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[Illustration: ST. MARGARET’S, KING’S LYNN.
_From a photograph by Mr. Cyril Ellis, Victoria Road, N._]
CHURCH NEEDLEWORK
A MANUAL OF PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION
BY
HINDA M. HANDS
[Illustration]
LONDON
G. J. PALMER & SONS, 7 PORTUGAL STREET, W.C.
1907
DEDICATION
TO OUR DEAR MOTHER, THE HOLY CHURCH
THIS LITTLE WORK IS DEDICATED
BY ONE OF HER FAITHFUL DAUGHTERS
WITH THE HOPE THAT HER HUMBLE SERVICE
MAY BE ACCEPTED
‘To the Glory of God’
PREFACE
Miss Hands reminds me that it was at my suggestion, as Editor of ‘The
Treasury,’ that she undertook the writing of the articles which form
the basis of this volume. My confidence in her fitness to write such
papers was more than justified by the result. A mere man, indeed, cannot
presume to offer an opinion of a book on Embroidery which will carry much
weight; yet the letters received by me during the serial appearance of
these papers showed unmistakably that they were supplying a real want. In
their new and revised form they cannot fail to be yet more widely useful.
Moreover, the beautiful work executed by Miss Hands for my own and other
churches is ample proof that she is as skilled in the practice as in the
theory of her art.
So with much willingness I contribute these few words of introduction.
There must be many ladies to whom such a book as this—lucid, compact, and
inexpensive—will be most welcome, enabling them to use their needles for
the highest of purposes—the service of the Church and the beautifying of
the Sanctuary. We all feel, I think, that such work, when fashioned by
the hands of worshippers, has a worth and a significance, apart from its
intrinsic value, which no ready-made article purchased from the ‘Church
Furniture’ shop can possess. It is the concrete embodiment of love,
self-denial, and reverence. It brings before our eyes an example of human
talent consecrated to the highest ends. And it continues a tradition
characteristic of the Christian Church throughout its history—one dating
back, indeed, to those more ancient days when, in the language of the
Book of Exodus, ‘All the women that were wise-hearted did spin with
their hands, and brought that which they had spun, both of blue, and of
purple, and of scarlet and of fine linen,’ for use and adornment in the
Tabernacle of God.
ANTHONY DEANE.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
PREFACE v
I. INTRODUCTORY 1
II. ON MATERIALS, ETC. 3
III. ON MOUNTING FRAMES AND TRACING DESIGNS 6
IV. ON GOLD-WORK 9
V. ON SILK-WORK 15
VI. ON OUTLINE AND APPLIQUÉ 21
VII. ON FIGURE-WORK 29
VIII. ON LITURGICAL COLOURS, FRONTALS, ETC. 39
IX. ON THE COPE AND MITRE 49
X. ON EUCHARISTIC VESTMENTS, CHALICE-VEIL AND BURSE 53
XI. ON BANNERS, ETC. 65
XII. ON THE PRINCIPAL STITCHES USED IN LINEN-WORK 73
XIII. ON ALTAR LINEN 79
XIV. ON THE ALBE, SURPLICE, ETC. 85
CONCLUSION 91
APPENDICES 93
INDEX 101
CHURCH NEEDLEWORK
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
This little book (founded on a series of articles on Church Embroidery
written for the ‘Treasury’) is intended for the use of those who are
desirous of learning by practical experiment how to make the best use
of such time and skill as they have at their command; and who, while
they are unable to go through the long courses of instruction which are
generally indispensable to the attainment of perfection, are yet anxious
to devote their ‘labour of love’ to the service of the Church.
There are many Guilds and Associations of such workers rising up all over
the country who are ready and willing to be taught, and it is with the
hope of assisting these efforts that I am offering the result of many
years of study and practical experience.
It is quite beyond the scope of such a manual as this to go into the
History of embroidery in general, or even of this particular branch
of it. On this point therefore I will say no more than that it is an
undoubted fact that from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century English
embroidery took a leading place throughout the whole of Christendom, and
that from the fifteenth century onward embroidery began to decline as an
art till it might almost be reckoned as lost to England until the middle
of the nineteenth.
With these few facts in view it is not difficult to determine where
to look for the best examples of Church embroidery. It must be among
Museums, Picture galleries, and Collections of art treasures of the
best periods that one must study to improve the taste and cultivate the
intelligent perception of the best ways of doing things, not so much by
actual imitation (although that might prove an education in itself!) as
by absorbing the spirit of the work and seeing _how_ and _why_ it was
done.
