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34 chapters
ART IN NEEDLEWORK
ART IN NEEDLEWORK
TEXT-BOOKS OF ORNAMENTAL DESIGN A BOOK ABOUT EMBROIDERY BY LEWIS F. DAY AUTHOR OF 'WINDOWS,' 'ALPHABETS,' 'NATURE IN ORNAMENT' AND OTHER TEXT-BOOKS OF ORNAMENTAL DESIGN & MARY BUCKLE LONDON: B. T. BATSFORD 94 HIGH HOLBORN 1900 BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO. LD., PRINTERS, LONDON AND TONBRIDGE....
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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
Embroidery may be looked at from more points of view than it would be possible in a book like this to take up seriously. Merely to hover round the subject and glance casually at it would serve no useful purpose. It may be as well, therefore, to define our standpoint: we look at the art from its practical side, not, of course, neglecting the artistic, for the practical use of embroidery is to be beautiful. The custom has been, since woman learnt to kill time with the needle, to think of embroider
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Errata.
Errata.
Page 30 . Diagram belongs to G (Stem-Stitch) described on page 32 , not C (Thick Crewel-Stitch). Page 125 , 2nd line. For "lower" read "upper."...
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EMBROIDERY AND STITCHING.
EMBROIDERY AND STITCHING.
Embroidery begins with the needle, and the needle (thorn, fish-bone, or whatever it may have been) came into use so soon as ever savages had the wit to sew skins and things together to keep themselves warm—modesty, we may take it, was an afterthought—and if the stitches made any sort of pattern, as coarse stitching naturally would, that was embroidery . The term is often vaguely used to denote all kinds of ornamental needlework, and some with which the needle has nothing to do. That is misleadin
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CANVAS STITCHES.
CANVAS STITCHES.
The simplest, as it is most likely the earliest used, stitch-group is what might best be called Canvas stitch—of which cross-stitch is perhaps the most familiar type, the class of stitches which come of following, as it is only natural to do, the mesh of a coarse canvas, net, or open web upon which the work is done. A stitch bears always, or should bear, some relation to the material on which it is worked; but canvas or very coarse linen almost compels a stitch based upon the cross lines of its
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CREWEL-STITCH.
CREWEL-STITCH.
For work in the hand, Crewel-Stitch is perhaps, on the whole, the easiest and most useful of stitches; whence it comes that people sometimes vaguely call all embroidery crewel work; though, as a matter of fact, the stitch properly so called was never very commonly employed, even when the work was done in "crewel," the double thread of twisted wool from which it takes its name. the working of A on crewel-stitch sampler. larger image 11. CREWEL-STITCH SAMPLER. larger image 12. CREWEL-STITCH SAMPLE
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CHAIN-STITCH.
CHAIN-STITCH.
larger image 16. CHAIN-STITCH AND KNOTS. Chain and Tambour Stitch are in effect practically the same, and present the same rather granular surface. The difference between them is that chain-stitch is done in the hand with an ordinary needle, and tambour-stitch in a frame with a hook sharper at the turning point than an ordinary crochet hook. One takes it rather for granted that work which was presumably done in the hand (a large quilt, for example) is chain-stitch, and that what seems to have be
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HERRING-BONE STITCH.
HERRING-BONE STITCH.
Herring-bone is the name by which it is customary to distinguish a variety of stitches somewhat resembling the spine of a fish such as the herring. It would be simpler to describe them as "fish-bone;" but that term has been appropriated to describe a particular variety of it. One would have thought it more convenient to use fish for the generic term, and a particular fish for the specific. However, it saves confusion to use names as far as possible in their accepted sense. It will be seen from t
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BUTTONHOLE-STITCH.
BUTTONHOLE-STITCH.
Buttonhole is more useful in ornament than one might expect a stitch with such a very utilitarian name to be. It is, as its common use would lead one to suppose, pre-eminently a one-edged stitch, a stitch with which to mark emphatically the outside edge of a form. There is, however, a two-edged variety known as ladder-stitch, shown in the two horn shapes on the sampler, Illustration 22 . By the use of two rows back to back, leaf forms may be fairly expressed. In the leaves on the sampler, the ed
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FEATHER AND ORIENTAL STITCHES.
