ST. MARGARET’S, KING’S LYNN.

From a photograph by Mr. Cyril Ellis, Victoria Road, N.

CHURCH NEEDLEWORK
A MANUAL OF PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION

BY
HINDA M. HANDS

LONDON
G. J. PALMER & SONS, 7 PORTUGAL STREET, W.C.
1907

DEDICATION

TO OUR DEAR MOTHER, THE HOLY CHURCH
THIS LITTLE WORK IS DEDICATED
BY ONE OF HER FAITHFUL DAUGHTERS
WITH THE HOPE THAT HER HUMBLE SERVICE
MAY BE ACCEPTED
‘To the Glory of God’

PREFACE

Miss Hands reminds me that it was at my suggestion, as Editor of ‘The Treasury,’ that she undertook the writing of the articles which form the basis of this volume. My confidence in her fitness to write such papers was more than justified by the result. A mere man, indeed, cannot presume to offer an opinion of a book on Embroidery which will carry much weight; yet the letters received by me during the serial appearance of these papers showed unmistakably that they were supplying a real want. In their new and revised form they cannot fail to be yet more widely useful. Moreover, the beautiful work executed by Miss Hands for my own and other churches is ample proof that she is as skilled in the practice as in the theory of her art.

So with much willingness I contribute these few words of introduction. There must be many ladies to whom such a book as this—lucid, compact, and inexpensive—will be most welcome, enabling them to use their needles for the highest of purposes—the service of the Church and the beautifying of the Sanctuary. We all feel, I think, that such work, when fashioned by the hands of worshippers, has a worth and a significance, apart from its intrinsic value, which no ready-made article purchased from the ‘Church Furniture’ shop can possess. It is the concrete embodiment of love, self-denial, and reverence. It brings before our eyes an example of human talent consecrated to the highest ends. And it continues a tradition characteristic of the Christian Church throughout its history—one dating back, indeed, to those more ancient days when, in the language of the Book of Exodus, ‘All the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of purple, and of scarlet and of fine linen,’ for use and adornment in the Tabernacle of God.

Anthony Deane.

CONTENTS

CHURCH NEEDLEWORK

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY

This little book (founded on a series of articles on Church Embroidery written for the ‘Treasury’) is intended for the use of those who are desirous of learning by practical experiment how to make the best use of such time and skill as they have at their command; and who, while they are unable to go through the long courses of instruction which are generally indispensable to the attainment of perfection, are yet anxious to devote their ‘labour of love’ to the service of the Church.

There are many Guilds and Associations of such workers rising up all over the country who are ready and willing to be taught, and it is with the hope of assisting these efforts that I am offering the result of many years of study and practical experience.

It is quite beyond the scope of such a manual as this to go into the History of embroidery in general, or even of this particular branch of it. On this point therefore I will say no more than that it is an undoubted fact that from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century English embroidery took a leading place throughout the whole of Christendom, and that from the fifteenth century onward embroidery began to decline as an art till it might almost be reckoned as lost to England until the middle of the nineteenth.

With these few facts in view it is not difficult to determine where to look for the best examples of Church embroidery. It must be among Museums, Picture galleries, and Collections of art treasures of the best periods that one must study to improve the taste and cultivate the intelligent perception of the best ways of doing things, not so much by actual imitation (although that might prove an education in itself!) as by absorbing the spirit of the work and seeing how and why it was done.

I cannot too strongly recommend this method of learning, and it is to this end I have used, wherever possible, such examples as are to be found in our Churches, Public Museums, and Libraries rather than those in the possession of individual collectors.

Embroidery may be defined in a general way as an ornamentation of textiles by means of the needle.

This being the case, one ought to expect from it something different from what can be attained by weaving, or something which cannot be done so well or so readily by that means.

Some of the earliest forms of embroidery were, it is evident, direct copies of woven patterns, but these were quite appropriately placed, either on material which did not lend itself happily to being woven into patterns, or where the surface so decorated was too small to be worth while weaving; or again, where the ornamental material (such as gold and silk) was too precious to be lost on the under-side of the work, as would be the case in all woven work wherever the ‘ground’ shows between the patterns.

The superiority we expect to see in needlework as compared with woven decoration consists chiefly in three points:—

1. The more harmonious gradation of colour.

2. The absence of mechanical repetition of pattern.

3. Freedom of line in the drawing.

It is this very freedom from mechanical restraint in all these three respects of colour, design, and treatment which has proved such a pit-fall to the unartistic English needlewoman.

Much of the beauty of the foreign peasant work is due to the restrictions imposed by their traditional style and limited range of colour.

There is practically no limit to the number of shades available in the present day, and without a cultivated ‘colour-sense’ an embroiderer can run riot among an embarras de richesse with most disastrous results!

A good colour-scheme is even more necessary in embroidery design than in any other (except, perhaps, stained glass) because of the brilliance of its possibilities—at once its highest merit and its greatest danger.

The colour-scheme, then, being an essential part of the design, must be decided upon in accordance with it; and the actual materials with which the work is to be carried out should be chosen all at the same time if possible.

It is necessary for the designer of Church needlework to have a very clear idea of the capabilities and the limitations both of the methods and the materials by which the design is to be completed as a work of art, and also a fair knowledge of the traditions of ecclesiastical art from early times up to the present day.

It is equally necessary for the embroiderer to be able to enter into the ideas and intentions of the designer. It adds considerably to the interest of the work when it is carried out by the person who designed it, but I must protest against the notion gaining ground largely in certain educational circles, that the embroiderer ought to design her own work. There are very many women capable of executing perfect stitchery and of entering into the highest ideals of beauty and devotion who are not fitted by nature or training to artistic design. The designer for ecclesiastical art may be compared to the composer of sacred oratorios—he needs the co-operation of many minds, hearts, and hands to perfect the realisation of his idea, and the many count it a joy to be led by him. The more entire the sympathy throughout, the more perfect will be the result. And they will consider their time and labour well-spent in practising for this. Even so the embroiderer with patient stitches will endeavour to express the ideal set before her by a master of the craft and will meet with a like reward. This is the utmost that the majority of us can hope to attain, and I cannot insist too strongly upon the statement that it is better to work from the designs of good artists, and to do again and again what has been proved excellent, than to attempt an originality which may be attractive only by its novelty.

Whether the worker be her own designer or not, too much care and attention can hardly be bestowed on the choice and arrangement of the design. The principal requirements to be fulfilled are Beauty, Fitness, and Practicability.

Beauty comes first as it is simply the raison d’être of embroidery. If decoration does not really add to the artistic value of the thing it is applied to, it is worse than useless as it destroys a certain real kind of beauty which exists in simplicity.

Fitness comes next, as it almost amounts to an axiom that without fitness a thing which is beautiful in one place may be quite ridiculous or improper in another.

And Practicability is essential because it is in vain to draw a beautiful design which cannot be carried out by the needle and thread. In embroidery the finished work ought always to be more, not less, beautiful than the coloured drawing.

Then there is the position it is to occupy—the style of architecture, method of lighting and amount of light, size of the church, &c. A large church and a dark chancel, for instance, require bolder design and brighter colour than would be suitable for a small church or one so lighted that every detail is evident at a glance.

CHAPTER II
ON MATERIALS, ETC.

After the design, or rather in conjunction with it, comes the choice of the materials with which to carry it out. The only point one can insist on is this—let them be the best we can offer. The best does not necessarily mean the most expensive—but the most genuine and the most suitable. Whether of gold or silk or linen, let there be no pretence about it.

If silk DAMASK is chosen for the ground of the work (and there is nothing pleasanter to work on, or more satisfactory as a background if the design of the damask be broad and flat-looking), let it be a good rich damask without any suspicion of cotton about it.

Satin is too shiny and too difficult to keep from puckering to make a really artistic background for large pieces of embroidery, although a great deal of the old work was done on it. It also has this disadvantage for the beginner, that it shows every mark of the needle if she is unfortunate enough to make a mistake which requires unpicking.

Plain corded silk is trying to the eyes to work upon, and is rather hard-looking and unsympathetic, but it makes a good appliqué on satin, velvet, or damask.

Velvet, on account of its richness and the depth of colour attainable without giving the impression of ‘blackness,’ also from its strength of contrast with every other material, has always been in great favour, whether as a ground or as an onlay.

Brocade is too assertive to make a good background, but brocade, and even tapestry (where the design is suitable) may be outlined with gold or cord, or further enriched with embroidery with a truly glorious effect, when judiciously managed.

Fine WOOLLEN CLOTH, stout serge, and diagonal cloth are respectable materials for inexpensive work.

Yarn-dyed or other good COLOURED LINEN and UNBLEACHED TWILLED LINEN are particularly suitable for use in the colonies and for poor churches at home. Both texture and colouring can be obtained in great perfection, and when worked in pure flax threads, which are also made in many degrees of thickness and almost as much variety of shade and colour as embroidery silks, they will defy the ravages of white ants abroad and the poisonous air of slums at home.

