the petal. The left thumb should hold the coils in place while you are twisting them. The needle is now drawn through the material. It is put through the same hole, or as near as possible to the one from which it came. Keep the left thumb holding down the coils until the stitch has been fastened.

Another way to accomplish bullion stitch, which has the same appearance, but which really is a very much slower method, is to lay a heavy thread the length of the stitch desired and then neatly wind the cotton over it. It requires a heavy cotton to work this successfully.

An embroidery needle should not be used for either French knots or bullion stitch, as the eye is apt to stick when pulling it through the coils. A large sewing needle should be substituted.

Any girl can make dainty and original designs for eyelet work if she will invest in compasses. As has been stated before, eyelets vary in size. The size that is most effective for decorating heavy linen or cotton is an eyelet a little less than half an inch in diameter. A larger eyelet is often used, but it requires a good deal of patience and experience to keep it in shape.

With the compass hundreds of designs may be used. The most popular as well as being the most attractive is the simple daisy. A circle is drawn to represent the centre. A quarter of an inch over from the centre circle, or less if you wish to, draw six other circles so that they form a ring around the centre dot.

A design such as this can be used on a ruffle of a petticoat or between tucks on dresses while for a whole linen piece there is nothing handsomer for a scalloped or hemstitched centre piece, doily, bureau cover and many other articles on which a bold, open effect is appropriate.

The Wall-of-Troy design is a good one for compass work, only it is suggested to faintly rule the design then inscribe the circles so that their centres are on the line. For instance, suppose you want to make a border design about an inch and a half deep. Take your rule and keeping on a straight thread of your material draw a two-inch line, then leave a space, then draw another line, so on to the end. An inch and a half above these lines draw another row of lines just over the spaces of the first row. Connect the ends of the lines together. Plan so that there is a circle at the points or corners of each line. Between these dots on the horizontal lines make two more circles, while on the vertical lines make only one. These instructions are for a circle the size described; for a smaller eyelet it will be necessary to add more circles to the lines.

A still simpler design is one that is made on a square, that is, with a dot at each corner and one in the direct centre. The dots must be kept the same distance apart.

The Italian girls will make the most elaborate designs of compass work on strips of firm, heavy muslin for ruffles for underwear. They are not like the American and French girls, who will only wear the sheerest kind of light material. The advantage the Italian girl has over her French and American sisters is that when she embroiders a garment it lasts for years, even if it is constantly used, while delicate embroidery is apt to have a very short life on account of the background. To the American girl this is no drawback, as she is always craving for new things.

Sometimes a thimble, spool, or even a twenty-five cent piece is used instead of the compass when a large eyelet is required.

An edge of eyelets is very handsome on a collar and cuff set or handkerchief. They should be placed so that after they are worked they touch each other. The entire eyelet may be carried out in buttonholing or the lower half may be buttonholed and the top worked in the regular way. After the work has been completed dampen the edge and press before cutting out the material from underneath the lower edge of the eyelet.

It is possible to work the eyelet without any buttonhole stitches and yet use it for an edge. In that case a little padding is required and the stitches should be close together.

A linen hat that has a simple scallop edge and a simple design on the brim and crown is a treasure that usually only the wealthy enjoy. It is nice to know how to embroider, but unless we put to use the things we know our knowledge is like a white elephant on our hands. After a careful study of the diagram of the stitches you desire to make and reading the description as to how to make it, a little child could almost work a hat, but the mounting of a hat is not so simple. Yet, what is the use of taking time to embroider one if you do not intend to make it up?

Eyelet work is particularly dainty on a hat as it gives a lacy effect. The material should be a medium weight linen so as not to be too stiff. At one time butcher's linen was thought to be the only kind to be used, but of later years a softer linen is preferred. Lingerie hats have been used for years, probably long before you were born. Every year the shape varies a little. One year it is a narrow brim sailor, next year it is a wide brim, then again a high, next a Tam-o'-shanter crown. The last four years it has been the mushroom shape. For most faces there is nothing more becoming and girlish than the latter (Figure 150).

Sometimes the mushroom shape is covered with hand-embroidered ruffles, while again a circular piece having the crown cut out is used. The size of hat varies by what fashion dictates, so it is hard to say just how large your linen should be cut. A twenty-two or twenty-four inch circle makes a neat little shape.

After the embroidery has been worked as described in the first part of this chapter, the frame is prepared for mounting it. A wire frame is lighter and more satisfactory than a buckram frame.