FEATHER AND ORIENTAL STITCHES.
Feather-stitch is simply buttonholing in a slanting direction, first to the right side and then to the left, keeping the needle strokes in the centre closer together or farther apart according to the effect to be produced. It owes its name, of course, to the more or less feathery effect resulting from its rather open character. Like buttonhole, it may be worked solid, as in the leaf and petal forms on the sampler, Illustration 25 , but it is better suited to cover narrow than broad surfaces. The
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ROPE AND KNOT STITCHES.
ROPE AND KNOT STITCHES.
A single sampler is devoted to Rope and Knotted Stitches , more nearly akin than they look, for rope-stitch is all but knotted as it is worked. Rope-stitch is so called because of its appearance. It takes a large amount of silk or wool to work it, but the effect is correspondingly rich. It is worked from right to left, and is easier to work in curved lines than in straight. Lines A on the sampler, Illustration 29 , represent the ordinary appearance of the stitch; its construction is more apparen
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INTERLACINGS, SURFACE STITCHES, AND DIAPERS.
INTERLACINGS, SURFACE STITCHES, AND DIAPERS.
The samplers so far discussed bring us, with the exception of Darning, Satin-stitch, and some stitches presently to be mentioned, practically to the end of the stitches, deserving to be so called, generally in use. By combining two or more stitches endless complications may be made; and there may be occasions when, for one purpose or another, it may be necessary, as well as amusing, to invent them. In this way stitches are also sometimes worked upon stitches, as shown on the sampler, Illustratio
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SATIN-STITCH AND ITS OFFSHOOTS.
SATIN-STITCH AND ITS OFFSHOOTS.
Satin-stitch is par excellence the stitch for fine silkwork. I do not know if the name of "satin-stitch" comes from its being so largely employed upon satin, or from the effect of the work itself, which would certainly justify the title, so smooth and satin-like is its surface. Given a material of which the texture is quite smooth and even, showing no mesh, satin-stitch seems the most natural and obvious way of working upon it. In it the embroidress works with short, straight strokes of the need
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DARNING.
DARNING.
It is the peculiarity of Darning and Running that you make several stitches at one passing of the needle. Darning and running amount practically to the same thing. Darning might be described as consecutive lines of running. The difference is, in the main, a matter of multiplication; but the distinction is sometimes made that in running the stitches may be the same length on the face as on the reverse of the stuff, whereas in darning the thread is mainly on the surface, only dipping for the space
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LAID-WORK.
LAID-WORK.
The necessity for something like what is called " Laid-work " is best shown by reference to satin-stitch. It was said in reference to it that satin-stitches should not be too long. There is a great deal of Eastern work in which surface satin-stitch, or its equivalent, floats so loosely upon the face of the stuff that it can only be described as flimsy. Nothing could be more beautiful in its way than certain Soudanese embroidery, in which coloured floss in stitches an inch or more long lies glist
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COUCHING
COUCHING
Couching is the sewing down of one thread by another—as in the outline of the flower on the laid sampler, Illustration 46 . The stitches with which it is sewn down, thread by thread, or, in the case of gold, two threads at a time, are best worked from right to left; or, in outlining, from outside the forms inwards, and a waxed thread is often used for the purpose. Naturally the cord to be sewn down should be held fairly tightly in place to keep the line even. It is usual in couching to sew down
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COUCHED GOLD.
COUCHED GOLD.
In olden days silk does not appear to have been couched in the East. On the other hand, it was the custom to couch gold thread in Europe at least as early as the twelfth century; so that the method was probably first used for gold, which, except in the form of thin wire or extraordinarily fine thread, is not quite the thing to stitch with. Besides, it was natural to wish to keep the precious metal on the surface, and not waste it at the back of the stuff. A distinguishing feature about gold is t
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APPLIQUÉ.
APPLIQUÉ.