Cloths of gold and of silver are truly splendid, whether as a background for embroidery or to be used alone or for orphreys on a plainer material. Only the very best kinds should ever be employed for Church work, any thing else will look tawdry, and even the best is apt to tarnish in the air of towns or near the sea. Needless to say, it is always expensive.

In all the specimens of ancient church embroideries which have come down to us, we find a free use of gold and silver threads: some are worked entirely in gold, others with a preponderance of the precious metals used in conjunction with silk, while a third use was to touch up salient points or as an outline to glorify the whole and bring it into unity.

The principal kinds of gold and silver thread now in use are:—

Passing, which is made of flat strips of gold or silver twisted tightly over pure silk; a firm, hard thread is the result, resembling wire, which can be obtained in various thicknesses, generally sold on reels. This is sewn down, almost always two threads at a time, with fine, strong sewing-silk.

Tambour, much the same as Passing, only finer, for sewing through the material.

Bullion, of various sizes and patterns, is made of fine wire, evenly twisted in a spiral form without any silk core; usually sold by weight. It is sewn on by first cutting into the lengths required and then ‘threading,’ like the beads called ‘bugles,’ with a fine needle and silk well waxed.

Purl is somewhat similar, but coarser, and without a hollow centre. It is sewn down by passing the sewing-silk over the Purl and drawing it down between the twists of the wire. It is used more for outlines of silk-work than for filling spaces.

Plate is a flat wire, used chiefly in heraldic embroidery. It is laid over raised thread or string, with a stitch on each side of the thread, over which it is turned backwards and forwards till the thread is covered. In working Bullion, Purl, and Plate, the silk they are sewn with does not come into evidence at all. Strong fine thread is even better to sew them with than silk; both should be waxed.

Japanese gold is the one most commonly used at present. It is made something like Passing, only a very thin paper is used instead of metal to carry the gold over the silk. Its chief virtue is that it does not tarnish like most of the Passing. It is also less expensive, and made in a greater variety of sizes. Its chief drawback is that where there is much wear the gold rubs off in the course of time, leaving only the red or yellow silk it was wound on as the evidence of there having once been gold there. The Passing, on the other hand, wears any length of time, and, if made of pure gold, would be as untarnishable as the Japanese, the excessive costliness being the reason it is so seldom used. Most of the Passing is made of silver or other metal, gilded with pure gold.

Chinese gold is very similar to Japanese, the chief difference being that the paper used is thinner and cut in narrower strips. It is therefore softer, and can be made in thinner threads than any other. It is more easily damaged than the Japanese.

Passing, Japanese, and Chinese gold and silver are sewn down (generally by two threads together) with a fine twisted sewing-silk; the colour of the silk used affects considerably the colour of the gold-work, red producing a fine coppery glow; green, blue, and violet ‘cooling’ the gold; and yellow or gold-colour merely intensifying, or hardly modifying it at all.

Some of the old work was done in solid gold or silver wire. Strips of parchment were sometimes laid over with gold-leaf and twisted upon silk, like the Japanese and Chinese do with their paper. Small metal plates, spangles of various shapes and sizes, were and are still used with good effect when in moderation.

The silks employed are chiefly Floss. French floss or ‘stout’ floss, being rather thick and very smooth and bright, is useful for large, bold work; ‘Bobbin,’ ‘Church,’ or fine floss for finer work. Decca silk, which has a loose twist, may easily be split, and is useful for the brilliance of some of the dyes, different from any other to be met with in European makes.

Purse-silk is often used, couched, in place of gold or silver, being easily managed and wearing well.

Filoselle is chiefly useful for edging appliqué and for outlines.

Filofloss answers the same purpose, and is brighter in texture. It can also be used for fine embroidery by taking the threads separately; but the slight twist in each thread makes it less desirable for such work than the bobbin floss.

Scissors should be strong and sharp, cutting accurately at the points.

Thimbles, of gold, silver, or ivory, are at their best when worn smooth. They should be as plain as possible, as decoration is apt to catch and roughen the delicate silks. New thimbles may be improved by rubbing down with the finest glass-paper or a burnisher. The indentations should be large. In framework both hands are used and two thimbles required.

Needles should be procured from the best makers only, as cheap ones are apt to cut and roughen the silk by friction through the eye in the course of the work. If for any reason it may be worth while to improve a needle which has this defect, it can be done by the simple process of threading the eye with strong cotton (as coarse as it will conveniently carry), dipping it into olive oil, then into fine emery powder, and working it backwards and forwards until it ceases to roughen.

Round-eyed and ‘egg-eyed’ sewing-needles, crewel and embroidery, large-sized chenille, and occasionally a curved (so-called ‘circular’) needle, are required.

Pins should be fine and as sharp as needles. Very nice little pins may be made from fine needles by warming the eye and sticking a little sealing-wax on it for a knob; but beware of leaving steel pins in any part of the work, as they rust very quickly and make an ‘iron-mould’ stain. Indeed, it is safer to use pins for temporary fastenings only, and to put in a few stitches wherever required for more than a day or two; brass ones leave a green mark and silver-plated ones black, while even gold-plating soon wears off.

A small instrument called a piercer is sometimes used to keep gold laid in its place, but a rug-needle, or the eye of the chenille needle, will do as well.

A good stiletto, a pair of compasses, a T-square and a set-square, a ruler, measure, and tracer conclude the list of implements necessary to the Church embroiderer besides the frame.

There are several kinds of EMBROIDERY-FRAME which have been invented from time to time to save trouble or to stretch more evenly than the ones in general use, but the two still most commonly to be met with are the old flat-bar and screw-bar frames. The former can be rested on trestles when large, or supported on the edge of a table and kept in place with weights when small; those with screw sides are generally mounted upon stands of their own. For work not exceeding 30 inches square I find the screw-frame the most convenient; it can be adjusted to any angle, so that the worker has no need to bend over it, being able to see her work without effort, both as a whole and in detail. To sit for many hours at a frame which lies horizontal is apt to injure the spine (whenever there is the least feeling of over-strain the work should be discontinued). It is, moreover, bad for the eyes, forcing the vision into an unnatural focus. The small screw-frame on a stand can be clamped to a table or held in the lap, and is almost equally comfortable to work at.

Tambour-frames and rigid wire-frames may be used for very small pieces of work.

The light should always fall upon the work from behind, over either shoulder of the person.

Due attention to these points (i.e. a comfortable position and proper light) would prevent much of the weariness and actual injury to the physique for which Church embroidery is often considered responsible; not always, I regretfully admit, without some foundation in fact. Still, the majority of these cases have their own carelessness to accuse, considering these restrictions to be mere details which may be safely ignored instead of taking the trouble to form a habit of doing everything in the best possible way.

CHAPTER III
ON MOUNTING FRAMES AND TRACING DESIGNS

A great deal of Church embroidery is done, for convenience in working, on linen, in small frames, and afterwards cut out and transferred to the richer material, silk, velvet, cloth-of-gold, or whatever it may be. Great care should be exercised in the choice of the linen, which should be unbleached and closely and evenly woven, coarse or fine, according to the nature of the work to be done on it. The inexperienced would do well to buy their linen not from drapers, but from the best embroidery shops, stating for what purpose they require it, whether for heavy gold-work, fine floss, &c.

To stretch the linen on to the frame, cut the linen, ‘by the thread,’ rather wider than the webbing which is attached to two bars of the frame. Turn down the edges evenly. Run a piece of string into the two sides that are going to be laced upon the other two bars. The linen should now be a little narrower than the length of the webbing, to which length it is now stretched by a pin at each end and one in the middle. Over-sew the linen to the webbing firmly with strong linen thread; remove the pins; roll up till the linen is a little shorter than the side bars. Insert the ends of these into the holes provided, and stretch evenly either by pegs, or, in the case of screw-frames, by screwing up the wooden screw-nuts (which ought to have been previously placed as near the central blocks as they would go). Lace up the sides of the linen tightly and evenly, with good string, fastening each end firmly. The linen is now ready to receive the design, or, if the work is to be done upon silk or velvet, that is put on now, over the linen. Loosen the frame a little, either by unscrewing a turn or two, or by moving pegs. Pin each corner of the silk on to the linen, stretching the silk a very little tighter than the linen; sew all round with fine, strong silk, or thread, and tighten up the frame again after it is on.

The design must be well within the size of the mounted linen.

Two straight lines, crossing each other at right angles in the centre, should next be run into the linen with fine silk, right across from end to end, as a guide for tracing. Similar lines should be drawn lightly on the tracing; both sets of lines and angles must be accurate; they are easily done by means of a ‘set-square.’

Transferring. There are many ways of transferring a design to the material it is to be worked upon. The easiest and least satisfactory is by means of ‘ironing off’ transfers. This limits one to the stock patterns, often of very inferior artistic value, which can be bought at the shops. The process gives a smooth even line, rather thick, which must be allowed for in choosing the design, as it must be well covered in the working. It is only suitable for fairly simple and bold designs.