The first thing to decide is, how are we going to face the hat? Tucked ruffling, net, dotted swiss, or fine ruffles of Valenciennes lace may be used. Most people prefer to cover the entire frame with cheap, fine lawn before facing or covering the hat.

This is done by placing the hat on the lawn, the brim touching the material, and cutting a circle a trifle larger than the brim. Cut a circle out for the crown and slip the lawn over the frame. If the crown is too large to allow the lawn to be slipped over it a wide bias band of the lawn can be used to cover the brim. The bias strip should be just the depth of the brim. For the crown, cut a circle large enough to cover the top and use a bias band around its sides.

Tack the muslin to the frame by long basting stitches. It will be necessary to pass under the wire when taking a stitch to keep the material in place. The tucked ruffling can be bought by the yard, trimmed with a row of narrow lace. The entire thing is banded. To adjust a ruffling of this sort place the band around the edge of the crown and tack the ruffle in position at short intervals and at the extreme edge of the brim.

Net or dotted Swiss is pretty shirred or corded or even put on plain. A strip three times the length that it would take to go around the brim plain is cut the depth of the brim. This band is cut on the straight of the goods. A shirring string is run on both sides. The strip is placed in position and pinned taking care to distribute the gathers evenly. The shirring string under the crown is pulled up first and the material over-handed to the frame. The gathering thread on the outer edge of the brim is also adjusted like this, only instead of over-hand stitches, fine running stitches are preferable. Then a small heading is made on one side of the strip that is to be shirred. The heading makes a pretty, soft finish at the edge and does not require any great length of time to do. Allow three quarters of an inch, or more, in the depth of your ruffle if it is to have a heading. Turn one edge of the material to the wrong side. The turn should be a little more than a quarter of an inch deep. The gathering thread is run a quarter of an inch from the folded edge of the material. When the thread is pulled up the heading is formed.

If the material is to be corded, baste a narrow round cord like a corset lace inside the material. The cord is placed where it is desired and the material is folded over it as for a tuck. A running thread is worked close to the cord to keep the two pieces of material together. The threads are afterwards drawn up to bring the fulness of the ruffles to fit the outer edge of the hat.

Three rows of cording are quite sufficient on the edge and the other two rows at equal intervals from the outer brim to the crown.

The ruffles of Valenciennes lace are adjusted by pulling the drawing string on the edge of the lace, and basting the first row of lace on the extreme edge. The second row just touches the first, and so on, filling as many rows of lace in as required.

The embroidered piece is then washed and the brim placed. The edge is tacked at intervals while around the crown the stitches are taken very close together.

The Tam-o'-shanter crown is pulled in shape by a gathering thread, if it is cut in a circular shape and the gathering is all on the edge. Cut the circle large enough to make a pretty Tam-o'-shanter.

The embroidery decoration may be in the direct centre of the crown. If the design is a small one it can be scattered over the crown to give an all over effect.

There are many ways that a lingerie hat may be trimmed and it is hard to say which is the prettiest. A black ribbon band and a bow is simple but severe. White taffeta ribbon may be used the same way if an all white hat is wanted. In fact any shade of ribbon is attractive used like this. The illustration shows a pretty way of trimming a lingerie hat for a girl of about fourteen. A narrow coloured ribbon is used around the crown and a rosette of leaves with rose buds and forget-me-nots is attractively placed on one side.

Sometimes coloured linen is used for the hat and in that case the embroidery may be worked in the same shade as the linen; or white. The hat is then trimmed with white or black. A coloured hat is not as practicable as a white one, as the former is apt to fade and may not be as becoming as the white.

A baby's buttoned hat is made of two circular pieces scalloped out at the edges, one piece being four or five inches smaller than the other. The large one is used for the brim. The head size is cut out of the direct centre and then bound in tape. Three inches from the crown opening sew a circular row of buttons, a half inch apart. Use a washable linen, lace, or crochet button for this purpose.

One inch from the edge of the crown make as many buttonholes as you have buttons. A pair of daintily hemstitched strings that are attached, one on each side of the crown opening, completes this charming little hat. It can be easily unbuttoned and laundered flat. These hats are made of duck, pique or heavy linen. They are the nicest thing you can make for your little sister for the summer when she wants to play in the sun.

XVI

LONG AND SHORT, KENSINGTON EMBROIDERY, AND RIBBON WORK FOR SIMPLE FLOWERS

It is the ambition of every one who starts to embroider to make a piece of flower work and though the floral designs are most fascinating to embroider they are by no means as artistic as the conventional.

