Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving Part 4

b.u.t.tonhole st.i.tch, which is well known in plain needlework, is very useful also in embroidery, besides being an important st.i.tch in needlepoint lace. Owing to its construction it is well suited for the covering of raw edges, but it is also adaptable to a variety of other purposes, such as are open or close fillings of leaves and flowers, cut work, and the outlining of applied work.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 48.]

There are two ways of forming the st.i.tch, the common b.u.t.tonhole and what is called tailor's b.u.t.tonhole.

To work the ordinary b.u.t.tonhole st.i.tch (fig. 48)--Bring the needle through at the left-hand end of the traced line, hold the thread down to the left with the thumb and insert the needle as shown in the diagram, draw it through over the held thread to complete the st.i.tch. It is worked openly in the diagram, but it may, as required, be either more or less open or quite closed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 49.]

The tailor's b.u.t.tonhole is for some purposes more satisfactory; the st.i.tch is firmer than the other kind owing to the heading having an extra knot in it; this makes it also more ornamental. To work it (fig.

49)--Commence in the same way as the last st.i.tch until the needle and thread are in the position shown in fig. 48 then, with the right hand take hold of the thread near the eye of the needle, bring it down and loop it under the point from right to left, draw the needle and thread through over these two loops, and the first st.i.tch is made.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 50.]

b.u.t.tonhole st.i.tch can be varied in many ways, dependent mainly upon the s.p.a.cing of the st.i.tch and the direction that the needle takes when picking up the material. Fig. 50 shows four simple varieties; the first is the open b.u.t.tonhole s.p.a.ced slightly irregularly and with a thread slipped underneath it; any variety of s.p.a.cing can be arranged, and the thread shown running underneath, which sometimes forms a pretty addition, is usually of a contrasting colour or material. The second shows the st.i.tches taken slanting-wise, so that they cross each other.

In the third the st.i.tches are at different angles and of unequal length.

The fourth example shows two lines of s.p.a.ced b.u.t.tonhole st.i.tch fitting neatly the one into the other and forming a solid line. One row is worked first, leaving just sufficient s.p.a.ce between each st.i.tch for the second row to fill up, which can be carried out by reversing the position of the material and exactly repeating the first line in the same or in a different colour.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 51.]

A flower filled in with open b.u.t.tonhole st.i.tch is shown at fig. 51. The centre consists of a ma.s.s of French knots, and the outside line is in satin st.i.tch. The innermost circle of b.u.t.tonholing is worked first, the next row is worked over the heading of the first row as well as into the material; the succeeding rows are worked in the same way until the outside limit is reached, and there the satin st.i.tch just covers the heading of the last row of b.u.t.tonhole st.i.tching. Gradation of colour can easily be introduced by using a different shade for each circle of st.i.tches, and this produces a very pretty effect. An open method of filling a s.p.a.ce, whether flower, leaf, drapery, or background, is sometimes preferable to a solid filling, and the two methods can very well be used together as each shows off the other. These light fillings give opportunity for further variety and ingenuity in the st.i.tching, and prevent the work from looking heavy. A b.u.t.terfly, carried out partly in open st.i.tches, is ill.u.s.trated in fig. 52.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 52.]

Fig. 53 is, in the original, a gay little flower carried out in orange and yellow. The st.i.tch employed here is a close b.u.t.tonhole.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 53.]

Another example of the use of close b.u.t.tonhole is shown in the ivy leaf in fig. 54. The st.i.tch is worked in two rows, back to back, in each lobe of the leaf, and the resulting ridge down the centre rather happily suggests the veining. This method of filling in might be just reversed for a rose leaf; the heading of the st.i.tch would then suggest the serrated edge, and the meeting of the two rows down the centre the line of the vein.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 54.]

A cl.u.s.ter of berries can be very prettily worked in b.u.t.tonhole st.i.tch in the way shown in fig. 55. The st.i.tches are so arranged that the heading outlines each berry, and the needle enters the material at the same point, always in the centre. A bullion st.i.tch in a darker colour marks the eye of the berry.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 55.]

A good method of filling a s.p.a.ce with solid b.u.t.tonhole st.i.tching is shown in fig. 56. Each row is worked into the heading of the preceding row, and the st.i.tches do not pierce the material except in the first row and at the extremities of succeeding rows. They are placed rather close together in order to completely cover the ground. The st.i.tch is worked, first, from left to right, then for the next row from right to left; this is quite easy and enables the work to be continuously carried out.

Sometimes, when the first row is done, the thread is thrown across to the side where the row began, and there made fast; then the second row is worked with st.i.tches which take up the thrown thread as well as the heading of the first row. By using a more open b.u.t.tonhole and thus partly exposing the laid thread, a filling, both quick and effective, is obtained. This is a useful method to employ when the work is done over a padding of threads, for there is no necessity to pierce the material except at the edges.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 56.]

CHAPTER VI

St.i.tCHES--(_continued_)

Knots and Knot St.i.tches--Herring-bone St.i.tch--Feather St.i.tch--Basket St.i.tch--Fishbone St.i.tch--Cretan St.i.tch--Roumanian St.i.tch--Various Insertion St.i.tches--Picots.

KNOTS AND KNOT St.i.tCHES

It would be difficult to go far in embroidery without requiring knots for one purpose or another. They are useful in all sorts of ways, and make a pleasant contrast to the other st.i.tches. For the enrichment of border lines and various parts of the work, both pattern and background, they are most serviceable, and also for solid fillings; for such places as centres of flowers or parts of leaves, they are again valuable. They have been used to form a continuous outline, but owing to their tendency to make a weak line, not frequently; indeed they usually show to better advantage when slightly separated.