The easiest method by which original designs can be transferred is by the use of carbon paper. The blue is the most satisfactory, the paper of which is thin and blue on both sides, but of course it does not show up well on a dark ground. Before using, when new, it should be laid flat on a table, and rubbed all over with a piece of coarse flannel. There is also a fine green and a yellow, either of which is better for very delicately coloured ground. Black should never be used, and I have not hitherto met with a really satisfactory white carbon paper at all.

The design should be accurately traced on good tracing-cloth, especial care being taken with all geometrical forms, which should always be drawn with mathematical precision; the slightest inaccuracy generally seems to reappear at ‘compound interest.’ It is a good plan when practicable to leave any large circles that may form part of the design untraced till after the greater part of the embroidery is done, and in any case to test them with compasses. Having then a perfect drawing to start with, see that the centre fits to centre and rectangular lines correspond with the same lines on the frame, and pin it carefully in place with fine steel pins. Place a piece of carbon paper between the tracing and the material in the frame, and then go over all the lines of the tracing firmly and clearly with a well sharpened H.B. pencil or an onyx tracer. A porcupine quill or a good knitting-needle will make a very fair substitute for the onyx. The worker must bear in mind that pressure upon any part of the surface which has carbon paper underneath will leave a mark upon the material, and therefore should be careful not to rest the hand upon it or make false lines or pin-marks. A hand-rest can easily be arranged, if one be found necessary, by placing a block of wood or a few books on the table on each side of the frame and laying a board on the top. It is also important that the underneath part of the linen in the frame should be in immediate contact with some hard, smooth surface, such as plate-glass or a hard polished board, before beginning to trace the design.

Another method of transferring designs is the time-honoured one of pouncing. The drawing should be on tough paper or parchment. Pin-holes are pricked all along the lines of the drawing at pretty close intervals; a thin sheet of cork or hard felt laid under the parchment prevents creasing or cracking. The principal lines may be pricked with a larger pin than the small details. When the pattern is sufficiently pricked out it is pinned to the material, and coloured chalk in fine powder dabbed through the pinholes. The drawing must then be very carefully removed, and the dotted lines which result from the pouncing gone over with a fine sable brush with Chinese white, or any good water-colour, mixed with a little pure gum-arabic and a trace of ox-gall.

Another way is to trace the design in ink upon leno or tarlatan, and, after pinning it in place as before, go over the lines with a strong quill or ruling pen, using Chinese white or water-colours as before; this also gives only a dotted line, but is quite sufficient for coarse work, and is the best method I am acquainted with for tracing on thick woollen material.

Yet another method suitable for delicate material and not too complicated design is to take an extra tracing of the pattern on thin paper, and after tacking the edges of the paper down to the silk on the frame, stitch round the outline of the design with fine sewing silk of any colour that will show up on the ground. When all is thus marked out, tear away the paper, leaving the stitches upon the silk.

CHAPTER IV
ON GOLD-WORK

We will now proceed to describe some of the most useful stitches and how to do them.

The Sampler

Perhaps it will be best to begin with a Gold Sampler. Some of the richest and most beautiful examples, both ancient and modern, have been worked entirely in gold; and it is encouraging to the beginner not to have the complications of colours and various silks, &c., to contend with at the same time, as it leaves the mind free to concentrate itself on the attainment of a good technique, which in embroidery, like everything else worthy to be called art, cannot be accomplished without a good deal of practice. A brilliant effect with bad workmanship is not a thing impossible, but in work intended for the decoration of the Sanctuary it is even more to be deplored than in more mundane things; though embroidery of all sorts not being a necessary work, there is no excuse for doing badly in any circumstances. It is a mistake to think that time and material spent on practice are wasted. If our first attempts were looked upon as scales and exercises, as a means to an end, they would not be so grudgingly performed as they too often are.

The Sampler I have prepared is intended to illustrate both the stitches themselves and also the method of applying them to the forms they are to fill. It is best to practise them first on simpler forms, and then, when more expert, to fit them into the various curves and spaces.

The sampler should be drawn much larger than it is here represented—say about 10 × 7½ inches—and might be placed on the linen in the frame as sketched, leaving a good space below and at the side for practice. If the frame is 20 inches long, or larger still, it will hold this sampler and the next one. It is a good thing to have a nice set of samplers to keep, as one often finds it necessary to be reminded of suitable stitches, which will not always come to mind when wanted. They can be made up into a blotter, book-cover, or work-bag, &c., when finished.

The Frame, with Sampler, &c.

Simple Couching (A in the illustration) is worked thus:

Loosen a yard or two of gold thread out of the skein and bend it in the middle. Have ready an ordinary needle, threaded with gold sewing-silk (the kind sold in large skeins by weight is the best), and with it sew the doubled end firmly down; draw the needle down to the under side, and bring it up again about a quarter of an inch from the beginning; lay the two threads of gold evenly along, and put a stitch at right angles with the gold over both the threads together. This is repeated to the end of the row. At the end each thread is sewn separately in place and turned sharply back, then stitched at regular intervals as before, only each stitch must be placed between the ones formerly done. If the space to be filled is not very long, it is usual to take only one thread to start with, instead of doubling it into two, and, after drawing the end of the gold through to the ‘wrong’ side of the work, fasten it firmly, and begin at the other end of the row each time. This method has the advantage of making a less clumsy turning, and therefore a better edge to the work, as there is only one thread to double back every time instead of two. Also, the gold is more easily made to lie smoothly, as the stitches cross it constantly from the same side and in the direction in which the gold is twisted—from left to right when beginning from the right at the bottom, as in a a; from right to left when begun at the top left as in A. Gold and silver are nearly always sewn down two threads at a time (the beginning and end only being drawn through the material and sewn down at the back of the work), and unless otherwise directed it will be so understood throughout. In a great deal of modern gold work the gold thread is cut off close at the end of each row, and the cut edge afterwards covered by two threads being sewn all round it. I do not recommend this plan myself, as I have too often seen it in after-years with the ends visible in a very undesirable manner. It is true it makes a more even outline, but, if done well, the turned edges can be covered evenly and without difficulty when required; and often the slightly serrated edge itself is beautiful and characteristic, as for instance in o o and i, illustrated below. When very fine gold thread is used it may be drawn through to the back at each end of a row (without being cut off) and the turning done there. The way this is accomplished is by bringing the needle up from the back, crossing the gold thread over with the sewing-silk and sending the needle down again through the exact spot it came out at. The gold being held rather loose and the silk pulled tight, it will carry it down through the stuff just below the surface—the needle employed should be rather thicker than for sewing. In the sampler all the edges are covered with two or three threads sewn down closely over them, but in the detailed examples I have left them bare to show the working better.

The gold thread must not be allowed to get untwisted so as to show the inner core of silk; and it should lie quite smoothly, having almost the appearance of wire, the silk stitches being drawn tightly enough to keep it steady, but not so as to make indentations and destroy the smooth evenness of the surface. If it wants stroking into position, a little instrument called a piercer is used, but the large chenille needle used for drawing the ends of the gold through the linen will answer very well, or a good stiletto.

It will be seen, as soon as a few rows are done, that the silk stitches make a sort of little brick pattern on the gold. This effect is made use of by the ingenious embroidress to produce many a beautiful and fanciful diaper. The patterns may be varied to almost any extent by means of different intervals regularly left between the stitches. Here are a few examples: B, C, and D on the sampler. The middle of the pine is filled with a diaper like b, and the two upper halves of the leaves marked D can be filled with c or d.

It is desirable to work them with different coloured silks, such as red, green, yellow, &c., in rather strong shades, that the full effect of the diaper may appear, thus also will be demonstrated the very remarkable effect of the different sewing silks upon the metal already alluded to above. No. 98 (and others on the same screen) in the V. and A. Museum, South Kensington, may be referred to as specimens of the amount of colour that may be obtained in this manner. Some of the metallic threads are also twisted over with fine coloured silks to intensify this effect.

E, F, G, and O on the sampler are to show the effect of direction in the lines of the gold—an important principle, which will be further illustrated, in the case of silk work, by the direction of the stitches. Difference of tone is got by the colour of silk with which the gold is sewn down; an apparent difference of relief by the direction in which it lies.

In E a single thread is drawn through the linen (about half an inch is enough to take through and fasten at the back) in the centre of each petal (see e), and turned round to make as nearly a circle as possible, the gold thread laid round this centre twice and sewn down, two threads at a time, till the outline is reached. It will be evident, after a few rounds are done, that if the stitches are placed in exact alternation they will be getting so far apart as to fail in keeping the gold in place. To obviate this, as soon as they are nearly twice as far apart as the average distance, two stitches must be put between each, instead of one.

F f is just taken backwards and forwards as at A a.

The effect of G g is obtained by placing the stitches at every round a little to one side of the previous ones, instead of exactly between them.

