TOOLS, APPLIANCES, AND MATERIALS
Needles--Scissors--Thimbles--Frames--Stand and Frame
combined--Tambour Frame--Cord-making Appliance--Requisites for
Transferring Patterns--Pricker--Knife--Spindle--Piercer--Suitable
Materials for Embroidering upon--Threads of all Kinds--Stones,
Beads, &c.
Good workmanship takes a prominent, though not the first, place.
Technical excellence in needlework, as in all other artistic crafts, is
a question of the worker's perseverance and her ability in the use of
tools. In embroidery these are few and simple, and are as follows:--
_Needles._--For most purposes needles known as long-eyed sharps are
used. Tapestry needles, similar to these, but with blunt points, are
useful for canvas work and darned netting. For gold work a special
needle can be procured with sharp point and long wide eye. A bent needle
makes a crooked stitch; but needles if made of good steel should not
bend; they break if used unfairly. The eye should be cleanly cut, or it
roughens the thread. The needle must be just stout enough to prepare for
the thread an easy passage through the material.
_Scissors._--Three pairs may be necessary; for ordinary work a small
pair with fine sharp points, for gold work small ones with strong points
similar to nail scissors, and for cutting-out purposes a large pair with
one rounded and one sharp point.
_Thimbles._--Steel ones are said to be most serviceable, silver are most
usual; but whatever the material they must be neatly made in order not
to wear the thread.
_Frames._--A common type of frame is shown at fig. 1. It is made in
various sizes; the one here represented measures 18 inches across. It
consists of four pieces of wood, two rollers for the top and base and
two side pieces. Each of the rollers has a piece of webbing securely
nailed along it, and its extremities are pierced with holes to receive
the side pieces. These are formed of two long wooden screws, fitted with
movable nuts, which adjust the width of the frame and the tautness of
the stretched work. The piece of material that is stretched between is
the link that keeps the frame together, for the screw ends fit just
loosely in the holes of the rollers. The side pieces are sometimes made
of flat laths of wood pierced with holes at regular intervals; in these
are inserted metal pins, by means of which the work is kept stretched.
Fig. 9 represents a frame of this type. If the frame is a very large one
it can have a strengthening bar fixed across the centre from roller to
roller.
[Illustration: Fig. 1.]
The frame is most convenient for work when fixed in a stand, although it
can be used leaning against a table or the back of a chair. A very large
frame would be supported upon trestles, but for ordinary purposes, a
stand, such as the one shown in fig. 2, is practical. It consists of two
upright wooden posts, a little over 2 feet in height, which are
connected near the base by a strengthening cross piece. Both this and
the uprights are adjustable; the centre part of the posts is arranged to
slide up and down, and can be fixed at any convenient height by the
insertion of a long metal pin; the width of the cross piece is regulated
in similar fashion, being made firm, by a screw, at the required width,
thus allowing various sized frames to be used in the same stand. The
frame is fixed in place by metal clamps, and a wooden pivot is arranged
so as to permit the stretched work to be inclined at any angle
convenient. Both stand and frame should be well made and of good wood,
for they must be able to stand strain and be perfectly firm and true
when fixed for work.
[Illustration: Fig. 2.]
A small circular frame, such as is shown in fig. 3, is useful for
marking linen or for any small work. This, formed of two hoops fitting
closely one within the other, can be procured in wood, ivory, or bone,
of various sizes, the one illustrated being about 6 inches in diameter.
The material to be worked upon is stretched between these hoops like the
parchment on a drum. These tambour frames, as they are called, are
sometimes fixed into a small stand or fitted with a wooden clamp for
fastening to a table; this frees both hands for work. These tambours
cannot well be recommended; the material is apt to stretch unevenly, and
a worked part, if flattened between the hoops, is liable to be damaged.
[Illustration: Fig. 3.]