The way to embroider a piece of flower work and obtain an original colouring is to get a natural flower and place it in a vase in a position that you can clearly see the light and shadow. The best flower to start with is a daisy. Note that the petals are not a dead white, but there is a suggestion of green toward the centre of the flower. Get mercerized cotton to work with at first until you become accustomed to the stitch.

There is no cut and dried rule in regard to the colouring, but the art of shading a piece naturally is a lesson that is very essential for the embroiderer.

To many people the term embroidery means flower work and only after a course of instruction they discover for themselves how much more artistic and in keeping with most rooms is a conventional design.

Flower work, however, is not to be despised as you will learn more about colour combination and Kensington stitch in one piece of this style than any kind of embroidery.

All flower work has long and short stitch on the edge of the petals or leaves that do not turn over. Daisies do not have turn over leaves as often as a double rose or chrysanthemum. Suppose we draw a very large daisy on a piece of white muslin. With your needle threaded with white lustre start from the right-hand side. Take one stitch on the line. Place your needle back near the same point from which you started. Take a short stitch that goes a wee bit outside of the stamped line past the first stitch. The object of going beyond the line, is that the stitch completely covers the stamping.

The third stitch is taken at the same slant, only longer. The fourth is a short one and so on, first one short and then one long until the top of the petal is reached. Remember, though, these stitches are only on the edge. The left half is worked the same, but the stitches slant a little differently. A good rule to mention right here is, that all stitches should slant to the heart of the flower. In leaves they slant toward the base. The inside of the petal, when the long and short stitches are completed, should be irregular (Figure 151).

The Kensington stitch gets its name from an English school of embroidery. It is more like outlining than any other stitch.

After the edge of the flower has been worked in long and short stitch, the Kensington stitch is used to give the solid effect.

The piece must be held all the while in a tight fitting pair of hoops so that it can not sag in the least.

If the petal is long, two or three rows of Kensington stitch will have to be worked to fill it in. If silk is desired, two strands are used for the edge and one strand for the Kensington stitch. The stitches are dovetailed into each other. Each row must have an irregular lower edge, else they will look like bricks laid one on top of the other. The stitches should be so worked that it is difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins (Figure 152).

Three shades of green are sufficient for the leaves until you are quite expert. In working them embroider on the edge of the lower half of each leaf with the second shade and the upper part with the lightest. Work one side first using the second shade under the lightest and the third under the second. Work to the midrib only. It is not necessary to work in the veins, but if they are desired they are put in after the leaf has been worked. Do not hesitate to cover the stamped veining on the leaf you are working, as the next leaf will be a guide to where to place the veins. They may be in the lightest or deepest shade of green, while sometimes a reddish-brown is substituted.

The centre of the daisy may be satin-stitch or a cluster of French knots. If the dot is worked from the centre to left and from the centre to right you are more apt to get a perfect outline than when starting from one side and working to the other.

As a usual thing the lightest shade is on the outer edge of most flowers, but there are a few exceptions, like wild roses and some species of pansies in which the deepest shade is on the edge and toward the centre it is lightest.

The stems may be worked in satin-stitch or Kensington in wood shades or deep greens, whichever give the more realistic effect to the flower.

It is a great mistake to use white for the background of flower work. Cream or pale gray make a very much softer and more pleasing effect.

Sometimes a little of the stem brown can be worked into the leaves.

Have you ever seen a lace spread or centre piece with flowers embroidered on it? You might think that the worker was more than ordinarily clever, but really any one who can embroider flowers can do this. Baste a piece of fine lawn on the section you desire to embroider and stamp it with a spray. Embroider in the usual way and when the spray is finished neatly cut away any of the lawn that extends beyond the flower without cutting the lace. The result is that the piece has the effect of a natural flower resting upon it.

The finer the silk used the more delicate shading can be accomplished.

There is another way to represent flowers that is particularly beautiful. It is known as ribbon work or rococo embroidery. The ribbons especially made for this work vary from slightly less than one quarter of an inch to a little more than a half inch in width. The colours do not range in such long lines as the silks. In fact it is rare to find a shop that carries more than ten colours. Sometimes the ribbons are shaded. They are soft and do not crease quite as readily as an ordinary ribbon.

A No. 6 crewel needle is about the right size for the narrow ribbon, while the half inch ribbons need a No. 3.