H on the sampler is shown at h above. The gold thread is begun at the base of one of the petals, and from thence taken straight up to the top and worked over, putting one stitch in the centre of each row and taking the thread backwards and forwards till the bottom of the petal is reached, when it is taken up to the top of the next petal and left to lie under the work as before. It is best to keep it to the same side of each petal, or to place the central stitch between the two threads of gold, as it raises the gold slightly, and when done with method it looks intentional. It is convenient because there is less cutting off and beginning again. At the edges of the petal the gold may be turned at the back of the work in the manner described on [p. 10] above.

This slight raising of the gold, as it were by accident or for convenience, brings us to the consideration of raised work, and the question of how far high relief in embroidery is desirable. This being essentially a practical treatise, I cannot now enter into the arguments for and against its use, but may just remark that relief, however slight, accentuates the ‘value’ of the gold, as it draws extra light upon its already brilliant surface, causing at the same time extra shadows, and thus adds to the richness of the general effect, while it takes away something of its delicacy. The designer must decide how and when it is required.

The slightly raised foliation in the sampler, marked I, is done by tacking down parchment or yellow cloth, cut carefully about the sixteenth of an inch within the lines of the tracing, and then working the gold thread over it (in the same manner as at H) with one row of stitching only, to catch it down in the middle. See i.

N is raised to the highest degree permissible by sewing down bits of string (cut well within the size), first with fine silk, and then working over them, to get a smooth surface, with stuffing cotton, and lastly, covering all with yellow cloth before couching the gold. n shows the process for working the raised round; other shapes are done the same way. There are various methods of padding for high relief. Cotton-wool is used by some, and cork, &c., by others. I find the one I have described the most satisfactory, as it can be made quite firm and in high relief without being so hard and ‘unsympathetic’ as the more mechanical methods. The padding should always be smaller than the finished work is intended to be. It should be done as nicely and smoothly as though it were not going to be covered over afterwards. The last layer of stitches worked in the ‘stuffing cotton’ should be done in the opposite direction to that in which the gold is to be laid (see n2, where the cotton is shown nearly half done, n1 being the finished gold work).

J is one of the most popular of gold stitches. It is shown at j in straight lines, and should be well practised thus before attempting to apply it to curved ones. Rows of string are sewn down at regular intervals till the space is covered which is to be filled with basket-work. Note that in a curved figure the strings must be placed nearer together on the inner line than on the outer. The gold is then couched down over the string, being sewn with strong silk, which will keep it down, between every two bars of string. The next row is done the same. The two rows following have their silk stitches placed between the former ones. The next two are like the first, and so on till the space is filled.

K is a little more complicated. The first two rows have three bars of string covered at a time; then two and one alternately for one row; then three again.

A great many variations of this can be made simply by covering more or fewer bars at a time, or, again, by sewing down more or fewer rows of gold at the same intervals. The principle of the basket-work is the same in all.

The stem in the sampler, marked L, and the ornament at the bottom are worked over string sewn diagonally over the space to be covered, as may be seen at l. The stitches made in sewing down the gold go in steps, not diagonally, but at right angles, as in all the others, one stitch on each side of the bar. The gold may be laid in single threads.

Q is prepared by sewing small square pieces of yellow cloth or parchment in chequers over the ground, and then covering with the gold, sewing down the latter rather closely with silk stitches in the spaces left, and putting no stitches on the raised part. Any shape may be placed under gold in this way. In much of the medieval work architectural surroundings and backgrounds to figures were very elaborately executed, with the same gold threads used in the drapery of the figures themselves, being carried straight across in horizontal lines over string, &c., and sewn down very closely with different colours.

The raised veins in the leaves (P in the sampler) are done with ‘plate.’ String is laid down first, cut to a sharp point, and sewn over with stuffing cotton, worked diagonally or with several strands of it laid smoothly over the string and kept in place with a few stitches of fine silk. The plate is begun at the top, with a stitch to keep it firm, and then with one at each side it is turned backwards and forwards till it is finished.

The little bars across the stems are of bullion, sewn on with strong waxed silk or thread.

CHAPTER V
ON SILK-WORK

Sampler

Although the foregoing chapter was devoted exclusively to the description and illustration of the stitches most generally used in gold-work, most of them can with equal propriety be worked in silk. But the reverse does not hold good: there are many stitches useful for silk and thread, &c., which cannot well be worked with gold, because the needle and thread are taken right through the material, from the upper to the under side and up again, in and out, all the time; whereas nearly all gold-work is done on the surface, the beginning and end only of the gold being taken through the material. It is true that in some of the old embroidery, flat strips of metal were sometimes worked through the stuff, also thin solid wire, and the fine tambour is still used in the same way; but it is not practicable to any extent with Japanese gold, or passing; while purl and bullion, being in the form of a hollow coil, are obviously unsuitable for being drawn through the surface as thread. It would also involve an unnecessary waste of gold to take it through the stuff and leave it behind each stitch.

The accompanying sampler does not include any of the stitches shown in the former one, except couching. Although, in principle and in method of working, couching is the same, whether it be carried out in silk or in gold, yet, the effect being very different, it seems desirable to repeat it here. It is introduced also for the purpose of pointing out clearly the difference between it and another stitch which in some circumstances looks very similar, but is worked in quite another way and is called ‘Laid-work.’

In both couching and laid-work the principal threads lie on the surface and are sewn down with auxiliary stitches by means of a separate needle and thread. In couching, these stitches are planted at short intervals, all along the line, on each row of threads, while they are being placed; but in laid-work the whole surface is covered first, and the few stitches required to keep the mass of silk in place are added afterwards. Couching is generally worked in solid heavy threads, such as gold and silver, purse-silk, cord and filoselle, while laid-work is only suitable for floss, its chief merit being the perfection with which it shows the bright sheen of that beautiful silk. It is light and soft in effect and a very expeditious means of covering a large surface. It does not wear very well unless caught down at frequent intervals with the couching or other over-stitching, as in the example ([p. 63]) of a chalice-veil at South Kensington, where all the foliage is done in laid-work, the ‘laid’ stitches going across the leaves and the couching following the curves, indicating simple veining.

Both laid and couched work, when used as a filling, are best adapted to decidedly conventional designs, laid-work especially to broad and flat effects, and couching to outlines.

Although shading and even an appearance of modelling to a slight degree may be legitimately obtained by the placing of different shades of silk side by side and by the direction of the underlying and over-stitching silks, still it is not well to attempt too much in this direction, as there are many other stitches more suitable; and stitches, like other things, are much more beautiful when in their natural and proper place than when forced into a position for which they are unfit.

This sampler is intended to be worked in coloured silks. I will mention them by their numbers on Pearsall’s colour-card No. II., as it can be bought or referred to at any ordinary needlework shop, and therefore seems the most practicable means of explaining about shades, &c., to those who have never used floss silk before. While to others I would say it is certainly not necessary to use these particular colours, or this particular make of floss, so long as the silk is good, the colours harmonising with each other, and being sufficiently distinct in shade to avoid confusion.

Three shades of blue, Nos. 41, 42, and 43; four shades of a bronze-green, Nos. 112, 113, 113A, 113B; three shades of a greyer green, Nos. 113A, 134, 135; a soft reddish-brown, No. 105, and one of gold-colour, No. 92, are suggested for this sampler.

Linen thread may be used instead of silk, on a coloured or a white linen ground, for practice, but it is necessary for the embroidress to get used to working in floss[1] from the first, because it is always needed for the best and richest work, and it requires a great deal of practice before it can be dexterously handled. Ornamental rings, bracelets, &c., should not be worn when working with floss silk, particular attention must be given to keep the hands in good condition, clean and smooth; it is a good plan, if they are apt to get rough, to rub in one or two drops of pure glycerine after washing in hot water before drying them. The hands should then be rubbed perfectly dry with a linen towel. If, on the other hand, they are at all inclined to be moist, they should be frequently washed in water as hot as it can be borne, then dipped into cold water, rubbed dry, and lastly dusted over with boracic powder. Carbolic, sulphur, arsenical or other ‘complexion’ soaps should never be used before working with either gold or silver or very delicate silks; indeed, it is safest to use none but pure vegetable soaps as free from chemicals as possible. A fine white-linen apron with a bib and sleeves, or an ‘overall,’ should always be worn, and the work kept covered with a soft silk or linen handkerchief. Too much care cannot be taken with floss silk, as it is apt to catch in everything it comes near and is very easily damaged. For the same reason the needlefuls should not be long, and if the silk be bought in skeins it should be carefully wound at once, on smooth reels or cards, keeping a separate one for each shade, which should be duly named and numbered.

Of all the stitches which are worked with silk, I think SATIN-STITCH, with its many offshoots and variations, is the foremost both for usefulness and beauty. The smooth brightness of the surface; the clean-cut outline it makes of itself, when nicely done, requiring nothing further to finish it off; the ease with which shades and colours melt and blend in soft gradations or bold effects, make it the stitch par excellence for floss-silk work, whether coarse or fine.

