Encyclopedia of Needlework Part 13

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 241. TRAY TO CONTAIN THE MATERIALS.]

USE OF THE SPINDLE (fig. 242).--Gold embroidery thread should be wound double upon the spindle. It is laid backwards and forwards and secured with two st.i.tches at each turn, as described in fig. 234. Small holes where the st.i.tches are to come, have first to be pierced in the material with the p.r.i.c.ker, from the right side, for the needle to pa.s.s through.

In soft stuffs, this is unnecessary, but in brocaded materials, and in plush and leather, where every p.r.i.c.k shows and would often spoil the whole effect, it is indispensable.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 242. USE OF THE SPINDLE]

Gold thread which is stiff and difficult to work with, can be rendered soft and pliable by putting it into the oven, or any other warm place, for a short time.

EMBROIDERY WITH GOLD PURL (fig. 243).--Embroidery is the easiest kind of gold embroidery; you have only to thread the little pieces of purl, cut into the required lengths beforehand, like beads on your needle, and fasten them down upon the foundation like the beads in bead-work. Smooth and crimped gold purl, or silver and gold purl used together, look exceedingly well, particularly where the pattern requires effects of light and shade to be reproduced.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 243. EMBROIDERY WITH GOLD PURL.]

EMBROIDERY IN DIAMOND St.i.tCH (fig. 244).--The diamond st.i.tch is a charming novelty in gold embroidery. Short lengths of purl, not more than 1 m/m. long, are threaded on the needle, and the needle is put in and drawn out at the same hole. These st.i.tches which resemble knot st.i.tches, form so many little glittering knots, turned alternately to the right and left, and look like seed-diamonds in appearance, more especially, when they are made in silver purl. The shorter the pieces are, and the more closely you set the knots together, the handsomer and richer the effect will be.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 244. DIAMOND St.i.tCH.]

CHINESE GOLD EMBROIDERY (figs. 245 and 246).--We recommend the imitation of Chinese gold embroidery to our readers as an easy and grateful recreation. It consists simply in laying down a gold thread, on a delicately outlined pattern and securing it by st.i.tches. It can be done on any material, was.h.i.+ng or other, the costliest as well as the most ordinary.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 245. CHINESE GOLD EMBROIDERY. First part.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 245. Second part]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 246. CHINESE GOLD EMBROIDERY. First part.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 246. Second part.]

For a was.h.i.+ng material use, Or fin D.M.C pour la broderie, No. 20, 30 or 40,[A] which, as it washes perfectly, is well adapted for the embroidery of wearing apparel, and household linen. Plain gold thread and gold thread with a thread of coloured silk twisted round it, are very effective used together.

Thus in fig. 245, the trees, foliage and flowers, are worked in plain gold, the gra.s.ses, in gold shot with green, the b.u.t.terflies in gold with red, the two birds in gold with dark blue, and gold with light blue.

Two threads of gold should be laid down side by side and secured by small catching st.i.tches, set at regular intervals from one another, and worked in Fil d'Alsace D.M.C No. 200,[A] of the same colour. Where the design requires it, you may separate the gold threads, and work with one alone.

The second specimen of Chinese embroidery, fig. 246, resembles the first, as far as materials and execution are concerned, but the design is different. The grotesque animals, flowers and sh.e.l.ls it represents, can be worked separately, or connected together so as to form a running pattern.

STRIPE WORKED IN VARIOUS St.i.tCHES (fig. 247).--All the designs described thus far, are worked in the same way, but the stripe now presented to our readers introduces them to several kinds of gold thread, and a variety of st.i.tches. The small, turned-back petals of the flowers are worked in plain gold thread, and outlined with crimped; the rest of the petals are worked in darning st.i.tch, with plain gold thread.

The latticed leaves are edged with picots, worked with bright purl. The other parts of the design are all worked with a double gold thread, the stalks in dead gold, the leaves in crimped. The gold thread is secured by overcasting st.i.tches in gold-coloured thread, Jaune d'or 667, but it looks very well if you use black or red thread for fastening the crimped gold and dark or light green for the leaves and tendrils.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 247. STRIPE WORKED IN VARIOUS St.i.tCHES.]

GOLD EMBROIDERY ON A FOUNDATION OF CORDS (fig. 248).--In the old ecclesiastical embroideries, especially those representing the figures of saints, we often find thick whip cords used as a foundation, instead of cardboard, for the good reason that the stiff cardboard does not give such soft and rounded contours as a cord foundation, which will readily take every bend and turn that you give to it. In the following ill.u.s.trations, we have adhered strictly to the originals, as far as the manner of working the surface is concerned, but have subst.i.tuted for the cord, which in their case has been used for the foundation, Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C No. 1, which is better for padding than the grey whip cord, as it can be had in white or yellow, according to whether it is intended to serve as a foundation to silver or gold work.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 248. EMBROIDERY IN FLATTENED GOLD WIRE AND PURL.]