Forget-me-nots, conventionalized small asters, and little roses are suitable for the narrow ribbons. Satin, moire, broadcloth, or heavy silk are used for the background and the daintiest of needle cases, jewel cases, handkerchief bags, belts, and other little accessories may be evolved from a small piece of silk and a few yards of ribbon. The design is stamped on the background and all the single lines or stems outlined with filo silk. Let us imagine we are working on a spray of forget-me-nots. The needle is threaded with six inches of the narrow green ribbon. Slip your needle from the under side of the material drawing all the ribbon through but a quarter of an inch. One stitch is generally sufficient for a leaf, though sometimes the leaves are wider and require two or possibly three stitches. The ribbon serves the same purpose as silk. The one point to remember is that the ribbon should not be twisted. Naturally in pulling it through the material several times it becomes so wrinkled that a short piece works to better advantage than a long one. The flower is made in the same way, one stitch for each petal and when completed a French knot is made in the centre of the flower (Figure 153).

The ends caused from starting and finishing off are fastened or caught down with a piece of fine thread on the wrong side.

Do not pull your stitches. The work is very much prettier when it lies soft and full on the background.

It is well to make use of every piece of fancy work you do and yet sometimes a new thing may strike your fancy and you would like to make a small piece.

A card case is acceptable to every girl and it is a good plan to make them to match your visiting dresses.

Take a piece of material five by ten inches long. Three inches from one of the short edges stamp a design that will not occupy a space larger than three inches long and two inches deep. The length of the design must run parallel with the short edge of the material. The bottom of the stamping must be five and a half inches from the short edge of the material.

A little spray of lilies of the valley on a green silk background makes a dainty case (Figure 154).

Get a piece of stiff tailor's canvas and cut it to measure eight and three quarters inches by four inches wide. A piece of china silk the same size as the satin will be needed for the lining. It is best to select the shade of silk that harmonizes with the outside material. With a green cover a lining lighter or darker is suggested. The latter is preferred as the constant fingering of a light colour is apt to soil it.

Cut all three pieces so that they are true oblongs; two and a quarter inches from the short edge make a crease. Two and a half inches from the first crease or four and three quarters inches from the outer edge make another crease and cut along it, thus separating the stiffening in two.

Two and a half inches on both sides of the now short edges of the piece that is not creased draw a line from side to side and crease.

On the extreme right-hand side measure down one and a half inches from the corner and make a dot; measure up from the lower corner and make another dot. The space between the dots should measure one inch. Take a twenty-five cent piece and place on the space between the dots so that the edge of the material is under the direct centre of the quarter. Make a semicircular curve on the canvas around the quarter. Cut along the pencil lines (Figure 155).

The stiffening now ready, baste it to the lining. See that all creases have been smoothed out of the China silk lining before basting. Place the two pieces of canvas so that there is an equal margin on all four sides. The cut edges of the canvas must be placed one eighth of an inch apart as shown in the diagram (Figure 156). On one side is the four and three-quarter inch piece and the other is the four inch. Pin or baste the canvas through the centre to keep it in position. With a threaded needle cat-stitch the silk to the canvas, care being taken to see that the stitches do not appear on the silk side. Cat or catch-stitching is another name for herring-boning, which is explained in the chapter on feather-stitching.

Before turning a corner, cut off a small piece of material to prevent the corner from being bulky. Treat each corner in like manner: when you come to the little curved part, slash the material so that when it is folded over the canvas it will fit perfectly smooth.

Fold the canvas and lining along the creases originally made in the canvas. An iron pressed over them will help to make them stay in position. The embroidered piece is then placed over the wrong side of the canvas. A half-inch turn is made on all sides. Turn this half inch toward the wrong side of the canvas. Sometimes a layer of cotton batting is laid under the embroidery between the canvas and satin. The satin piece is basted to the canvas. The folded edge of the satin and the folded edge of the silk are overcast with tiny stitches. Fold back the two sections of the case and over-cast each side (Figure 157). Your card case is now completed.

A bill folder is made in the same way, only that the ends are not stitched together to form pockets as in the card case.

It is always well to know how to make pretty, attractive pieces of needlework that will make acceptable gifts for Christmas or a birthday.

Nearly everybody has a hobby. Sometimes it is saving receipts, sometimes keeping newspaper clippings, and then again it may be keeping theatre programmes. It is well to consider what gift is most suitable for the one that is to receive it; to make for the faddist an envelope to keep her clippings will be just the thing.