The Flower marked A on the sampler is worked thus:—

Take a needleful of the palest of the three shades of blue floss and run round the traced outline of the upper portion of one of the petals. Never begin with a knot, but run a few stitches into a part that will be covered afterwards; to fasten it firmly just take a back-stitch and do not cut off the end till you have worked a few more stitches; always begin and end a needleful on the ‘right side’ of the work so as to have no loose ends at the back. Then bring the needle up from behind to the surface near the centre of the petal; set it in just over the outline at the top; draw it down with one hand and set it in with the other. (It ought to become, by practice, a matter of indifference which hand is at any time above and which below.) The next stitch must be shorter, the next longer, and so on till the edge of the petal is reached. The other half of the petal is filled in the same way, beginning from the middle, and keeping the ends of the stitches even along the top and quite irregular along the bottom of the row. The stitches should be just so close together as to make a firm clear edge without either overcrowding or thin weak places.

The next row is done with the middle shade of blue; after fastening the end of the thread, take the needle through to the back, then bring it up between the two long middle stitches and about halfway from the top, set it in again to make a stitch about the same length as the others were, and continue working in the same way; the only difference between the first row and the second being that the second is worked from the upper part downwards and that both ends of the stitches are irregular in length instead of only the lower ends. Also there will be fewer stitches in each row as they get nearer the bottom.

The number of rows required will depend on the size of the petal, so will the actual length of the stitches. To give some idea of the proportion, I will suppose this petal to be an inch and a half in length and an inch and a half in width at the widest part; the stitches would then be from a half to three-quarters of an inch long at the longest; it would take four rows of stitches, and there would be about thirty of them in the top row of the petal when using the full thickness of Pearsall’s ‘Stout Floss.’ The central stitches should all be vertical, and all the others radiating—that is, slanting outwards, towards the edge of the petal; this direction of the stitches must be very carefully managed, not to be too sudden in change, and the rows of stitches should ‘dovetail,’ as it were, into each other. In this example two rows of the middle shade are used, and only one each of the lightest and darkest.

This application of satin-stitch is known by a number of other names, such as ‘Long-and-short’ stitch, ‘Plumage’ or ‘Feather’ stitch; the latter name is rather misleading, as there is a well-known stitch of that name, quite different in appearance and method of working, in common use in linen embroidery. In reading descriptions of silk embroidery one should bear in mind that when Feather-stitch is mentioned it may mean the one described above.

B is worked in the three lightest shades of the bronze-green—Nos. 112, 113, and 113A. The method is precisely the same as in A above, only the radiation is different and requires even more care in the arrangement of the stitches. Radiation of lines from a centre follows a principle of natural growth, as anyone may observe by taking the separate petals of any similar flower; all the lines and veinings, however much branched or netted, will be seen to converge towards the point where it is inserted into the calyx. In the leaf the place where they converge is the midrib—an extended centre, so to speak—and in ‘B’ the stitches are aimed in the same direction. Imagination has to be called upon to suggest where the lines should run in the part of the leaf which turns over, but it should always be done intelligently.

C is more conventional, by which I mean less regard is paid to natural growth. It is a favourite method with the Chinese and Japanese, who work this form of satin-stitch to such perfection, that the ‘right side’ and ‘wrong side’ are almost exactly alike. This may be considered a test of good workmanship. It is best to begin with the part nearest the centre, with the darkest shade of blue. Each stitch of one petal is parallel with the others and in a vertical direction; there is no radiation in the working of individual petals, only in the arrangement of the petals themselves in the whole flower; and the edge of each shade is sharply defined by a voided line instead of melting or ‘shading’ into the next. A voided line is a narrow space of the ground left bare between the rows of stitches; it should be so narrow and so even as to look like a fine line or indentation in the silk. This kind of satin-stitch is equally suited to work done all in one shade or in white on white ground.

D is also worked in parallel lines, but the direction is horizontal, the shades lying side by side close together. In quite small flowers the stitches would go straight across each petal, but in larger ones, like these, half is worked at a time, a voided line being left down the middle of each. In the sampler it is also left to define each shade, but D is a simpler form for practice.

E is worked somewhat like A, only the stitches follow all along the curve equally as the veins do in lily-leaves, &c., instead of radiating. This should be begun with the darkest of the bronze-greens, No. 113B. Two rows may be worked with this, then one of the next shade, 113A, then three of the next, 113, then one of 113A to finish with.

The three berries marked F on the sampler are slightly raised. The preparation may be the same as that described in the chapter on gold-work; padding thread sewn across and across in several directions, or by layers of parchment cut to the shape. In any case the padding must be covered with stitches of silk, worked straight across, in the opposite direction to that with which it is covered eventually. The same shade, No. 105, may be used for all berries, but each should be worked in a different direction, to show the effect that such a change has on the tone of the colour.

The centres of the flowers, marked G, are begun with the brown silk, with surface satin-stitch, in which, as its name implies, nearly all the silk is on the surface of the material. It is just taken through and brought up again close to, but not exactly in, the point where it went down, leaving a very small stitch at the back, then taken across the space to be covered, and through again on the opposite side in the same manner. The stitches may lie either horizontally or vertically. Over this work a single thread of No. 92 is drawn diagonally, at regular intervals, to form a lattice. These overlying stitches, again, are sewn down by a small cross-stitch at each intersection.

This lattice-work may be used independently, without any under-stitching, showing the ground instead; it has a very pretty light effect among more solid work. Another pattern is shown at G2.

Split-stitch.—This is a stitch found much in use in the earliest specimens of ecclesiastical needlework. I believe that the faces and heads of nearly all the figure work done before the fifteenth century were in split-stitch. The effect is something like several others. When very fine and rather tightly worked it looks like satin-stitch; when looser, like fine chain-stitch; when coarse and rather loose, like crewel-stitch worked backwards and forwards. Each stitch is worked by making a small satin-stitch and bringing the needle up from the back through the middle of it, or by threading the needle with two strands of silk and bringing the point up between them. See illustrations of ancient Coptic work, where the frayed ends of silk show plainly that it was done in this way.

The silk is thus pierced through or ‘split’—hence its name.

H on the sampler is worked thus:—

With a needleful of No. 135 begin at the lower end of the inside half of the leaf and follow the inner curve as far as the point of the first lobe. Almost every alternate row of stitches is carried only halfway down, or less, to keep the radiation right. When the first lobe is filled, take the next shade (134) and work in the same manner up to the top point of the leaf. The other half of the top point and the upper part of the next lobe is worked with the lightest shade, 133A, and the last with 134; h shows the upper part of the leaf in course of being worked.

We now come to laid-work, the general character of which I have already described above.

The first process is to cover the surface with the silken threads, lying all in one direction—vertical at I, horizontal at J, on the sampler.

They can be laid at any angle, provided that the stitches are kept parallel with each other, and that due consideration is given to the direction the over-stitching will take. It ought to cross the laid stitches as nearly as possible at right angles to keep it nicely in place. Of course, it is impossible to keep strictly to this, but if the principal veinings are placed thus the others will naturally approximate sufficiently.

The silk may either be carried through the material and the needle brought up a very little way further on along the outline, as in surface-satin; or the silk may be turned back on the surface, as in couching, with a stitch at each end. The middle and darkest shades of grey-green (134, 135) are used for the leaf, and the middle and darkest blues for the vase. The over-stitching of the leaf is in the lightest grey-green, done with split-stitch; the vase with the darkest blue in couching.

The band K at the bottom of the sampler may be worked in the same way, using back-stitching to keep it down. With back-stitching a pattern can be formed which is something like that made by couching, only it is softer-looking and more quickly done. If it is a border of any considerable length a number of skeins may be all begun together; then, pinning them all down with a long fine pin, the stitches are set in at regular intervals to make the pattern. The floss-silk in this case requires no needle, but, when once begun, is ‘paid off’ the reel or card by degrees as required.

Laid-work makes a beautiful background; the over-stitching may be either of split-stitch, couching, or back-stitch, and may be done either in a pattern or by simple lines, diagonal, vandyked, or at right angles with the silk laid down. Compare k, which is laid, with q, which is couched. Both may be worked with the middle shade of blue sewn down with gold-colour, No. 92.

M is worked in the same manner as B, but with the two shades of bronze-green, Nos. 113 and 113A.

N is filled with darning-stitch, the lines following the direction of the curve. Darning cannot be done in a frame in the same manner as when held loose in the hand. The needle must go in with one hand and be drawn down with the other, the same as with all work done in a frame. The stitches are about a quarter of an inch long and a very little of the ground is left between each. The rows of stitches also lie close together. The shading and proportion should be done to match E, and the different shades should ‘dovetail’ into each other as in the satin-stitch.

The parts of the leaves marked O are worked with the grey-green, No. 135, in radiating lines, not quite close together, showing about an equal quantity of the ground between. This partial filling, both in couching and in darning, is very effective for light work, but an outline is absolutely necessary, and is really the principal part of the work. The outline may be either couched or worked in crewel-stitch, like p.

