Encyclopedia of Needlework

Old German knotted stitch (fig. 870).—This is a stitch often met with in old church and house linen embroidery. A beautiful design worked in this way is given further on.

Contrary to most stitches, this is worked upwards; the needle is put in horizontally under the stuff, the thread tightly drawn, then laid from left to right and drawn through underneath the first stitch and a tight knot made. We find the same stitch, worked in a variety of ways, according to the taste and skill of the worker; for instance the knots may be set slanting, as in fig. 870, or else straight and very close together, as in fig. 873, where they present the appearance of a close string of beads, or again wide apart, as they are in fig. 876.

Raised stem stitch (figs. 871, 872).—Take a very thick thread, such as Fil à pointer D.M.C No. 10 or 20, or one of the coarser numbers of Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C, lay it as a foundation thread along the line of your pattern and work over it wide stem stitches, as represented in figs. 172 and 173, either in the same number of thread used for the foundation thread, or a finer, according to the stuff you are embroidering upon.

You may overcast the same stitch in the manner indicated in fig. 872, using a different colour for the second layer of stitches to produce an agreeable variety.

Border in different kinds of stitches (fig. 873).—The straight lines of this border are all worked in old German knotted stitch in écru thread, forming a thick round cord which stands out from the surface in high relief; the flatter outlining of the outside figures is done in basket stitch in soft blue knitting cotton. The little oblong figures within the two inner lines of the border are worked in Gobelin stitch, in red embroidery cotton, and the filling of the figures, outlined in basket stitch, in one or other of the Irish lace stitches, worked in white lace thread, either so that all the stitches enter the stuff, or form a network over it.

The work may be simplified by sewing Soutache D.M.C or Lacet superfin D.M.C along the straight lines instead of embroidering them in basket stitch.

Roumanian stitch (figs. 874, 875).—This consists of stitches that are worked in the width of the stuff, intersected by back-stitches set slightly slanting.

Though the engraving is so clear as to render it hardly necessary, we subjoin an exact description of the way the stitches run.

Bring out the needle on the left, 2 or 6 threads beyond the line your embroidery is to follow; with regard to the number of threads you take up, you must be guided by the quality of the stuff and the material you have selected: put the needle in on the right, the same distance in advance of the line as before and bring it out in the middle of the stitch; then passing the needle over the first stitch, put it in again one or two threads in advance of the point where it came out, and draw it out close to where the first stitch began.

The border, represented in fig. 875, is worked in great part in Roumanian stitch.

The original, still very well preserved, notwithstanding its age, is worked in silk of a brilliant red on a stiff stuff which has been coloured by time and use.

Willems satin, Rhodes linen No. 2 and Algerian linen, make very suitable foundations for this kind of embroidery and have that soft tint which is almost indispensable to a satisfactory imitation of old needlework.

Any one of the shades of red named at the foot of the illustration, will be found to be a good match for the original colours.

Roumanian stitch is used wherever the lines of the pattern are widest; there where they narrow, in the indentures of the leaves and the twists of the stalks, flat stitch is used instead.

By the repetition of the detached subject, this pattern may be made to serve either for a stripe or for a grounding; if you use it for a stripe, the centre flower of the principal subject with the stalks lengthened, will look very well worked as a separate subject between the large bouquets. Worked in a double row, base to base, on any stuff and in any material, these large figures form a very handsome border which makes an effective trimming for furniture and curtains.

Pattern for piqué embroidery (fig. 876).—The stuff, called piqué, such as it is now manufactured, is simply an imitation of an old kind of needlework, almost unknown in these days, but very popular in the fifteenth and sixteenth century in Italy, for making coverlets and more especially curtains and blinds; the latter being highly esteemed, because without intercepting the light altogether, they tempered it agreeably.

A similar kind of work was common in Bohemia until a recent date for the making of caps. It is done on two layers of stuff, of different kinds, the upper one fine and transparent, the lower, more substantial.

You then tack the two stuffs together and work all the outlines of the pattern in Old German knotted stitch with écru Fil à pointer D.M.C No. 20; that done, thread a tapestry needle with white Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C No. 1 or 2, slip it in between the two layers of stuff and secure the end by two or three stitches; then push the twist quite close to the knotted stitch and fasten it in between the two layers of stuff, with small and very regular running stitches, in a fine pliable material, such as Fil d’Alsace D.M.C on reels.