Take a piece of brown linen ten and a half inches by nine and a half inches. Fold it in half so that it measures five and a quarter inches by nine and a half inches. Stamp a spray of daisies or wild roses on one side and mark what the envelope is supposed to hold, such as receipts or clippings. Brown linen does not soil as easily as white. Embroider the flowers and the lettering, then dampen the linen thoroughly and press on the wrong side. Now take two pieces of cardboard that measure eight and a half inches by four and three quarters. Cover the cardboard with the linen, use long stitches as described in the needle case, except that two pieces of the cardboard are placed side by side on the brown linen. Now take two pieces of brown paper the same size as the cardboard and cover the stitches. Paste should be used to make the paper stick to the linen.

Make six envelopes by taking six pieces of paper nine by thirteen inches and cut a two and a half inch square from each corner (Figure 158). One inch over from where the squares are cut make a star. There are eight such points as you note. Connect the dot to the corner by a line. Cut the paper along the lines. Fold the ends in, then fold the bottom flap over these and paste. Fold the top flap over without pasting (Figure 159).

Now, holding these six envelopes in the case with bottom edges touching the space between the two cardboards, punch three holes through linen, cardboard, and envelopes.

Take a half a yard of ribbon and run through the holes and tie the ends in a bow on the corner.

Take another half a yard of ribbon and cut in two. Fasten a piece on each side of the cover (Figure 160). These two pieces are tied in a bow and keep the base of the case closed.

XVII

HARDANGER EMBROIDERY FOR SQUARES, PIN CUSHIONS, AND SPREADS

We have to go back to the foreign embroideries to find those that are beautiful and yet substantial enough to last beyond the usual life of a piece of fancy work. There is nothing we have originated in embroidery on this side of the world as rich as Hardanger work, and yet it is comparatively little known. The background for this work is a loosely woven material like scrim or basket weave materials such as Java canvas or the regular Hardanger canvas which is imported.

It is lots of fun working Hardanger in wool on Java canvas as it goes so quickly, and after we have learned the stitches we can work it on as fine a canvas as we desire.

The simplest stitch is the block. Thread a large tapestry needle with a piece of heavy wool. On your piece of Java canvas work a little block. The worsted is on the right side of the canvas, and then taking a stitch over four threads of the canvas bring the needle up on the next opening to the right on the same line as the first. Five stitches constitute a block; a space of four threads is then left and the next block started, (Figure 161). A great deal of Hardanger has these blocks running at right angles to each other with no space between the blocks. Mistakes cause a great deal of trouble and sometimes it is necessary to rip out quite a lot of stitches before they can be rectified and for that reason you must be very accurate in your counting.

The star is another favourite figure in Hardanger work (Figure 162). Four stitches are taken over four threads of the material, side by side, then five stitches over eight threads of the material and then four again. This forms one side of the star. The second side is made exactly the same only that at the base of the thirteenth stitch the first stitch of the second side starts forming a right angle. The star has four sides as you will note in the diagram of this stitch. Now count and see if there are twelve threads on each of the inner sides of the star. If you find any mistake go over it and straighten it out. There must be twelve threads on each side. Cut four from each corner. This will leave four threads directly in the centre of each side. With a piece of embroidery cotton about the weight of a thread of your canvas weave the bars. The weaving is very simple, over one and under the next till the bars are woven. Some of these bars have little knots on the outer centre edge of each. They are called picots (pronounced pe-co) and they are made somewhat like a French knot. The bar is woven half way across and laying the needle on the bar the thread is wound around the needle point. Hold each twist down with the left thumb (Figure 163). The needle is drawn through and the result is a little knot on the thread near the stitches. A little stitch is taken into the woven part of the bar and the thread carried over to the other side of the bar and another picot made.

For an ornamental stitch to be used on the material between the stars or blocks make a diagonal stitch like the first stitch in cross stitching (Figure 164).

Pin cushion tops are easy to make and the following instructions are given for cushions about four or five inches square. Take a square of scrim or Hardanger canvas eight inches large. It will be necessary to pull a thread so that the material will be quite straight on the edges. Pull out four threads about one and a quarter inches from the edge on each side of the material. Turn a quarter-inch fold on one side and crease the material again so as to make a half-inch hem. Baste it down so that it just touches the drawn threads. Repeat on the four sides. Be sure that at the corner the double thickness of drawn threads are exactly over each other. We are now ready to hemstitch the hem. Thread the needle with No. 90 sewing cotton. Run the thread under the hem and holding the double part of the hem toward you take up four threads of the material. Pass the needle again around this group and now into the hem. Continue in this manner around the four sides. At the corners it will be necessary to take up both thicknesses of the material.