Crewel-stitch, like darning, is not worked in the frame in the same way as in the hand. After fastening on the thread, bring it out at the bottom of the work and set the needle in about an eighth of an inch higher up on the traced line. Draw it down and bring it up again close to the place where it was brought out at first. Set it in again an eighth of an inch higher than the first stitch, that will make a stitch a quarter of an inch long: keep them about this length all the time. (In turning a sharp curve they should be shorter, and in a long straight line they may be a very little longer, worked in coarse silk.) Care must be taken not to pierce the stitch when bringing the needle through from the back; the method of working is the same as in split-stitch, with this exception, which makes all the difference! It may be necessary to hold back the stitch to avoid piercing it, especially on the inner side of a curved line, for the needle must always be kept on the same side of the stitch as it is begun, otherwise it will make a break in the curve. It has, moreover, a different name when worked on one side from that which it has when worked on the other—crewel when the needle comes out on the Left, outline when it comes out on the Right. There are other names given to this stitch, according to the many slight variations in the way of working it. When, for instance, instead of bringing the needle out on the line, it is taken a little way off it, so as to make a more slanting stitch, it is called stem-stitch (see stems marked R on sampler), but as this is in reality a narrow strip of satin-stitch, worked diagonally, it does not seem to require a name of its own.

U is couched with the dark grey-green silks, the shades being placed side by side.

S and T are narrow strips of slanting satin-stitch. All straight-lined Lettering looks well worked thus, outlined with an edge of couched gold or silver.

CHAPTER VI
ON OUTLINE AND APPLIQUÉ

Hitherto we have considered outline merely as it is traced upon the material to be enriched by embroidery—as a boundary for the needle to work to; or when an outline has been placed round the edges of the stitching, simply to make it neat. In this chapter I propose to deal with OUTLINE as a distinct method of ornamentation, used independently of any ‘filling’; as an adjunct to appliqué; and as enclosing portions of the background to be further enriched, but not entirely covered.

Outline work is often looked down upon by the expert embroidress as a kind of needlework quite unworthy of her serious attention, because it requires very little technical skill; while, as to APPLIQUÉ, it is not to be mentioned, being almost beneath contempt!

This attitude towards the simpler kinds of decoration merely shows a want of artistic perception. Walter Crane gives outline in general its true position when he says it may be called the ‘Alpha and Omega of art,’ being the earliest mode of expression among primitive peoples and children, and also cultivated for its power of expression, character, and as an ‘ultimate test of draughtsmanship by the most accomplished artists of all time.’[2]

Outline and appliqué go naturally together because they are very often mutually dependent upon each other, appliqué nearly always requiring an outline, and outline frequently being partially filled with appliqué.

Outline may really be considered more purely artistic work than elaborate embroidery, because it depends more entirely upon the merit of the design for its beauty, being unable to hide its defects under a maze of intricate stitchery or to carry away the mind of the beholder by the glory of various colours.

In early and medieval times needlework as an adjunct to weaving and outline work by itself was used with a most perfect artistic effect, done in couched metals or silken cord, or in simple chain-stitch or back-stitch, &c.; while, as for appliqué, many gorgeous vestments may still be seen retaining much of their original beauty, worked in satin on velvet, silk upon damask, &c., Botticelli and other great masters not disdaining to draw designs for such work with their own hands.

There are several reasons for the employment of special outline in embroidery besides the elementary one of marking out the shape. In a picture such lines are not only unnecessary, but objectionable in the finished work; why, then, are they admirable here? The object of art needlework is not to make pictures (however beautiful they might be), but so to decorate certain textile articles—of furniture, clothing, &c.—that they do not lose their natural characteristics, but become themselves more truly beautiful. Figures, foliage, inflorescence, &c., should not stand out from their background like real things, but become actually part of the textile itself.

This being the case, we are debarred from the employment of naturalistic half-tones, shadows and reflected lights by which a painter makes the different objects in his picture at the same time harmonious in colour, distinct from each other, and altogether life-like in appearance.

In decorative art the use of a good, bold outline separates the colours, defines the form, harmonises the general effect, and increases the appearance of flatness.

The isolation of various colours by means of an outline is especially desirable in work which is to be seen from a distance, because masses of colour when placed in direct contact with each other become blurred and lose their true relation and value.

In the same circumstances the form is also apt to lose its proportions to some extent on account of the propensity of white and all light colours to spread themselves and increase their apparent size.

Fig. I.—Appliqué

Italian, Seventeenth Century. V. & A. Museum, S. Kensington (No. 243—1895).

Fig. II.—Outline alone

A very happy use of outline is sometimes made as a softener of general effect both for appliqué and many kinds of embroidery by the addition of a secondary outline beyond the boundary of the ornament, sometimes of the same colour, but frequently of a paler shade, or altogether different.

Or again, in conjunction with appliqué, the outline frequently breaks out into more or less fanciful and luxurious scroll-work, which entirely does away with the hardness which is the besetting fault of this kind of work.

Fig. III.—Outline with a little Appliqué

Fig. IV.—Appliqué enriched with Scroll-work

Apparel of Dalmatic, Spanish, Sixteenth Century. V. A. Museum, S. Kensington (No. 888—1897).

Illustration IV. shows a good example of this, one half of which I have drawn without scroll-work to show what a difference it makes. It is outlined throughout with four threads of fine gold, sewn down all together very closely with green silk round the leaves; the double set of four threads, meeting at the base of the leaves, form the stem, and are also sewn closely with green. On the white ornament the gold is sewn with yellow, and there is an inner line of blue all round; also stitches of blue silk are placed in pairs across the white satin all the way down. All the scroll-work is done in gold twist, the same thickness as the outline of four gold threads sewn together.

It is generally desirable thus to work all small detail occurring in appliqué designs; they should be done on the ground itself after the pattern has been transferred to it. The design used for this kind of work should always be bold and broad, unmistakable in its language and graceful in its expression, and so arranged as to make the best account of the materials to be employed. Several different textures may be used to enhance the richness and interest of the composition, but it can be made very beautiful with only two—one for the ground and one for the onlay. The same may be said with regard to the colours. Any two of sufficient harmony or contrast between the ground and the pattern are sufficient, and perhaps more certain of good result in the hands of the inexperienced than a variety of colours might be.

Appliqué is particularly suitable for altar-frontals and sanctuary hangings; the finer work and smaller patterns such as Figs. III. and IV., make very effective and handsome apparels for dalmatics and albes, and orphreys for chasubles.

Appliqué can also be used for banners, where effect is really more desirable than over-much work. Quite beautiful is such a banner showing figures of saints or angels in bright raiment, well drawn, expressive, and with few details (something in the style of good stained-glass), where the full value of pure colour is obtainable and the changing light in a procession modifies or accentuates the tones alternately in a most delightful manner. Needless to say such designs must be fully coloured before the materials are chosen, and the greatest care must be exercised to see that they harmonise; nothing short of seeing the actual pieces of silk together will accomplish this; small snippings or threads of silk are useless for the purpose. And the outlines must be sufficiently thick and well marked to keep the colours distinct. A ‘cool’ dark brown or a ‘warm’ dark grey is preferable to black for this purpose.

The various fabrics used for appliqué may be prepared in the following manner.

In the first place embroidery paste has to be made, although many substitutes have been tried with more or less success. If there is a large quantity to prepare, it is better to make the paste than to try ‘cobbler’s paste’ or photograph mountant, though either will do very well for small pieces of work or to paste the back of embroidery which has been done in a frame to be mounted afterwards. In this latter case a small quantity of the paste is carefully rubbed on the back of the work with the tips of the fingers, and then thin tough paper stuck to it before cutting it out of the frame: the paper should be crumpled up and then slightly smoothed out before applying it to the work, or it is apt to contract in the course of drying, with disastrous results.

Embroidery Paste is made thus: mix 3 oz. fine wheaten flour (not ‘self-raising,’ ‘whole meal,’ or any fancy kind), 2 dr. finely powdered resin, ½ pint distilled water (cold). It must be perfectly smooth before putting on the stove to boil; it can be strained through a sieve if necessary. It must be kept well stirred, especially as it approaches boiling point, when it thickens and requires vigorous action to prevent it from burning or getting lumpy.

When once the whole mass boils, it becomes thinner and clearer, and must be kept boiling for at least five minutes.[3]

A piece of Bishop’s lawn (mounted in a frame) is next covered with as thin a layer of the paste as can be spread smoothly all over it; a large strong brush is used for this, a hog’s-hair tool such as house-painters use, round or flat. Then lay the material to be mounted upon the pasted surface, pat and stroke it down gently with a soft silk or linen rag to make sure that it is in contact with the paste evenly throughout, then pin or tack it firmly all round, and screw or peg the frame up taut. Air bubbles and creases would spoil it altogether. It is then left twenty-four hours to dry. If required sooner, it may be placed in a warm dry room, not too near the fire, but near enough to hasten the drying, or a warm flat-iron may be passed over the back; but the face of the silk or velvet must not be touched with anything; the iron must not be nearly so hot as a laundress would use; it is better, if possible, to let it dry naturally; there is less risk of damaging the material; and as it is rather a delicate process from first to last, it is advisable to experiment with something of little value to begin with.