Embroidery, it has been shown, is much of it on the surface of the stuff, not just needle stitches, but the stitching-on of something—cord, gold thread, or whatever it may be. And instances have been given where the design of such work was not merely in outline, but where certain details were filled in with stitching. Yet another practice, and one more strictly in keeping with the onlaying of cord, was to onlay the solid also, applying, that is to say, the surface colour also in the form of piec
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INLAY, MOSAIC, CUT-WORK.
INLAY, MOSAIC, CUT-WORK.
The materials are not pasted on to linen, as in the case of appliqué. The cloth to be inlaid is placed upon the other, and both are cut through with one action of the knife, so that the parts cannot but fit. The coherent piece of material (the ground, say, of the pattern) is then laid upon a piece of strong linen already in a frame; the vacant spaces in it are filled up by pieces of the other stuff, and all is tacked down in place. That done, the work is taken out of the frame, and the edges sew
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EMBROIDERY IN RELIEF.
EMBROIDERY IN RELIEF.
Embroidery being work upon a stuff, it is inevitably raised, however imperceptibly, above the surface of it. But there is a charm in the unevenness of surface and texture thus produced; and the aim has consequently often been to make the difference of level between ground-stuff and embroidery more appreciable by UNDERLAY or padding of some kind. The abuse of this kind of thing need not blind us to the advantages it offers. There are various ways of raising embroidery, the principal of which are
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RAISED GOLD.
RAISED GOLD.
Our sampler of raised work is done in silk. Underlaying is more often used to raise work in gold, to which in most respects it is best suited. The methods shown in the sampler would answer almost equally well for gold, except that working in gold one would not at H ( 66 ) use bullion-stitch, but bullion, first covering the underlay of stitching with smoothly-laid yellow floss. Bullion consists of closely coiled wire. It is made by winding fine wire tightly and closely round a core of stouter wir
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QUILTING.
QUILTING.
A most legitimate use of padding is in the form of Quilting , where it serves a useful as well as an ornamental purpose. To quilt is to stitch one cloth upon another with something soft between (or without anything between). Our word "counterpane" is derived from "contre-poinct," a corruption of the French word for back-stitch, or "quilting" stitch, as it was called. If you merely stitch two thicknesses of stuff together in a pattern, such as that on Illustration 69 , the stuff between the stitc
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STITCH GROUPS.
STITCH GROUPS.
There are all sorts of ways in which stitches might be grouped:—according to the order of time in which historically they came into use; according as they are worked through and through the stuff or lie mostly on its surface; according as they are conveniently worked in the hand or necessitate the use of a frame; and in other ways too many to mention. It is not difficult, for example, to imagine a classification according to which the satin-stitch in Illustration 71 would figure as a canvas stit
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ONE STITCH, OR MANY?
ONE STITCH, OR MANY?
The first thing to be settled with regard to the choice of stitch is whether to employ one stitch throughout, or a variety of stitches. Much will depend upon the effect desired. Good work has been done in either way; but one may safely say, in the first place, that it is as well not to introduce variety of stitch without good cause—there is safety in simplicity—and in the second, that stitches should be chosen to go together, in order that the work may look all of a piece. When the various stitc
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OUTLINE.
OUTLINE.
The use of outline in embroidery hardly needs pointing out. It is often the obvious way of defining a pattern, as, for example, where there is only a faint difference in depth of tint between the pattern and its background; in appliqué work it is necessary to mask the joins; and it is by itself a delightful means of diapering a surface with not too obtrusive pattern. Allusion to the stitches suitable to outline has been made already (see stitch-groups), as well as to the colour of outlining, à p
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SHADING.
SHADING.
One arrives inevitably at gradation of colour in embroidery; the question is how best to get it. But, before mentioning the ways in which it may be got, it seems necessary to protest that shading is not a matter of course. Perfectly beautiful work may be done, and ought more often to be done, in merely flat needlework; the gloss of the silk and its varying colour as it catches the light according to the direction of the stitching, are quite enough to prevent a monotonously flat effect. Still, em
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FIGURE EMBROIDERY.
FIGURE EMBROIDERY.
