[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 881. LETTER W OF THE ALPHABET IN SOUTACHE. MODE OF PLACING THE BARS AND EMBROIDERING THE LEAVES.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 882. LETTER A OF THE ALPHABET IN SOUTACHE IN ITS FINISHED STATE.]
FLOWERS EXECUTED IN SOUTACHE AND EMBROIDERY (fig. 883). Flowers and sprays, such as here represented, make a charming tr.i.m.m.i.n.g for summer dresses, sunshades, ap.r.o.ns 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.
Thread a tapestry needle with the Soutache and draw it into the stuff, and then pa.s.s 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 st.i.tches 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 st.i.tch rather wider than the Soutache, fold the Soutache over again to the starting point, and secure it by a st.i.tch, 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 st.i.tch with yellow cotton and those of the cornflowers with dark blue.
The other little details are executed in flat and stem st.i.tch 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.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 883. FLOWERS EXECUTED IN SOUTACHE AND EMBROIDERY.
MATERIALS: Soutache D.M.C Nos. 1 to 3 and Coton a broder D.M.C No.
35.[A] COLOURS--For the Soutache: White, ecru or Jaune d"Ocre 677, and Bleu-Indigo 322.--For the Coton a broder: ecru, Jaune-Orange 444, Bleu-Indigo 311, Gris-Tilleul 391 and 330, Vert-Pistache 319, 320 and 369, Rouge-Cardinal 348.[A]]
We need only point out that Rouge-Cardinal 348 is intended for the little knot that connects the stalks of the flowers.
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 st.i.tches, 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 st.i.tches, clearly indicated in the ill.u.s.tration.
[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 884. CHINESE SUBJECT. MATERIALS: Coton a repriser D.M.C No. 50, Or fin D.M.C pour la broderie No. 40 and Chine d"or D.M.C[A].]
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 b.u.t.terfly, 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 b.u.t.terfly 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.
For the setting it will be best to take Or fin D.M.C pour la broderie or else Chine d"or D.M.C, used either double or single, according to whichever the drawing seems to require.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] See at the end of the concluding chapter, the table of numbers and sizes and the list of colours of the D.M.C threads and cottons.
[Ill.u.s.tration: ORNAMENT AFTER HOLBEIN.]
Practical directions.
Hitherto we have been chiefly occupied with descriptions and explanations of the different kinds of needlework; to render these complete, it remains for us to give a few practical directions with regard to the copying, adjustment and transposition of the patterns, as well as to the different processes, often so essential to the ultimate success of a piece of needlework. For this success will soon be found not to depend on the st.i.tches only but very largely on the proper adaptation of the design to the s.p.a.ce it is intended to fill.
Then, in the case of new lace, it is necessary to know the amount of dressing it will require to give it the right stiffness and when this dressing has worn off how to renew it; whilst in the case of applique work more especially, it is indispensable to know exactly what the ingredients are, of which the paste should be composed and how to make and lay it on in the proper manner.
TRACING PATTERNS AGAINST A WINDOW PANE.--In order to copy a pattern in this way, the first step is to tack or pin the piece of stuff or paper on which the copy is to be made upon the pattern. In the case of a small pattern, the tacking or pinning may be dispensed with and the two sheets held firmly pressed against the window pane with the left hand, whilst the right hand does the tracing, but even then it is safer to pin or gum the four corners of the two sheets together, in case of interruption, as it is difficult to fit them together again exactly.
The tracing may be done with a pencil, or better still, with a brush dipped in Indian ink or water-colour paint.
The process of tracing is easy enough, so long as the hand does not get tired but as this generally comes to pa.s.s very soon it is best, if the pattern be a large and complicated one, to stick the sheets to the pane with strong gum or suspend them on a string, fastened across the pane by pins stuck into the window frame on either side.
TO TAKE OFF A PATTERN BY RUBBING.--If you want to take a pattern of a piece of embroidery direct from the work itself, lay it, the right side up, flat upon a board or table and cover it with letter or tissue paper.
The paper should be of a good medium thickness, if it be too thick it will not take a clear impression of the pattern, and if very thin it is apt to tear.
Fasten the paper down upon the embroidery with drawing-pins and rub off the pattern with drawing-wax. In default of the right kind of wax, the bowl or handle of a spoon, or a large silver coin will serve the purpose equally well, as will also some powdered graphite or charcoal. The outlines will not of course, in any case, be very clearly defined upon the paper and will have to be gone over and carefully supplemented afterwards with a pencil.
Taking off the pattern with charcoal or graphite is less injurious to the embroidery than rubbing it off with wax or metal, as the pressure required in the latter case flattens the needle-work very considerably.
As soon as you have fixed the lines of the pattern by drawing them over with ink, it is ready for use.