Small pieces of stuff are much easier to mount than large ones. The whole of the pasted surface in the frame may be covered with different pieces, but they must all be put on while the paste is wet, and of course it is not necessary to paste the whole of the ‘backing’ if it will not be used, though it will dry more evenly if it is at least wiped over with a damp cloth where there is no paste.

When the mounted material is thoroughly dry, it may be cut out of the frame and laid, face downwards, on a board, when the shapes required should be marked out on the linen, and cut with a sharp knife or scissors. The appliqué should be accurately traced from the same drawing as that used for the whole of the work; but it must be remembered that whatever is drawn on the linen backing will be reversed when seen on the ‘right’ side. The shapes should always be cut out a trifle larger than the drawing, rather than smaller.

The ground for the appliqué being mounted in a frame, and the design traced, nothing remains to be done but to tack each detail firmly down in its place and couch round the edges with filoselle or gold, &c. The tacking stitches may be of fine white cotton taken right across and withdrawn after the work is finished; but in any case a small stitch of the same colour as the onlay should be placed through any sharp point there may be, to prevent it catching in the silk, or getting curled out of shape while being worked round. These stitches will not be taken out afterwards. A few stitches are also desirable down the centres of leaves, flowers, &c., so that they may keep flat as well as in place.

Some method should be kept to in cutting the appliqué a certain way in the stuff; there is a distinct difference in colour when it is cut with the warp or across it, or again, diagonally. Take satin for example: cut a leaf or the petal of a flower with the ‘smooth’ of the satin going in one direction, and then cut another exactly similar, with the satin in a different direction, and place them side by side; it will be evident at once that this quality of textile fabrics (i.e. the change of colour according to direction of warp and weft) must be reckoned with and used intelligently. It is common to all in a more or less marked degree, and follows the same principle which I have pointed out when speaking of the direction of stitches. Flowers (if more than an inch in diameter) look best with the petals cut separately, all one way of the stuff, and arranged so as to radiate from the centre. Leaves can be cut with each half starting towards the midrib; but too much cutting about is not desirable.

Appliqué is intended to have a somewhat flat effect. Quite sufficient variety can generally be obtained by varying the direction of the whole leaf, and by adding veins in couched, or crewel, or split stitch. A mass of French knots or a diaper over a different-coloured silk for the centres of flowers may combine very well with appliqué, but any other additional stitches should be resorted to but rarely. It should not look like an imitation of work done entirely by the needle, and much stitchery mixed with it or worked upon it is apt to give a false impression, besides weakening the character of the work, which should be simple and dignified, with no fussiness about it. If much variety is desired, it can always be produced by the judicious selection of different materials. There is great diversity of surface effect in satin, diaper, damask and corded silks, while velvet is indeed more different than any added stitch would be.

Fig. V.—Counter-change Inlay

Inlay is something like appliqué in appearance. It is, however, worked differently, the decoration being set into the fabric to be ornamented instead of being laid upon it. It ought to be worked in cloth or some substantial kind of material not liable to fray at the edges when cut. It is eminently suitable for church hangings, dorsals or wings, &c., having a certain nobility and sincerity about it, while all it asks of the worker is accuracy in the cutting and neatness in the sewing. The hand and eye of women are so much more trained nowadays than they used to be, by means of various arts and crafts, that it ought to be a matter of course to follow a line perfectly with a sharp knife on cloth, &c.

The method of work is as follows: Two pieces of cloth of different colours and about equal thickness are tacked together and pinned down to a board with drawing-pins. The pattern is traced on the top one, and the two are then cut together with a very sharp knife (a leather-cutter’s knife is good for this purpose). The blade of the knife must be kept vertical, that ground and inlet may be of the same size. They are then taken off the board and tacked down to linen already mounted in a frame, carefully fitting the two colours into each other. If the pattern be a counter-change design, there will be absolutely no waste of the stuff, as the piece which is cut out of the one material is set into the other.

When the edges have been sewn together (which is done with plain over-sewing not going through the linen—and is best worked out of the frame) the linen is removed and the outline added if required. This may be of cord or gold or narrow braid, or chain-stitching answers this purpose very well, especially as it is done loose in the hand. If a thinner material, or one more liable to fray is used, it is better to keep it in the frame throughout, and work through the linen; but it is not such a perfect method, as there is a ‘wrong side’ to it, which there should not be in the other. Neither will it hang in such soft folds, especially if it is pasted on to the linen, as some recommend.

Fig. VI

Chain-stitch, which I have mentioned as a suitable stitch to cover the join when working in inlay, may be described here, as it is very useful for any work that is not done in a frame. It has been so much imitated by means of the sewing-machine in modern times as to be somewhat out of favour, but it need not look mechanical if used with discretion. It makes a beautiful even line, following any curve with great precision and ease, and will always find its place at the hands of the competent worker, either as an outline stitch or a filling.

It is done by setting the needle into the stuff at the same place it came out, the thread lying under the thumb of the left hand. A small piece of the stuff is taken up by the needle in the right hand, and the thread drawn not too tightly (beginners always make their chain-stitch too tight); the needle is then set in as before, exactly in the same place where it came out. The ‘wrong side’ of the work should look like back-stitching.

Fig. VII

French Knots, which are placed in the middle of each of the grapes in Illustration I., are extremely useful, whether in masses, singly, or in lines following an outline; they may be used as a filling, or scattered over the ground, where they will break the colour in a very pleasing manner and add to the richness of general effect. Purse-silk, or some other kind of thick, firm variety of silk, is best for knots. Floss used double and twisted together is very satisfactory; in pale shades or white it has the effect of pearls.

After fastening the end firmly to begin with, bring the needle to the surface, take the thread up on it from right to left, holding the thread with the left hand, give the needle one turn and set it vertically into the stuff near the point it came out, but not exactly on it. The thread should still be held in the left hand till it has all gone through, leaving the knot on the surface. It should not be twisted more than once round the needle. If a larger knot is wanted, thicker silk should be used; knots made with two or three twists on the needle do not lie well in their place.

CHAPTER VII
ON FIGURE-WORK

Fig. I.—Christian Coptic Embroidery

A.D. 500 or 600

Part of a Medallion of a Tunic. From Ancient Tombs in Upper Egypt.

V. & A. Museum, S. Kensington (No. 124—1891).

In the last chapter, when speaking of appliqué, I had occasion to mention how well it lends itself to representation of the human form, to be worked on a fairly large scale. I consider it eminently suitable for this because of the slight amount of stitchery required to produce the desired effect, the features being merely outlined, with the exception perhaps of the eyes and lips, which might be worked solid.

Large masses of drapery, &c., are tedious to work and may very well be represented by a piece of beautiful woven material; while the features and limbs, if well-drawn to start with, may be outlined accurately by skilful fingers without calling for a greater knowledge of anatomy or artistic expression than the average embroidress may be expected to possess.

But now we have come to figure-work as a special branch of Church embroidery. My own opinion may be briefly stated that only those who can draw correctly ought to attempt it, because, of all methods of representation, needlework is one of the least direct, and therefore one of the most difficult.

It is possible, perhaps, to get a fairly satisfactory figure worked by a person who cannot draw, if the principal lines and shading are distinctly marked out on the material to be worked, as well as a fully coloured drawing provided by the designer. But stitching is not, so to speak, a natural medium for expressing ideas, and the slightest deviation from what is intended by the artist may result in something entirely different in character—approaching, possibly, very near the grotesque on the one hand, or frivolity on the other. And as we seem in these days of general but superficial education of the masses, to have almost lost the feeling of reverence for religious effigies, looked upon as symbols only, irrespective of any æsthetic properties they may or may not possess, it is more than ever necessary to do the best things in the best way we know of. This is why I would strongly urge all who wish to enrich their embroideries with the human figure to practise drawing first. I would further suggest that the drawing should be chiefly from the antique, and the study altogether more with regard to typical than individual forms, as this training is not for the painting of ‘pictures,’ but for the sake of knowing what are the elements of human beauty and how they ought to be applied or modified. Neither am I including the study of design, which, as I have before remarked, is a study in itself. I am suggesting only such a practice of drawing as shall enable the needlewoman to know what is required of her in following out the idea and intention of her design, and to be able to carry out the same intelligently; she will not then place an eye on the cheek-bone or an ear on the jaw, or allow the fold of a garment to suggest a dislocated limb.

It is taken for granted that the embroidress is already quite dexterous and proficient in the use of the finest floss-silks and has had a good deal of practice in the usual stitches. Her mind should be unencumbered with any thought of technique, and the hand should respond without effort.

There is no new stitch to learn for this work, but there are several ways of employing the old ones.

Each method being usually associated with some distinct style or date, it is well to be conversant with the various standards, and then the worker is able to choose that which appeals to her most, or which seems the right one for any special requirement.

The decoration and vestments of a church may very well be of a later date than the building, but it seems a sort of anachronism to have it distinctively earlier, unless it actually is a treasure handed down from past generations.