I cannot too strongly recommend this method of learning, and it is to
this end I have used, wherever possible, such examples as are to be found
in our Churches, Public Museums, and Libraries rather than those in the
possession of individual collectors.
Embroidery may be defined in a general way as an ornamentation of
textiles by means of the needle.
This being the case, one ought to expect from it something _different_
from what can be attained by weaving, or something which cannot be done
so well or so readily by that means.
Some of the earliest forms of embroidery were, it is evident, direct
copies of woven patterns, but these were quite appropriately placed,
either on material which did not lend itself happily to being woven into
patterns, or where the surface so decorated was too small to be worth
while weaving; or again, where the ornamental material (such as gold and
silk) was too precious to be lost on the under-side of the work, as would
be the case in all woven work wherever the ‘ground’ shows between the
patterns.
The _superiority_ we expect to see in needlework as compared with woven
decoration consists chiefly in three points:—
1. The more harmonious gradation of colour.
2. The absence of mechanical repetition of pattern.
3. Freedom of line in the drawing.
It is this very freedom from mechanical restraint in all these three
respects of colour, design, and treatment which has proved such a
pit-fall to the unartistic English needlewoman.
Much of the beauty of the foreign peasant work is due to the
_restrictions_ imposed by their traditional style and limited range of
colour.
There is practically no limit to the number of shades available in the
present day, and without a cultivated ‘colour-sense’ an embroiderer can
run riot among an _embarras de richesse_ with most disastrous results!
A good colour-scheme is even more necessary in embroidery design than in
any other (except, perhaps, stained glass) because of the brilliance of
its possibilities—at once its highest merit and its greatest danger.
The colour-scheme, then, being an essential part of the design, must be
decided upon in accordance with it; and the actual materials with which
the work is to be carried out should be chosen all at the same time if
possible.
It is necessary for the designer of Church needlework to have a very
clear idea of the capabilities and the limitations both of the methods
and the materials by which the design is to be completed as a work of
art, and also a fair knowledge of the traditions of ecclesiastical art
from early times up to the present day.
It is equally necessary for the embroiderer to be able to enter into
the ideas and intentions of the designer. It adds considerably to the
interest of the work when it is carried out by the person who designed
it, but I must protest against the notion gaining ground largely in
certain educational circles, that the embroiderer _ought_ to design
her own work. There are very many women capable of executing perfect
stitchery and of entering into the highest ideals of beauty and
devotion who are not fitted by nature or training to artistic design.
The designer for ecclesiastical art may be compared to the composer of
sacred oratorios—he needs the co-operation of many minds, hearts, and
hands to perfect the realisation of his idea, and the many count it a
joy to be led by him. The more entire the sympathy throughout, the more
perfect will be the result. And they will consider their time and labour
well-spent in practising for this. Even so the embroiderer with patient
stitches will endeavour to express the ideal set before her by a master
of the craft and will meet with a like reward. This is the utmost that
the majority of us can hope to attain, and I cannot insist too strongly
upon the statement that it is better to work from the designs of good
artists, and to do again and again what has been proved excellent, than
to attempt an originality which may be attractive only by its novelty.
Whether the worker be her own designer or not, too much care and
attention can hardly be bestowed on the choice and arrangement of the
design. The principal requirements to be fulfilled are Beauty, Fitness,
and Practicability.
BEAUTY comes first as it is simply the _raison d’être_ of embroidery. If
decoration does not really add to the artistic value of the thing it is
applied to, it is _worse_ than useless as it destroys a certain real kind
of beauty which exists in simplicity.
FITNESS comes next, as it almost amounts to an axiom that without fitness
a thing which is beautiful in one place may be quite ridiculous or
improper in another.
And PRACTICABILITY is essential because it is in vain to draw a
beautiful design which cannot be carried out by the needle and thread.
In embroidery the finished work ought always to be _more_, not _less_,
beautiful than the coloured drawing.
Then there is the _position_ it is to occupy—the style of architecture,
method of lighting and amount of light, size of the church, &c. A large
church and a dark chancel, for instance, require bolder design and
brighter colour than would be suitable for a small church or one so
lighted that every detail is evident at a glance.