Lay down as many cords as are necessary to give the design the requisite thickness, in many cases up to 8 or 10 m/m. in height, taking care to lay them closely and solidly in the centre, and graduate them down at the sides and ends. When you have finished the foundation, edge it with a thick gold cord, such as Cordonnet d'or D.M.C No. 6 and then only begin the actual embroidery, all the directions just given, applying merely to the preparatory work.

Only four of the many st.i.tches that are already in use and might be devised are described here. For the pattern, represented in fig. 248, flattened gold or silver wire is necessary, which should be cut into pieces, long enough to be turned in at the ends so as to form a little loop through which the thread that fastens them down is pa.s.sed. Over each length of gold or silver wire small lengths of purl are laid at regular intervals, close enough just to leave room for the next st.i.tch, the pieces of one row, alternating in position with those of the preceding one.

PLAITED St.i.tCH IN GOLD PURL ON A CORD FOUNDATION (fig. 249).

--Distribute the st.i.tches as in the previous figure, subst.i.tuting purl, for the flattened gold wire, and covering the purl with short lengths of gold thread of the same kind. All these st.i.tches may be worked in gold and silver thread, mixed or in the one, or the other alone.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 249. PLAITED St.i.tCH IN GOLD PURL ON A CORD FOUNDATION.]

SCALE St.i.tCH WORKED IN GOLD THREAD AND PURL ON A CORD FOUNDATION (fig.

250).--Begin by covering the whole padded surface with gold or silver thread, then sew on short lengths of purl, long enough to cover six or eight threads, 2 or 3 m/m. apart, as shown in the engraving. These st.i.tches in dead gold purl are then surrounded by s.h.i.+ning or crimped purl.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 250. SCALE St.i.tCH IN GOLD THREAD AND PURL ON A CORD FOUNDATION.]

You bring out the working thread to the left of the purl st.i.tch, which you take on your needle, put the needle in on the other side, draw it out above the little stroke, and secure the crimped purl with an invisible st.i.tch.

CONVENTIONAL FLOWER WORKED ON A CORD FOUNDATION (fig. 251).--The half finished flower, represented here, was copied from a handsome piece of ecclesiastical embroidery enriched with ornament of this kind. The three foregoing st.i.tches and a fourth, are employed in its composition. The finished portions on the left hand side, are executed in silver and gold purl, whilst the egg-shaped heart of the flower is formed of transverse threads, carried over the first padding, and secured by a st.i.tch between the two cords. In the subsequent row, the catching st.i.tch is set between the cords, over which the first gold threads were carried.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 251. CONVENTIONAL FLOWER WORKED ON A CORD FOUNDATION. MATERIALS.--For padding: Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C Nos. 1 to 5 or Fil a pointer D.M.C No. 10.--For sewing on the gold thread and purl: Soie de coton D.M.C No. 50 or 70, Fil a dentelle D.M.C on reels Nos. 25 to 50.[A]]

The heavier the design is, the thicker your padding should be, and cords a good deal thicker than those which are represented in the drawing should be used, as the more light and shade you can introduce into embroidery of this kind, the greater will be its beauty and value.

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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INSERTION IN CROSS St.i.tCH, ALIKE ON BOTH SIDES, THE PATTERN LEFT BLANK.]

Tapestry and Linen Embroidery.

Tapestry is one of the oldest kinds of needlework and one which has always been popular every where.

There are two distinct sorts of canvas in use for tapestry, called respectively, 'plain (single thread) canvas', and 'Penelope (double thread) canvas'. The latter is generally preferred, because it is easier to count the st.i.tches upon it, but both make an equally good foundation for the embroidery, as the following examples will show.

Besides canvas, other fabrics bearing a close resemblance to it, are often used, especially Java linen, the close texture of which renders grounding unnecessary.

Cloth, velvet or plush can also be overlaid with canvas, the threads of which are pulled away after the pattern is finished. For work of this kind, we however prefer a material with less dressing, such as a twisted tammy, or Colbert linen, because the pulling out of the harsh rough threads of the canvas is very apt to injure the material beneath.

St.i.tches, worked upon two stuffs, must be drawn very tight, or they will look loose and untidy when the auxiliary fabric is taken away.

Tapestry can be done either in a frame, or in the hand; in the latter case, the ends of the piece of canvas should be weighted with stones or lead, to prevent its puckering.

The st.i.tches, which ought completely to hide the canvas, should all lean one way and the underneath ones always from left to right, as the letters in writing.

MARKING OUT THE EMBROIDERY GROUND (fig. 252).--Before beginning a piece of canvas work and tacking on the auxiliary fabric, count how many st.i.tches it will contain, and mark them out in tens, with a coloured thread, as shown in fig. 252, along two sides at least, in the length and breadth. Having ascertained the number of st.i.tches both ways, divide them in two, and starting each time from the middle st.i.tch, trace two lines, one horizontal, the other vertical, right across the canvas. The point of intersection will be the centre. This sort of ground-plan will be found most useful, and should not be pulled out until, at least, half the work be finished. If moreover, you have corners to work, or a pattern to reverse, in the angle of a piece of embroidery, trace a diagonal line besides, from the corner to the centre.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 252. MARKING OUT THE EMBROIDERY GROUND.]