THE ART AND CRAFT OF EMBROIDERY--THE SIX POINTS
“Chaires, Stooles and Screen, the same, all of Satten Stitch done in
Worsteads.”
We shall now consider the six important points of design.
=Art and Craft.=--Many women have an inherent instinct for
needlework--that is, the craft of the needle--for the knowledge of how
to use a needle and thread is generally easily acquired; but it is
quite otherwise when the design, the artistic or imaginative part, has
to be carried out, as it ought to be, by the worker. Then all sorts of
difficulties arise, mostly imaginary, as those who make an attempt may
find.
Let us here consider the design as a necessary part of the workmanship.
We shall be ambitious enough to study embroidery from an artistic
point, for the art and the craft ought surely to go hand in hand.
=The Habit of Design.=--A special knowledge of drawing is not essential
for pattern making--a child will make delightful patterns--nor for
simple designs composed of straight lines and geometrical forms, such
as might be happily applied to borders for articles of daily household
use or for personal wear. A ruler, a compass and a sheet of squared
paper are sufficient for initial efforts: and once the habit of simple
designing is acquired it can become a wonderfully absorbing pastime,
for eyes that are opened to see will find designs on every side.
=Good Taste and Common Sense.=--To carry out a piece of work
successfully, however, the embroideress must possess good taste and
common sense; these are indeed important qualities, the possession of
which will help the beginner enormously: add to these an eye for colour
and form, a practical knowledge of the stitches commonly in use, some
acquaintance with materials, their utility and adaptability, and the
worker will find herself fairly well equipped to start her design.
=The Six Points.=--There are about six points to be considered in
connection with a piece of embroidery:--
_The Object and its Use._--We must decide this, bearing in mind the
position the work will occupy when finished; choosing a material
suitable for the purpose, and with due regard to the restrictions of
economy.
_The Colour Scheme._--Consider the environment, and let the scheme be
in harmony with or in contrast to the background and surroundings.
_The Construction._--Plan carefully and arrange for the decoration,
which should never interfere with the usefulness of the finished work.
_The Building up of the Pattern._--This should always be done with a
view to the limitations of the material.
_The Stitchery._--This must also be adapted to the material--with bold,
effective types for the coarser woven stuffs, and daintier, closer
stitchery for the firmly woven textiles.
_Finishing Touches._--A beginner rarely realises the importance of
these, yet it is well worth while bestowing thought on them; interest
may be considerably heightened by such additions or an otherwise good
piece of work rendered less attractive by lack of care and thought at
the final stages.
It will now be seen that the design--the least mention of which strikes
terror to the soul of the uninitiated--does not consist in the drawing
or the making up of the pattern alone, and that there are important
preliminary stages to be gone through. Indeed the design is well on
its way by the time the worker reaches the fourth point, _i.e._, the
building up of the pattern.
THE FIRST POINT: ON THE CHOOSING OF MATERIALS, THREADS, TOOLS, ETC.
=Materials.=--Materials, threads, and needles are important items, and
should be chosen carefully; to spend time and labour on embroidery on a
poor foundation is an extravagance rather than an economy--the tendency
being to make up for the poorness of the quality by the profuseness of
the decoration. Materials need not be costly, but they should be good
of their kind.
=Homely Materials.=--Charming things can be made out of homely cloths,
remnants and oddments. Texture, tone and colour should be considered,
both from a practical and an artistic point of view; a background that
is pleasant to work upon is always an advantage. Linens, of varying
quality and texture, can be relied upon for domestic purposes--they
make for good stitchery, they wash well, and are very durable. (Plate
VII.) Some unbleached materials are extremely economical.
=Greenhouse Shading.=--A soft creamy netting used for greenhouse
shading, which may be obtained from any of the large seed merchants, is
made in different widths from 54 inches to 72 inches. It has an open
mesh and lends itself to all types of darning and needle-weaving--the
narrow widths make excellent semi-transparent sash curtains, which
may be brightened by applied bands of coloured linen or chintz, and
finished with rows of simple running or tacking stitch in wools or in
some of the coarser makes of embroidery cottons. (Plate VIII.) The
thicker quality has a closer mesh and is admirable for coverlets and
hangings. These, when edged and decorated with lines of bright-coloured
washing braids, and wide borders of coloured cretonnes--which again
may be connected with bars of needle-weaving or darning, or any simple
stitchery--make charming and economical articles, such as any housewife
might well be proud to possess. (Plates V. and VI.) Covers and
runners to match might complete the set. This would be a pleasant and
instructive work for a girl’s leisure hours; she might make just such
a set for her bedroom, with the addition of chair covers and cushions,
adorning them beautifully with some simple design and a colour scheme
of her own choosing.