Among the earliest examples to which we have access are the remains of Christian Coptic embroidery, done, it is believed, in the fifth or sixth century (see Illustration I.)

It is all worked in coarse split-stitch or (which has much the same effect) by threading the needle with two strands of silk at once and bringing it up from the back between the two threads. The features are marked out with dark brown silk, and are formed in a somewhat rough-and-ready way by making almost every stitch express a feature by its direction and colour, the rest of the face being filled up as best it can. The hands in the same way; each finger is simply and crudely expressed by a single or double row of split-stitch. The garments are shaded, the rows of stitching following the direction of the folds.

Fragment of de Cantelupe Vestment in Worcester Cathedral

A.D. 1236-66

The earliest English figure work was usually done also in split-stitch, but much finer. The faces, hands, and feet were worked with the stitch all in one direction, either vertical or horizontal, and the details marked out with very fine black silk or dark brown. Sometimes the lips were put in with red. There was no shading of the flesh-tints, but they were, so far as one can tell, quite white. The Worcester fragments and the Durham stole and maniple are examples of this work; the latter, being in such good preservation, is the easiest to study. The garments and sometimes the whole figure were worked in gold or silver thread all laid one way; or again, with the face-lines vertical and the rest horizontal. The fragments from the vestment of Walter de Cantelupe (1236-1265 or 6) show a particularly beautiful scroll-work in a flowing pattern all over it. There are many small figures seated and crowned and holding a sceptre. The whole of the work is done entirely in fine gold-thread laid in one direction, and outlined with dark brown or black on what seems to have been crimson or rose-coloured Oriental silk. There is a small piece of it in the V. and A. Museum South Kensington, and some more in Worcester Cathedral Church, from which my drawing is taken.

Fig. II.—Early Thirteenth Century

(From the Syon Cope)

V. & A. Museum, S. Kensington (No. 83—1864).

But the most celebrated work, which began about this time and flourished for about a century, making England famous for its embroidery, was the world-renowned ‘Opus Anglicanum,’ of which we have one of the most perfect specimens in the well-known ‘Syon Cope’ at South Kensington. One of the characteristics of this work is the way the faces are treated. Split-stitch in one shade of fine floss is still used, but, instead of lying in straight lines, it is begun in the centre of the cheek and worked round and round, in more or less circular lines, till they merge into the semicircular ones of the neck, or radiate towards the eye-socket and the straight line of the nose. The direction of the stitch gives an appearance of shading, although it is all done in one shade of very fine silk. The effect of relief is also attained by the same means, slightly accentuated by mechanical assistance—possibly the round head of a metal pin heated and pressed wherever such an effect is desired. The figure of St. Paul (Fig. II.) shows the general effect and the accompanying diagram ([p. 34]) the method of work. It will be observed by anyone who will make the experiment, that fine split-stitch, crewel, or chain-stitch worked solid in a circular direction in this way, if done out of a frame, will naturally cause such depressions as are to be seen in the early specimens of ‘Opus Anglicanum.’ It needed very little mechanical appliance to make these indentations regular and more effective; but by degrees this desire for effect grew beyond bounds, and the modelling became frightfully exaggerated at the same time that the natural and moderate relief of eyelids, nose, and lips, caused by a few extra stitches, developed into an actual stuffing, till figure embroidery was a thing of the past, and a debased condition of taste delighted itself with dolls dressed in silks and laces attached to needleworked ‘pictures,’ which had to be framed and glazed to keep them free from dust!

The arrangement of stitches, as in the ‘Opus Anglicanum,’ has been revived in modern times by some of the Sisterhoods, where they make a point of being ‘Early English’; but it is a style apt to become too quaint to suit modern ideas of reverence, and it is certainly much more difficult to manage successfully than the vertical or horizontal arrangement (see ‘a’ [p. 34]).

‘b’ shows a combination of both, and ‘c’ of the vertical method. Fig. III. is a drawing from a figure of the Blessed Virgin in a group representing the ‘Annunciation’ on an altar-frontal at St. Thomas’s, Salisbury. The whole of the frontal is closely ‘parsemé,’ with the typical Cherubim, Angels, flowers, &c., of the period (thirteenth to sixteenth centuries) and very much ornamented with free and graceful scroll-work. There is a return to the simpler method for working the face; or perhaps I should say a continuation of this method, which has never been entirely given up, in spite of prevailing fashion; probably the embroiderer instinctively feels it to be the most manageable. I mean the evenly worked surface (be it split-stitch or satin-stitch) on which the features are worked in outline. These stitches lie in the vertical direction, and there is little, if any, shading. The dress is worked in several shades of blue (also vertical split-stitch or fine satin-stitch), and there is very little attempt to give the appearance of relief in the folds. The cloak is worked entirely in gold thread, laid horizontally, with the folds marked on afterwards in rather scratchy lines of green silk. The lining of the cloak is in silver thread, flecked with black to indicate vair. The hair is pale golden-brown, in split-stitch, following the natural curves, and is very delicately drawn and worked. The whole of the group is characterised by great simplicity and sweetness. The vase containing the lilies, which stands in the centre between the Angel and the Blessed Virgin, is of richly raised gold-work; a scroll behind her shoulders with the words ‘Ecce Ancilla Dn̅i’ balances the wings of the Angel in the composition of the design.

During the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries there was a spontaneous growth of feeling for truth and beauty in all the arts; more correct drawing and richer colouring combined with strong and graceful design to produce perfection in needlework. In the most beautiful examples of this period (with few exceptions) the faces are worked in natural shades of flesh-tints, with fine floss-silks in satin-stitch, either ‘short’ or ‘long and short,’ in the vertical direction, with a fair amount of shading, but no cast shadows. The garments fall in noble lines and give the opportunity for a fine variety of colour. Precious stones, metals, and pearls were used with moderation, not that lavish profusion which afterwards degenerated into vulgar display.

Fig. III

From an altar frontal in the Church of St. Thomas à Becket in Salisbury

Illustration IV. is taken from part of an orphrey in the Victoria and Albert Museum, designed by Rafaelino del Garbo, and represents, I think, the highest point to which ‘effect’ should go in the matter of shading and appearance of relief, perspective, &c. It is a piece of Florentine work, and shows distinctly the influence of the place and the age. This reproduction of course does not do it justice; it is a perfect marvel of colour, while the drawing shows a master’s hand. The whole of the architectural background is worked in gold thread laid horizontally, the effect both of colour and shading being entirely produced by means of the silk it is couched with. In places the gold is completely veiled by the stitches, in others it gleams through, and again it is left quite bare and shining with its own lustre alone. Every line of the architecture is accentuated with gold twist of different degrees of thickness, and sometimes varied again by being twisted in the opposite direction.

(a) English Thirteenth Century

(b) Westphalian Early Fifteenth Century

V. & A. Museum, S. Kensington (No. 459—1905).

(c) Modern, Stitches Vertical

The garments consist of the same gold thread which forms the background; it is simply carried through the whole of the work,[4] with the exception of the head and nimbus, which are worked separately and appliqué to it afterwards. The hands, even, are done over the gold in short satin-stitch. The flesh-tints are coloured strongly but finely, and the shading is put in boldly. The sympathy between design and work is so marked as almost to indicate the same hand; but we have other examples, which are known to have been designed by one person and worked by another, which show the same rapport, such as the designs by Pollaiuolo embroidered by Paolo da Verona (in the church of S. Giovanni at Florence).[5]

Fig. IV.—St. Andrew—Florentine work, Fifteenth or Early Sixteenth Century

V. & A. Museum, S. Kensington (No. 5787—1859).

The garments of the figures in the older embroidery were usually worked in split-stitch in much the same manner as the faces; that is to say, the stitching is done in rows, following the lines of the drawing.

In the Syon cope, for instance, the tunic of the figure illustrated in Fig. II. is worked in three shades of blue floss; the palest has faded so much as to be out of range altogether (a habit unfortunately common to pale shades of blue); the two darker ones seem to have remained almost entirely unaffected by age, light, and wear. The upper garment is worked in gold thread, with a border of green and a lining of soft yellowish-brown floss silk. The gold-work is done in the same way as the background of the cope. The threads lie in the same direction throughout—not merely in the case of the figure I am describing, but wherever gold is introduced at all—in large masses, as in the vesture, or in quite small quantities, such as the narrow border of the tunic. It is stitched so as to form the same zigzag pattern.

The lining of the upper robe is worked in a very fine split-stitch, with either very little shading or none besides that which is caused by the different directions of the stitch.

The folds in the gold-worked part are indicated by means of voided lines, which are afterwards filled up with stitches of black silk. The voiding at the folds gives a low relief, as the gold goes down and comes up again instead of all lying flat on the surface.

The hair is in fine lines of alternate blue-grey and white floss, done in split-stitch. In some of the other figures it is gold and black, or gold and white, or black and white, but always in alternate lines in the same style. In early English work the bearded faces have the upper lip shaven.

Three shades of each colour are commonly employed, not often following each other very closely, especially in the case of the green, of which the lighter shades incline towards yellow and the darker towards blue.