To an accomplished needlewoman embroidery offers every scope for art, short of the pictorial; and the artist is not only justified in lavishing work upon it, but often bound to do so, more especially when it comes to working with materials in themselves rich and costly. A beautiful material, if you are to better it (and if not why work upon it at all?), must be beautifully worked. Costly material is worth precious work; and there should be by rights a preciousness about the needlework employed u
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THE DIRECTION OF THE STITCH.
THE DIRECTION OF THE STITCH.
The effect of any stitch is vastly varied, according to the use made of it. Satin-stitch, it was shown ( 38 ), worked in twisted silk, ceases to have any appearance of satin; and it makes all the difference whether the stitches are long or short, close together or wide apart. More important than all is the direction of the stitch. By that alone you can recognise the artist in needlework. The DIRECTION of the stitch deserves consideration from two points of view—that of colour and that of form. F
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CHURCH WORK.
CHURCH WORK.
It is customary to draw a distinction between church, or ecclesiastical as it is called, and other embroidery; but it is a distinction without much difference. Certain kinds of work are doubtless best suited to the dignity of church ceremonial, and to the breadth of architectural decoration; accordingly, certain processes of work have been adopted for church purposes, and are taken as a matter of course—too much as a matter of course. The fact is, work precisely like that employed on vestments a
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A PLEA FOR SIMPLICITY.
A PLEA FOR SIMPLICITY.
The simplest patterns are by no means the least beautiful. It is too much the fashion to underrate the artistic value of the less pretentious forms of needlework, and especially of flat ornament, which has, nevertheless, its own very important place in decoration. As for geometric pattern, that is quite beneath consideration—it is so mechanical! Mechanical is a word as easily spoken as another; but if needlework is mechanical, that is more often the fault of the needlewoman than of the mechanism
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EMBROIDERY DESIGN.
EMBROIDERY DESIGN.
Perfect art results only when designer and worker are entirely in sympathy, when the designer knows quite what the worker can do with her materials, and when the worker not only understands what the designer meant, but feels with him. And it is the test of a practical designer that he not only knows the conditions under which his design is to be carried out, but is ready to submit to them. The distinction here made between designer and embroiderer is not casual, but afore-thought, notwithstandin
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EMBROIDERY MATERIALS.
EMBROIDERY MATERIALS.
Embroidery is not among the things which have to be done, and must be done, therefore, as best one can do them. It is in the nature of a superfluity: the excuse for it is that it is beautiful. It is not worth doing unless it is done well, and in material worth the work done on it. If you are going to spend the time you must spend to do good work, it is worth while using good stuff, foolish to use anything else. The stuff need not be costly, but it should be the best of its kind; and it should be
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A WORD TO THE WORKER.
A WORD TO THE WORKER.
A good workwoman will not encumber herself with too many tools; but she will not shirk the expense of necessary implements, the simplest by preference, and the best that are made. Embroidery needles should have large eyes; the silk is not rubbed in threading them, and they make way for the thread to pass smoothly through the stuff. For working in twisted silk, the eye should be roundish; for flat silk, long; for surface stitching or interlacing, a blunt "tapestry needle" is best; for carrying co
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A LIST OF STANDARD BOOKS ON ORNAMENT & DECORATION, INCLUDING FURNITURE, WOOD-CARVING, METAL WORK, &c., PUBLISHED BY B. T. BATSFORD, 94, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON, W.C.
A LIST OF STANDARD BOOKS ON ORNAMENT & DECORATION, INCLUDING FURNITURE, WOOD-CARVING, METAL WORK, &c., PUBLISHED BY B. T. BATSFORD, 94, HIGH HOLBORN, LONDON, W.C.
WINDOWS.—A BOOK ABOUT STAINED AND PAINTED GLASS. By Lewis F. Day . Containing 410 pages, including 50 full-page Plates, and upwards of 200 Illustrations in the text, all of Old Examples. Large 8vo, cloth gilt. Price 21 s. net. "Contains a more complete popular account—technical and historical—of stained and painted glass than has previously appeared in this country."— The Times. "The book is a masterpiece in its way ... amply illustrated and carefully printed; it will long remain an authority on
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