The illustration at fig. 4 shows a simple little instrument for making
a twisted cord. It is interesting to note that Etienne Binet, who wrote
on embroidery about 1620, when discussing some necessary equipment for
an embroideress mentions "_un rouet pour faire les cordons_."
There is sometimes a difficulty in procuring the cord just right to suit
the finished work; the texture may be too coarse to put beside fine
embroidery, it may not be a good match, and, even if so at first, it may
fade quite differently from the worked silks. For these and other
reasons it is a safe method to make the cord one's self, possibly with
some materials of the kind already used in the embroidery.
[Illustration: Fig. 4.]
This appliance enables the worker to make any kind of twisted cord; it
is as simple as a toy to handle, and gives excellent results. It is a
metal instrument about 8 inches in height. The three small discs are
wheels, supported on the arms of an upright cross which has a heavy
circular base. These three wheels are connected by a cord with a larger
wheel below that has a handle attached to it. The cord runs in a groove
round the circumference of each wheel, and must be held taut in
position. By turning the handle of the large wheel the three small ones
are set in motion. Three hooks, attached to the axles of the small
wheels, are therefore rotated with them. One end of each ply of the cord
in making is looped on to one of these hooks, the other ends are
attached to three similar hooks fixed into a block of wood which, when
in use, is firmly clamped to the table. Further instruction in the
making of cords is given in Chapter XIII.
[Illustration: Fig. 5.]
To trace the pattern on to the material the following articles may be
required: Indian ink, a small finely-pointed sable brush, a tube of oil
paint, flake white or light red, according to the colour of the ground
material, turpentine, powdered charcoal or white chalk for pounce,
tracing paper, drawing-pins, and a pricker. This last-mentioned tool is
shown in fig. 5. It is about 5 inches long, and is like a needle with
the blunt end fitted into a handle. For rubbing on the pounce some soft
clinging material rolled into a ball is necessary. A piece of old silk
hose tightly rolled up makes an excellent pad for the purpose.
The knife shown in fig. 6 is useful for cutting out at times when the
use of scissors is not practical. It is used in an upright position,
with the point outwards.
[Illustration: Fig. 6.]
A spindle for winding gold thread upon whilst working is shown in fig.
7. It is about 8 inches long. A soft padding of cotton thread is first
placed round (between A and B, fig. 7), and the gold thread wound upon
that. The end of the thread passes through the forked piece at the top
on its way to being worked into the material. The use of this or some
similar appliance enables the worker to avoid much touching of the metal
threads.
A small tool called a piercer is represented by fig. 8; it is used in
gold work; the flat end assists in placing the gold in position, and
also in making the floss silk lie quite flat; the pointed end is used
for piercing holes in the material for passing coarse thread to the
back, and for other purposes. This little tool, made of steel, is about
5 inches in length.
[Illustration: Fig. 7.]
[Illustration: Fig. 8.]
MATERIALS
The surface is a matter of special interest in embroidery work. This
makes the choice of materials of great importance. Besides the question
of appearance, these must be suitable to the purpose, durable, and, if
possible, pleasant to work with and upon. The materials chosen should
be the best of their kind, for time and labour are too valuable to be
spent upon poor stuffs; occasionally a piece of old work is seen with
the ground material in shreds and the embroidery upon it in a good state
of preservation, which is a pity, for a newly applied ground of any kind
is never as satisfactory as the original one. Still another plea for the
use of good materials is the moral effect they may have upon the worker,
inciting her to put forth her best efforts in using them.
[Illustration: Fig. 9.]
The purpose to which the work is to be put usually decides the ground
material, besides governing pattern, stitches, and everything else. A
background is chosen, as a rule, to show to advantage and preserve what
is to be placed upon it, though sometimes it is the other way about, and
the pattern is planned to suit an already existing ground.
A background must take its right place, and not be too much in evidence,
although if of the right kind it may be full of interest. There are,
roughly speaking, three ways of treating the ground, leaving the
material just as it is, covering part of it with stitching, or working
entirely over it.
