CANVAS WORK AND STITCHES
Introduction--Samplers--Petit Point Pictures--Cross Stitch--Tent
Stitch--Gobelin Stitch--Irish Stitch--Plait Stitch--Two-sided
Italian Stitch--Holbein Stitch--Rococo Stitch.
Canvas work, known in the XIIIth century as _opus pulvinarium_ or
cushion work, is of great antiquity, and seems to have had an
independent origin in several countries. It is sometimes given the
misleading name of tapestry, perhaps owing to hangings of all kinds
being called tapestries, whether loom-woven, worked with the needle, or
painted. Large wall hangings with designs similar to those of woven
tapestries have been most successfully carried out on canvas in cross or
tent stitch; as a rule, however, smaller objects are worked, such as
furniture coverings, screens or cushions, whence it is obvious canvas
work received its ancient and descriptive Latin name. Many Eastern
carpets are worked upon a strong canvas in a kind of tent stitch, and
so come under the heading of canvas work. It is a particularly durable
method of embroidering, and this makes it suitable for use upon anything
subjected to hard wear.
The work has usually a very decided and attractive character of its own.
A familiar example of this can be seen in the XVIIIth century samplers.
Its peculiar character is perhaps due to the fact that it cannot break
away from a certain conventionality due to constant use of the same
stitch, and its dependence upon the web of the fabric. This regularity
prevents the work from showing certain faults of design that other
methods may exaggerate. It is hardly possible to copy a natural spray of
flowers in cross stitch and keep it very naturalistic. The stitch being
square and alike all over gives a formality of treatment to every part
of the design, also, some detail is perforce omitted owing to the
impossibility of putting it in; all of this tends to a right method of
treatment, which renders the sampler an admirable lesson not only in
workmanship but also in design.
The XVIth and XVIIth century pictorial subjects worked upon fine canvas
in cross or tent stitch afford instances of most interesting work in
canvas stitches. Some of these, though, as a rule, very much smaller in
size, equal, in their way, the finest tapestries. Most of them, if
judged from a painter's standpoint, would be pronounced failures, but
this effect is not what is sought after; the method of treatment belongs
rather to the great traditions of the tapestry weaver, and is not
governed by the canons of the painter. Plate VI. shows a detail of
foliage from a particularly fine example of this work lately added to
the Victoria and Albert Museum collection.[2]
In what went by the name of Berlin wool work, popular in the early XIXth
century, we have before us a degenerate offshoot of this fine and poetic
kind of work in which all its possibilities are missed, with a result
that is prosaic in the extreme. Some of the canvas-work seat covers
decorated with geometrical designs, seen on Chippendale chairs, were a
pleasant and satisfactory variation in their way, but in most of the
work after that period, the attempt at impossible naturalistic effect
gave such unsatisfactory results as to almost deal a death blow to all
canvas embroidery. It is, however, a method too good and useful to die
out; it must always be more or less in vogue.
Patterns carried out in canvas stitches are sometimes to be seen worked
apparently upon velvet or similar ground materials. This is done by
first laying the canvas upon the velvet and stitching through both
materials; this would have to be carried out in a frame. The threads of
the canvas are afterwards either withdrawn or closely cut off. In the
former case, the stitches must be drawn tight, or the finished work will
not look well. This method has the advantage of saving the labour of
working the background, and sometimes it suits the pattern to have a
contrast in the ground material. In old embroideries, heraldic devices
may be seen successfully treated in this way.
The usual canvas stitches can be worked upon other fabrics that have an
even and square mesh, such as various kinds of linen; also other
embroidery stitches, such as stem, satin, or chain, can be used upon
canvas; they are then always worked with a certain regularity, following
the web of the material.
Canvas work can be done in the hand or in a frame, but the technique is
often better in work done in a frame. In all-over work it is important
that not even a suggestion of the ground fabric should be allowed to
show through; for this reason work in light colours should be done on
white canvas, and _vice versâ_, as far as possible, also the thread used
must suit in thickness the mesh of the canvas. To work a plain ground
well is less easy than to work the pattern, though it may sound more
simple. The back of the work, though not necessarily similar to the
front, must be alike in stitch all over, for the direction the stitch
takes at the back affects the regularity of appearance of the front. The
stitch must not be commenced in exactly the same place in each row, lest
a ridge should appear upon the surface; this can be avoided by using
threads of different lengths. A ground is usually commenced at the lower
left-hand corner, and a pattern, if a complicated one, from the centre
outwards. These technical points are of importance, but they are of
little value unless the stitches are at the same time expressing an
interesting and suitable design.
The stitches used are exceedingly numerous; those described in the
following pages are the varieties most commonly seen.
Cross stitch, the best known in this group, can be worked in slightly
different ways, according to the purpose for which it is required. On
the surface it is always the same, but it can vary at the back. For
instance, when used for marking purposes it should form on the reverse
side either a cross or a square, to do either of which demands some
ingenuity on the part of the worker. For ordinary work the really
correct method is to complete each stitch before going on to the next,
though grounding is frequently done by working the first half of the
stitch along an entire line, and completing the cross upon a return
journey. In any case, the crossing must always be worked in the same
direction.