Examples are to be seen of English knotted line work in which the knotting was executed in the thread previously to embroidering with it.

The knotting of thread was a pastime with ladies in the XVIIth century.

The thread, usually a linen one and as a rule home spun, was wound upon a netting-needle, and by the aid of this a close series of knots was made upon it; when finished it somewhat resembled a string of beads.

b.a.l.l.s of this prepared knotted thread may still be found, treasured up in old work receptacles. When prepared it was couched on to the material with fine thread, like a cord or braid, and made to follow out some prearranged pattern. In white linen work it was used for carrying out ornamental borderings on infants' robes and other dainty articles.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 57.]

French knots can be worked in the hand or in a frame. They are easier to manage in the latter, and to look well they must be neatly and firmly made. Completed they should resemble beads lying end upwards on the material. To work the French knot (fig. 57)--Bring the thread through the material at the required point, take hold of it with the left finger and thumb near the starting-point (A on plan), then let the point of the needle encircle the held thread twice, twist the needle round and insert it at point B on plan, draw the thread through to the back, not letting go the held thread until necessary. Fig. 58 shows some French knots decorating a leaf spray, and various other examples of their use can be found in the book.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 58.]

Bullion knots resemble tight curls of thread laid on the material. They can be used as a variation from French knots, and even for the representation of petals and small leaves. To be satisfactory they must be firm, stout, and tightly coiled; some knack is required to make them properly. To work the bullion knot (fig. 59)--Bring the thread through at the required place, insert the needle one-eighth of an inch from this point and bring it through again exactly at it. Take hold of the thread about two inches from where it came through and twist it several times round the point of the needle, the number of times being dependent on the required length of the knot. Place the left thumb upon the tight coil on the needle, in order to keep it in place, and draw the needle and thread through it, then pa.s.s the thread through to the back at the point where the needle was last inserted (point A on plan). The thumb must not be removed until it is in the way. Fig. 60 represents a flower, of which the centre is formed of bullion together with French knots.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 59.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 60.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 61.]

Fig. 61 shows a knotted st.i.tch that is similar in result to the knotted threads discussed earlier in the chapter. In this case the knotting of the thread and the fixing to the material is done at the same time. It is a useful st.i.tch when a jagged line is wanted, and can be seen used, for instance, for the branching veins in open work leaves, as in fig.

62. The diagram explains the working of the st.i.tch; at point A on the plan the left thumb holds the thread down whilst the st.i.tch is in progress.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 62.]

MISCELLANEOUS St.i.tCHES

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 63.]

The st.i.tch ill.u.s.trated at fig. 63 is very similar to the common herring-bone. The only practical difference is that in the plain needlework st.i.tch there is usually a smaller piece of material picked up by the needle each time. To work it as in the diagram--Trace two parallel lines on the material and bring the thread through at the commencement of the lower line, insert it on the opposite line rather farther along and there pick up a st.i.tch, as the needle is doing in the figure. Then on the opposite line pick up a similar st.i.tch a little in advance of the one just finished. After this work the st.i.tches on either line alternately, commencing each one at the point where the last one ended; this forms on the underside a double row of back st.i.tches. It is quite easy to work this st.i.tch with the back st.i.tches on the working side, and when they are required to be on the surface it is advisable to do it in that way. When embroidering upon a semi-transparent material this st.i.tch is a satisfactory one to use, the back st.i.tching follows out the outline on either side of the form, and the crossing of the threads on the under side shows through prettily. This st.i.tch sometimes goes by the name of double back st.i.tch. It is useful in many ways, making a light st.i.tch for stems, leaves, or flowers; it can be sometimes found in Eastern work used for an entire embroidery. When used for flowers or leaves the width and the closeness of the st.i.tch are varied to suit the shape to be filled. An example of its use as a flower filling is shown in the carnation at fig. 64, which is carried out in four shades of colour. Considerable use is made of this st.i.tch in embroidered curtain shown in Plate VII.; it is there employed for all the stems and various flowers upon the hanging.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 64.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 65.]

The feather st.i.tch, often used to decorate plain needlework, is now to be discussed; although similar in name it must not be confused with the feather or plumage st.i.tch that has already been mentioned. The st.i.tch is so simple and so much in use as hardly to need description; fig. 65 explains the working. There can be many slight variations of the st.i.tch, the worker perhaps devising them needle in hand. Two are shown in fig.

66. The one to the left is worked very like the ordinary st.i.tch; the needle picks up the material in a straight line instead of slightly obliquely, and each st.i.tch touches the one immediately above; it is here made use of as a couching st.i.tch, a bunch of threads of a contrasting colour is laid on the material, and the st.i.tch worked over it from side to side. The right-hand example shows the ordinary feather st.i.tch worked more closely and in a broader line; carried out in this way, it can be used for a leaf filling.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 66.]

Basket st.i.tch, useful for a solid line, shows up very clearly when worked with a stout twisted thread. This st.i.tch would be appropriately used when applied to some representation of basket work. To carry out the diagram (fig. 67)--Trace two parallel lines on the material, and to commence, bring the thread through on the left-hand line, then insert the needle on the right-hand line about one-eighth of an inch lower down and bring it through on the left-hand line exactly opposite (see needle in fig.); the next st.i.tch is worked by inserting the needle on the right-hand line but above the last st.i.tch, that is at point A on diagram, and bringing it through at B. To continue, repeat from the beginning.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 67.]