TO TRANSFER A PATTERN DIRECT ON TO THE STUFF.--Patterns cannot be copied by either of the above methods direct on to the stuff and can only be used when the stuff on which the embroidery is to be executed is transparent; in the case of thick close fabrics the drawing must be made on the stuff itself. The following is the simplest way of transferring a pattern on to a transparent stuff; begin by going over all the lines of the drawing with Indian ink so as to make them quite thick and distinct, and tacking the paper with large st.i.tches on to the back of the stuff. Then, mix some very dark powdered indigo diluted with water, in a gla.s.s with a small pinch of sugar and powdered gum arabic, and using this as ink and a fine pen very slightly split, trace the pattern that shines through on the stuff.
The tracing must be very slight, for if the embroidery be not done till some time afterwards the lines get so firmly fixed in the stuff that one washing will not obliterate them; the tracing ink moreover makes the work unpleasantly sticky.
TO COPY WITH OILED PAPER.--Another rather expeditious mode of transferring patterns on to thin and more especially smooth glossy stuffs, is by means of a special kind of tinted paper, called autographic paper, which is impregnated with a coloured oily substance and is to be had at any stationer"s shop. This you place between the pattern and the stuff, having previously fastened the stuff, perfectly straight by the line of the thread, to a board, with drawing-pins. When you have fitted the two papers likewise exactly together, you go over all the lines of the pattern with a blunt pencil, or with, what is better still, the point of a bone crochet needle or the edge of a folder. You must be careful not to press so heavily upon the pattern paper as to tear it; by the pressure exercised on the two sheets of paper, the oily substance of the blue paper discharges itself on to the stuff, so that when it is removed all the lines you have traced are imprinted upon the stuff.
This blue tracing paper is however only available for the reproduction of patterns on washing stuffs, as satin and all other silky textures are discoloured by it.
TO POUNCE PATTERNS UPON STUFFS.--The modes of copying, hitherto described, cannot be indiscriminately used for all kinds of stuff; for cloth, velvet and plush, for instance, they are not available and pouncing is the only way that answers.
The patterns, after having been transferred to straw or parchment paper, have to be p.r.i.c.ked through. To do this you lay the paper upon cloth or felt and p.r.i.c.k out all the lines of the drawing, making the holes, which should be clear and round, all exactly the same distance apart.
The closer and more complicated the pattern is, the finer and closer the holes should be. Every line of the outline must be carefully p.r.i.c.ked out.
If the paper be sufficiently thin, several pouncings can be p.r.i.c.ked at the same time, and a symmetrical design can be folded together into four and all p.r.i.c.ked at once.
The p.r.i.c.ked pattern has next to be tacked upon the material, the side from which the p.r.i.c.king was done next to the stuff and the little funnel-shaped holes uppermost. Paper and stuff must be firmly fastened down and kept in position by drawing pins, so that neither of them may move during the process, otherwise you will have double lines on the stuff which you will find very confusing afterwards.
For the pouncing, use either powdered chalk or charcoal, according to whether the stuff be dark or light in colour. Dip the pouncing implement, a thing like a small drum-stick, stuffed and covered with cloth, into the powder and rub it lightly over the whole surface of the p.r.i.c.ked pattern, so that the powder penetrates through the pin-holes to the stuff. In default of a proper pouncing implement take a small stripe of cloth, roll it up round a stick and wind a string round, and dip this into the powder.
When the powder has penetrated to the stuff, remove the paper and if the pattern is to be repeated, lay it on again further on, taking care to make the lines meet exactly so that the join may not be seen.
When you have finished the pouncing and taken off the paper, you proceed to draw or rather paint in the pattern with water-colour paints: Ackermann"s are the best for the purpose; no others, as far as our experience has proved, adhere so well to even the roughest fabrics or so little affect the brilliancy of the embroidery thread. Four paints, blue, black, yellow and white are sufficient for all purposes, whatever the colour of the stuff may be.
On a smooth surface the tracing may be done with a pen but a small sable-hair brush is preferable under all circ.u.mstances.
The rougher and more hairy the surface, the finer the brush ought to be, in order that the colour may sink well in between the fibres.
Before beginning to paint in the pattern, gently blow away all the superfluous powder from the surface. This process may be objected to as being an old one which has been superseded by new inventions; a resinous powder for instance, by the use of which patterns can be fixed, as soon as they have been pounced, by pa.s.sing a hot iron over the stuff, a sheet of paper having first been laid upon it to protect it; or else a mixture of gum and powder which can be dissolved on the stuff itself by the steam of spirits-of-wine, and various other processes needless to mention here, as some are only useful in tracing patterns on a large scale, whilst others require a variety of appliances, not as a rule, within the reach of those to whom needle-work is a simple recreation.