Cross stitch is a double stitch worked diagonally over two threads of
the canvas each way. It can, however, be taken over more or fewer
threads if required larger or smaller. To work it (fig. 79)--Bring the
needle through on the upper left side of the threads to be covered, and
take it back again on the lower right, then bring it through on the
upper right side and return it to the back on the lower left, which
completes the first stitch.
[Illustration: Fig. 79.]
Tent stitch (fig. 80) is the finest canvas stitch, and is therefore
suitable for work involving much detail. Pictorial and heraldic subjects
are frequently carried out in it. It is worked diagonally over a
perpendicular and horizontal thread of the canvas. The diagram shows
the method of working both back and front. It will be noticed that
though the line goes alternately from left to right and from right to
left, the stitch is always the same at the back as well as the same upon
the front; if this were not so, alternate rows would have a different
appearance upon the right side. The diagram does not show the connection
between the first and the second row, but it is evident that it must be
a short upright line.
[Illustration: Fig. 80.]
Gobelin stitch is a useful variety; it lends itself to shading better
than cross stitch. It is most often worked upon a fine single canvas,
and it can be used as a raised stitch. Fig. 81 represents the stitch; it
is worked similarly to tent stitch but over two threads in height and
one in width, no matter whether the single or double thread canvas is
used. In order to work it as a raised stitch, a line of some kind of
padding is thrown across the canvas, and the stitch taken over it. This
line can be arranged to show in part, in which case the material must be
one presentable, such as a gold cord or narrow braid. The padding would
be covered with stitching to form the background, and left exposed for
the pattern, which would probably be a simple repeating form of some
kind. Gobelin stitch is sometimes worked quite perpendicularly just over
two threads in height.
[Illustration: Fig. 81.]
Irish stitch is pretty and quickly worked. It is usually taken
perpendicularly over four threads of the canvas (fig. 82), though the
number over which it is taken may vary. It is worked in such a way as to
make the stitches of each succeeding row fit between those of the last
row, and can be carried out either diagonally or in horizontal lines.
What is known as Florentine work is carried out in a stitch of this
kind. The pattern in this kind of work is taken horizontally across the
ground in a succession of shaded zigzag lines.
[Illustration: Fig. 82.]
Plait stitch is often used for grounding. It resembles a simple plait
laid in close rows to and fro on the ground. It can frequently be seen
used upon the Italian XVIth century linen work, that in which the
pattern is left in plain linen, and the ground worked in some colour.
The diagram in fig. 83 shows the method of working the stitch. If
carried out correctly, the back of the material should show a row of
short perpendicular lines, each composed of two threads.
[Illustration: Fig. 83.]
Two-sided Italian stitch is descriptively named, for it is alike on both
sides. This is frequently seen on XVIth and XVIIth century Italian linen
work, similar to that mentioned above. A loosely woven linen makes a
suitable ground material, for in the working the stitches must be pulled
firmly, so as to draw the threads of the fabric together; this gives
over the ground a squared open-work effect, which is very pretty. Fig.
84 explains the working of the stitch; it is shown in four stages, and
is quite simple; the final result is a cross surrounded by a square. The
lowest figure in the diagram shows the last stage, for the upper side of
the square is filled in when the row above is worked. The drawing
together of the web is not shown, but at a trial it should be done, for
in that lies the special character of the stitch. The silk used must be
just thick enough to well cover the linen, but not too thick, for then
the work would be clumsy.
[Illustration: Fig. 84.]
[Illustration: Fig. 85.]
Holbein stitch (fig. 85), also known as stroke or line stitch, is alike
on both sides, and is often used in conjunction with cross and satin
stitch, as well as alone. Very intricate and interesting patterns can be
devised to be carried out with these three stitches, worked always with
regard to the web of the linen. Squared paper could be used for
planning the design, as the stitches would all be practically of the
same length, and the pattern must be one that can be easily carried out
alike on both sides. The stitch is worked as follows: An even running
stitch, picking up as much material as it leaves, is taken all round the
pattern. This does half the work on either side; the gaps are then
filled up by the running stitch being taken in a contrary direction,
which completes the pattern. Occasionally stitches go off at an angle
from the running pattern; these are completed on the first journey by a
satin stitch being made at the necessary point. The present diagram is a
zigzag line, with one of these stitches going off at each angle. Fig. 86
is an example of a border design carried out in Holbein stitch.
[Illustration: Fig. 86.]
[Illustration: Fig. 87.]
The stitch illustrated in fig. 87 is known as rococo stitch. It is a
useful one for carrying out a conventional design, such as, to give a
simple illustration, a flower sprig repeating in the spaces formed by a
trellis pattern. The effect of the stitch when worked cannot be judged
from this diagram; to see this properly a piece of canvas must be worked
entirely over with it. The pattern chosen is usually one that lends
itself to being worked in diagonal lines, as this stitch is best worked
in that way. It entirely hides the canvas background, and is carried out
very similarly to the oriental stitch in fig. 71. By the help of that
diagram and description and the present one, which gives various steps,
the worker will easily master the stitch, which is quite simple. The
ordinary carrying out of the stitch is shown where the needle is at
work, and in another part the diagram, by some loosened stitches,
illustrates how to pass from one cluster to the next.
Some fine examples of canvas work design, introducing a variety of
stitches, may be seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum. These are large
panels filled with foliage and flowers growing about architectural
columns.[3]
FOOTNOTES:
[2] No. 879, 1904.
[3] No. 517-522, 1896.