Crease the finished square in four. Count sixteen threads upon the crease from the hemstitching and with lustre No. C or heavy linen thread "aa" make a little block of four strands of floss over four threads of the material. Make a flight of eight blocks each at right angles to the other. Now instead of continuing in the same direction turn and work seven more groups down and to the left. Turn again to the left and work seven blocks for the third side of the square. Six groups to the right of the third row completes the square.

Now with your fine embroidery scissors cut close to the stitches of the three blocks at each corner. The cut threads are drawn out. Four more cuttings will be necessary on each side. They should be made against the stitches only; that is, the threads that are running in the same direction as the stitches should be cut. Figure 165 shows where the cuts were made and the threads drawn out. The remaining threads are woven. A mercerized or dull finished marking cotton is used for the weaving. It may be either the plain weaving or may have picots on each side of the bar. Another pretty arrangement of picots is to place them on one side of the bars so that they appear in groups of four each facing the other (Figure 165).

Sometimes a lace stitch is used such as the spider or simple loop stitch. Directions for making a spider will be found in the chapter on lace stitches. The loop stitch is made by taking a stitch in the centre edge of each bar. Take a stitch just as if you were buttonholing.

Buttonholing the edge is preferred by many to hemstitching.

A pretty stitch often seen bordering a row of drawn work is made in pyramid form. It can be as deep as desired. First take a stitch over two strands of the material then three, then four, then five and down again to two (Figure 166). This stitch must be worked of course before any of the threads are drawn.

If a little larger and more elaborate square is wanted, take a piece of material nine or ten inches square. Make a star, skip four threads and work the open squares described for the smaller pin cushion.

On the opposite side of the square, directly across from the first star, skip four threads and make another square. At the other two corners of the square make a star (Figure 167).

The German peasant girls are proud of their aprons with a border of Hardanger embroidery. It is a common thing for them to have a border fifteen or eighteen inches deep. Often they will make yards and yards of a pattern, say four inches wide, and they will insert it above the hems on sheets and towels and cut out the background material.

There is no nation on earth as thrifty as the Germans. A German girl I know who is only nineteen years old has her entire bedroom fitted up with Hardanger articles that she has made herself. First there is the bedspread and bolster, each most elaborately embroidered with an all-over design. Then there is a round pillow (the edge buttonholed) and a square pillow as well as the bureau scarf and pin cushion. If she bought the articles already worked she would have paid hundreds of dollars for the outfit, while the actual cost was only a few dollars. Nearly all the best of fancy-work shops sell small pamphlets on Hardanger work that are not expensive and after one is familiar with the foundation stitches it is an easy matter to follow the designs they give.

XVIII

APPLIQUÉ ON LINEN AND OTHER MATERIALS AND HEDEBO EMBROIDERY

Appliqué, or laying one material on another and stitching or embroidering them together is one of the simplest forms of embroidery that even the Indians years ago knew how to do. How many of you have not seen on an Indian woman queer shapes cut out of leather and ornamented with beads used for a border on her skirt?

There are two kinds of appliqué, underlaid and overlaid. Most of the work is the latter kind. The underlaid is a little more difficult to do. It will be explained at greater length later in this chapter.

Appliqué is such easy work that you will almost think it a mistake not to have heard about it before, but after all it is really necessary that we should know the simpler embroidery stitches before we attempt an appliqué piece, so that we can decorate it in the manner to suit ourselves.

The European peasants work some of the crudest specimens of appliqué, yet their colour schemes and choice of material are good. For instance, Russian crash, which is sold at the towel department of many of our large department stores, from twelve to twenty cents a yard, and which is very narrow, usually about sixteen inches wide, is often employed as the background of their portières.

Before the Russo-Japanese War it was possible to get Russian crash as wide as forty inches. It is made by the peasants in their homes from the waste ends left from weaving linens. You have no doubt read of how poor Russian peasants live in hovels in the same room with the cow, if they are fortunate enough to possess one, and their pigs. Necessarily the work they do is not very clean but the artistic qualities of the crash overcomes the fact of the dirt.

The better class of peasants will take three strips of crash and connect them together with coarse sewing or lace stitches and then apply circles of broadcloth, or coloured linens on them. Other geometrical figures are often applied.

I heard of a Southern family the other day who are so thrifty that they allow nothing to go to waste, not even the old coats and trousers that have played the double rôle of clothing the father and then have been cut down for Johnny. After Johnny has had all the wear possible out of them Grandma again cuts them, this time in the shape of leaves, and sews them on a large muslin circle, one overlapping the other. This forms a mat for the dining room. I am telling you this story not that you may imitate it, but rather to let you know that after all we have women here that are as clever and thrifty with their needles as the European women.