If there is no work upon the ground the choice of material becomes more
important. Texture, colour, tone, and possibly pattern, have all to be
considered, though the problem is often best solved by the selection of
a plain white linen. The question of texture is sometimes one of its
suitability for stitching upon; colour and tone may be of all kinds and
degrees from white to black; these two, as a rule, being particularly
happy ones. If the ground stuff is patterned, as in the case of a
damasked silk, it must be specially chosen to suit the work to be placed
upon it; small diaper patterns are frequently very good, since they
break up the surface pleasantly without being too evident.
Linen, which well answers all the usual requirements, is, for this
reason, very frequently chosen for a ground material. It can be procured
in great variety, the handmade linens being the best of all. Of kinds
besides the ordinary are twilled linens, of which one named Kirriemuir
twill is similar to the material used in the fine old embroidered
curtains. Some damask linens look very well as backgrounds for
embroidery; the pattern is sometimes a slightly raised diaper, which
forms a pleasantly broken surface. Loosely woven linens can be obtained
specially suitable for drawn thread work. In any case, if there is
dressing in the new material, it must be well boiled before the
embroidery is commenced: this makes it much softer for stitching
through. Coloured linens are rarely satisfactory, a certain kind of blue
being almost the only exception. The safest plan is to keep to pure
white, or to the unbleached varieties that have a slightly grey or warm
tone about them. Wools, silks, and flax threads all look well upon a
linen ground; it is not usually in good taste to embroider with poor
thread upon a rich ground material, and, upon the other hand, gold
thread and floss demand silk or velvet rather than linen, though any
rule of this kind may on occasion be broken.
Velvet and satin make excellent backgrounds for rich work; they should
not be used unless of good quality. The pile of the best velvet is
shorter than that of poorer kinds, and so is easier to manipulate, which
is a further reason for using the best. It is in any case a difficult
material, so much so that work is often carried out on linen and
afterwards applied to a velvet ground. The modern velvets, even the best
of them, are for quality or colour not comparable with the old ones.
Silk of different kinds is largely employed, since it makes a suitable
ground for many kinds of embroidery. Twilled and damasked silks are much
used; in the last-named kind, patterns must be carefully chosen to suit
the particular purpose. A thick ribbed silk is rarely satisfactory for
embroidery purposes.
For working with silk thread, an untwisted floss takes the first place,
but it needs some skill in manipulation. Filofloss is somewhat similar,
but it has a slight twist in it, making it easier to work, though
producing a less satisfactory result. Filosel is useful for some kinds
of work, but it is a poorer quality of silk. The purse silks, and what
is called embroidery silk, are all excellent; they are tightly twisted
varieties of fine quality. There are various others in use; a visit to a
good embroidery depôt will probably be the best means of finding out
about these and about materials in general.
Wools can be obtained in various thicknesses and twistings, each good in
their way. Some workers prefer a but slightly twisted wool; however,
examples of old wool work are to be found in which a finely twisted
variety is used with most satisfactory effect.
Flax threads can be obtained in very good colours, and are to be highly
recommended. There are various cottons procurable, either coloured or
white, that are good for marking and other embroidery purposes where an
evenly twisted thread is desirable.
Pearls and precious stones take their place in rich embroideries, also
various less expensive but pretty stones may often be made use of
effectively.
Beads are a fascinating material to work with; all kinds of pretty
things can be done with them, either sewing them upon a ground, knitting
or crocheting, or making use of a small bead loom. A good deal of the
ready-made bought bead work, that only requires a monotonous ground to
be filled in around an already worked pattern of sorts, is not at all
suggestive of its possibilities. Beads of both paste and glass can be
obtained in much greater variety than is usually known, from the most
minute in size to large varieties of all kinds of shapes and patterns,
the colours of most of them being particularly good. The larger
ornamental beads are useful in many ways, sometimes taking the place of
tassels or fringes.
Many kinds of most curious materials are at times brought into the
service of embroidery, but the above-mentioned ones are the most usual.