Alphabet in Soutache (braid) (figs. 877, 878, 879, 880, 881, 882).—This alphabet, which is one of the best of its kind, was taken from a work published in Venice in 1662, by Giovan’ Antonio Tagliente, secretary and calligraphist to the Republic.

The sewing on of the braid is done with very small running stitches and the interlacing with a tapestry needle, into which the braid is threaded; both operations are shown in figs. 877 and 880. The embroidery of the connecting bars, and the small leaves and tendrils that complete the letter are explained in fig. 881, whilst fig. 882 represents the letter A in its finished state.

For sewing on the braid, a fine soft material is the best, such as Soie de coton D.M.C[A] and for embroidering the small accessories, Coton à broder D.M.C No. 50[A].

Flowers executed in Soutache and embroidery (fig. 883). Flowers and sprays, such as here represented, make a charming trimming for summer dresses, sunshades, aprons etc. and can be executed with admirable effect in the D.M.C Soutache, now to be had in all the colours of the D.M.C colour card. A very pretty running pattern can be formed out of the spray, fig. 883, by turning the flowers first to the right and then to the left and making the stalks come out underneath the ears of corn. In order to reverse the position of the flowers thus, you will have to make two tracings of the spray, one negative and one positive.

For the ears of corn in fig. 883, use either Soutache écru, or Jaune-d’Ocre 677 No. 2; for the marguerites, white Soutache No. 2½ and for the corn flowers, Soutache Bleu-Indigo 322 No. 2. Nothing could be simpler than the mode of working these flowers.

Thread a tapestry needle with the Soutache and draw it into the stuff, and then pass it through from the right side to the wrong at the bottom of one of the petals of the flowers, secure it on the wrong side by two or three stitches and then bring the working thread, which should be of the same colour as the Soutache, out again at the point of the petal, then carry the Soutache back to the bottom of the petal and fasten it down, like the gold threads in fig. 242, by a stitch rather wider than the Soutache, fold the Soutache over again to the starting point, and secure it by a stitch, and so on. In order to give a different character to the flowers, use Soutache of different widths, fold it over more or less closely and lay it down in shorter or longer lengths, as required. The natural irregularity of the petals of a flower can be very faithfully imitated in this manner. Fig. 883 shows the way in which, for the ears of corn, the braid is folded back upon itself and fastened down, whilst in the white flowers the two layers of the braid that form each petal are separated at the bottom.

The stamens of the marguerites are worked in knot stitch with yellow cotton and those of the cornflowers with dark blue.

The other little details are executed in flat and stem stitch in the colours indicated at the foot of the engraving. With the pattern to go by, the distribution of the colours for the different parts can present no possible difficulty.

Chinese subject (fig. 884).—This quaint and graceful composition, copied from an interesting piece of Chinese embroidery, gives our readers the opportunity of turning the different damask stitches, already described in these pages, to quite a new use.

The kind of gauze which forms the foundation of the original work can be replaced either by Spanish or Rhodes linen No. 2, by any stuff, in fact, the threads of which can be counted.

The drawing has to be transferred to the stuff, and the different parts are filled in with the stitches, clearly indicated in the illustration.

By the introduction of several colours, this pattern is capable of being infinitely varied.

Thus, in the model before us, the neck and bulb of the flask, the leaves it stands upon and those attached to the flowers in it, are worked in Vert-Pistache 367, the handles, the ornament on the bottle, and the triangular figure in the centre are in white; the little flower on the left, the second on the right, the straight staff, the upper wings of the butterfly, as well as the three leaves underneath the triangle are in Bleu-Indigo 334; the first flower on the right of the flask, the knot above the triangle, the lower wings of the butterfly and the middle part of the bottom subject on the right of the engraving are in Gris-Amadou 383; and Violet-lie-de-vin and Brun-Caroubier 357 alternate in the pointed leaves that support the flask; the former colour recurs in the ornaments of the staff, and Rouge-Cardinal 347, black and Gris-Tilleul alternate in the other details of the drawing.

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