For appliqué work the design is cut out and the wrong side covered almost to the edge with a paste made of starch and water.

When a complicated piece of appliqué is to be worked, stamp your design on the background. Then on the right side of the material to be appliquéd, or on the wrong side of velvet, lay a piece of transfer paper. Place the design on them. With a blunt pointed instrument go over the line firmly till you have a tracing of the design. If the lines are not quite clear go over them with a pencil.

Cut out each piece and paste it to the background. The edges may be machine stitched or satin-stitched or outlined. A cord, also the couching stitch, makes a good finish.

Very clever representations of animals can be made by appliqué. Take a duck, for instance. The breast can be white felt, the head dark green velvet. The wings dark brown and the back and tail a lighter brown broadcloth. The legs and the bill should be canary-coloured taffeta silk. Cut each section so that it slightly laps over the other.

Appliqué underlaid is accomplished by stamping the design on the wrong side of the material and then cutting it out. The background is left intact like a stencil. A piece of material of a different colour is laid under the cut piece of material. The raw or cut edges may be treated in many ways. The material may be turned back and stitched by machine or the edges may be finished with buttonholing stitches, couching, fine satin-stitch or chain stitch. The turning back of the cut edges requires that they be neatly done or the embroidery will not show to its best advantage.

Hedebo embroidery is in no way connected with appliqué work, but like the latter it is a branch of needlework that few people in America understand. Without exception it is the most elaborate form of white work. The stitches give the effect of being very difficult, but this is not so. The work requires a lot of time and careful planning of the stitches for which buttonhole stitch is usually the foundation.

Hedebo is worked on a finely woven linen. The design is stamped directly on the material. A thread of D.M.C. No. 25 or spool linen thread outlines the figures. Within the design, the linen is cut one eighth of an inch from the running thread. This eighth-inch extension is then turned under the stitches and basted down. A small piece of dark green oilcloth is then laid under the figure to be worked and basting stitches hold the material and oilcloth together. The oilcloth protects the fingers and it is often used by foreigners in making eyelets. A small piece is used and it is moved as many times as necessary. A large piece is too clumsy to hold. On the extreme double edge of the opening of the design fine buttonholing stitches are taken. The stitches are about one thirty-second of an inch apart.

A section of a design suitable for a collar is shown here and the stitches will now be explained that have been used on it (Figure 170).

A bar is formed by laying two or three threads so that they span the opening from side to side. Over these threads fine buttonholing is worked.

The little triangles are worked by making seven or nine stitches into as many of the buttonhole stitches. The second row is worked into the first, one stitch from each end is omitted. Continue in this way to the point (Figure 171).

The three large loops that separate the pyramids or triangles from each other in the two outer circles are worked by making two loops that will each take up half the space between the triangles. These loops are whipped two or three times to make them heavier and then they are covered with buttonholing. Work the first and half of the second and then make the loop for the third or last and work it also in buttonholing, then finish the second (Figure 172). The centre of the circle is made by connecting the opposite triangles and loops together. Gently distribute the threads from the centre to allow a small opening. Put a thread around this opening and neatly buttonhole the threads.

The middle figure is made by working a row of open buttonholing then running a drawing thread into the loops and buttoning this band with tiny stitches.

The stitches of the middle circle are somewhat simpler than the ones just described. A circle of open stitches is made directly under the buttonhole stitches on the material. Divide this circle in eight parts and make a large loop at alternate eighths. A connecting thread at the centre base of each loop connects each opposite pair of loops. The triangles are worked from the centre to the outer edge.

The open triangles are made by working a row of open loops around the three sides. The loops are drawn slightly together with another thread.

There are many pretty edges that can be used as finishes for work. The linen pieces, however, have to be hemmed first and then the fancy edge put on. An edge of pyramids is attractive. An edge of buttonholed loops with a picot in the centre of each bar as described on Hardanger is also good. Sometimes the loop or pyramid may need stretching in shape. Take a pin in the lower centre and pull the edges out the desired size.

In turning curves an extra little loop may have to be worked so as not to crowd the large points.

XIX

HEMSTITCHING FOR HANDKERCHIEFS AND COLLAR AND CUFFS SETS, ALSO SIMPLE DRAWN-WORK STITCHES

Drawn work is another of the fascinating branches of fancy work and when used in combination with embroidery it greatly enriches the piece. Suppose now that you wanted to make a handkerchief and yet did not want to take the time to buttonhole the four edges. Well there is nothing more appropriate than hemstitching. The very expensive handkerchiefs only have two threads drawn before hemstitching them but it will be easiest to hemstitch when more threads are pulled.

Handkerchief linen that can be bought from one dollar up per yard is of course the correct thing to use, but lawn or fine china silk is often substituted.

A third of a yard of linen thirty-six inches wide will make three handkerchiefs. A thread will have to be drawn so that the squares will be perfectly straight. A twelve-inch square of linen will make a nice little handkerchief. Narrow hems not more than one-quarter inch wide are more generally used at present so we will plan our handkerchief for that.

Measure up from the edge of one side five eighths of an inch and draw out four threads one at a time. The other three sides must also be treated in like manner. After measuring the first side with the tape measure the other sides are more accurately measured by turning up one corner of the side that has the thread drawn so that it forms a right angle. The upper edge of the angle must just touch the drawn threads. Crease firmly along the diagonal as shown in the diagram. Now with the piece still folded over pull the first thread of the second side of the handkerchief so that the corner when turned back forms a perfect square (Figure 173).

When the threads of the four sides have been drawn fold back one eighth of an inch, then make a double fold so that the hem is just one-quarter inch wide. Baste it down so that the folded edge lies right under the drawn threads. With your needle threaded with a piece of No. 100 sewing cotton, start from one corner. Let the end of your threaded needle fall between the two thicknesses of the material. Bring the needle through the edge of the hem. Work from right to left; pass the needle under four of the upright threads. Now pass again under the same group of four threads, but this time carry the needle through the edge. Hem directly on a line with the fourth thread of the group (Figure 174).

Another way is to hold the material with the hem toward you and work from left to right. Pass the needle under four threads letting the thread in the needle fall under the point of the needle. Pull the needle through, thus forming a loop and taking a stitch into the hem in the usual way (Figure 175).

If your thread gives out or breaks, start the next thread by working over two or three of the stitches.

In hemstitching the corners take up four of the double threads.

When hemstitching on coarser material more threads can be drawn and also a greater number of threads can be taken up when working.

Dainty little collar and cuffs sets can be made by hemstitching the hems: and a quarter of an inch above this work make a row of French knots or feather-stitching.

Sometimes when a very open effect is desired it is necessary to double hemstitch the threads. This is very simple. Hemstitch in the usual way, then turn the work and take up each group on the other side of the drawn threads (Figure 176).

Drawn work is worked to perfection in Mexico. There they have large classes for the mountain children who do most elaborate pieces on frames.

Hemstitching is not always necessary in doing drawn work. Many beautiful borders can be made with simple stitches.

The sheaf stitch (Figure 177) is made by pulling the threads for a space of a quarter of an inch or more. Decide the width that you desire and then cut the threads perpendicularly. Draw the first and last thread to the distance desired, and then cut opposite end to match the first slash. After the threads have been drawn out neatly buttonhole the cut edges with narrow buttonhole stitches. Now place your work in your embroidery hoops, or, better still, if it is possible, buy a pair of oval ones that are especially made for drawn work. Fasten thread in the centre of one of the buttonholed sides.

The number of threads to take up will depend on the coarseness of the weave of the material. For medium weight linen take up either six or eight threads using a stitch like that shown in the first step of the second method of hemstitching. Pass on to the next stitch and when the row is finished fasten in the second buttonholed side. The thread that passes from sheaf to sheaf should lie straight enough so as not to sag between each group or pucker the material.

Another pretty stitch that reminds one of a fish bone is worked somewhat like feather-stitching.

Prepare the space as for the sheaf stitch. Connect the thread in the same way. Take up six threads on the left hand side placing the thread under the point of the needle as it comes through. Now on the right hand side divide the group made by the first stitch in half and take the last three threads and the three next to it that are not worked (Figure 178).

A simple stitch is the twist stitch (Figure 179). Prepare the material in the same way as for the last two stitches and securely fasten your needle in the centre of the bar, skip the first three threads. Take up the next three on your needle; pass the needle back under the first three. Continue like this till the end of the row is reached.

A dainty all-over effect suitable for yokes or corners of handkerchiefs, cloths, etc., is made by drawing the threads out so that the material left forms squares. Pull a quarter inch of threads then leave a half inch of material. Repeat in this manner until the space is covered. Cross the lines, forming squares of the material (Figure 180).

The double hemstitching, sheaf-stitch, fishbone, or twist stitch can be worked on the drawn threads. You will note that you will have at each corner of the solid squares an open quarter-inch square. They will require an extra stitch such as the spider described in the lace stitches or the loop stitch described in the Hardanger chapter.