=Damask and Huckaback.=--Damask linens, with simple-patterned
backgrounds, twilled sheetings, of various makes, and huckabacks, can
be used most effectively for runners, mats, and luncheon sets; the
soft, warm, creamy tone of the unbleached material blends harmoniously
with bright-coloured threads and wools.
=Titian Canvas.=--Many coarser and more loosely woven textures make
most charming and desirable backgrounds for bands of needle-weaving.
(Plate VI.) Coarse canvas in various colourings, woollen hopsacks,
floor-cloths, etc., are adaptable for many household articles.
=Russian Crash.=--A common roller towelling, or Russian crash, as it is
also called, is a delightful material (Plate III.), and may be had in
narrow widths, varying from 12 inches to 24 inches; it is woven by the
Russian peasantry in small handlooms and varies considerably in texture
and quality--but in all cases it is a most durable and suitable linen
for domestic purposes.
=The Scottish Blanket.=--Another pleasing material for wool decoration
is the well-washed, worn-out Scottish blanket; with the smaller pieces
one can make hassocks and cushions which look wonderfully well in
strong colours in any flat stitch; the larger single blanket can be
used for coverlets or hangings--with applied decoration where the
material is too frail for general hard wear. Decorated with edgings of
woollen braids, etc., these will look almost new, and certainly will
give immense satisfaction to the worker.
Threads are to be had in great variety and in different makes, many
of which are excellent for embroidery. Cottons and flaxes in various
sizes and thicknesses in a large range of colours can be combined most
successfully.
=Embroidery Wools.=--Wools and yarns, particularly the types known as
fingering, in three, four, and five-ply, are reliable both in colour
and quality. It is always advisable to shrink wools before using them
for embroidery if they are to be applied to articles which require
frequent washing. Crewel and tapestry wools, to be had in hanks, “white
heather” mending in balls, are very convenient for needle-weaving and
canvas work, and they may be had in beautiful colours.
=Silks.=--Silks of different makes, embroidery or knitting, filosel,
filo-floss and a soft, thick variety known as “Tyrian,” are all
good for various purposes. The latter is particularly useful for
couching lines; filo-floss--a bright, glossy silk with no twist in
it--requires some skill in the manipulating of it, therefore filosel
or mallard floss, each of which has a slight twist on it, is better
for the less-skilled worker. Carpet chenilles in colours, both cotton
and woollen, applied to coarse canvas or sacking, are used for the
making of mats and rugs. Woollen and mohair, cotton and brush braids
of the common skirt type, carpet and binding braids, cords and French
tapes, coloured and washing gimps, all may be used with advantage for
embroidery. It is better to shrink some of the loosely woven skirt and
carpet braids before applying them to the material, or they are apt to
pucker the material after washing.
Good needles should always be used, with well-drilled, good-sized
eyes. Care should be taken to choose them so that they may be exactly
suited to the thread and to the material; the eye should be large
enough to hold the thread easily, in which case it will make a hole in
the foundation of a sufficient size to allow the thread being pulled
through without roughening it. Scientific sharps are very pleasant to
use--numbers four, five and six, are suitable for cotton and flaxes,
crewel and chenille, and long-eyed sharps for general embroidery and
needle-weaving. For openwork backgrounds such as are shown in Plate
XI, H, I, J, K, L, where no threads are withdrawn from the material,
a special needle with a large thick stem and a small eye is used; it
separates the threads of the material and makes them easier to gather
into groups by means of the tightened thread.
In working on loosely woven materials--such as canvases--and for
weaving patterns, tapestry, chenille, or rug needles with blunt points
are the most comfortable to use; if these are not to hand, work with
the eye of the needle foremost.
A well-fitting thimble, preferably vulcanite or silver lined with
steel, is necessary. It should be deeply pitted to catch the eye of the
needle and well finished, so as not to roughen the thread. Scissors
of different sizes are required: a large pair with one sharp and one
rounded point--these for the cutting and preparing of the material;
a small sharply pointed pair for the snipping of threads; a special
pair with a little square knob on the one blade and a sharp point on
the other for cutting out threads and sections between embroidered and
openworked parts; these are a safeguard and prevent the snipping of the
work.
Frames are not necessary for the simpler types of work, but for wide
borders in needle-weaving, particularly for the novice, a frame will
fix the warp threads by keeping them taut, and prevent puckering of the
material--little tambour frames which consist of a couple of rings, the
one fitting into the other, will serve the purpose.
Finally, a small emery cushion, for polishing the needle should it
get sticky or rusty, a piece of beeswax is useful for flax threads, a
stiletto for piercing eyelet holes, a yard measure, a bodkin, and some
small pins, are all necessary items, which should always be at hand
when wanted.
THE SECOND POINT: THE COLOUR SCHEME.
Colour lends an inexpressible charm to our daily life--it is in
nature that it exists in greatest beauty. The wonderful robe of
colour which she displays for us throughout all seasons and in all
countries, through the flowers and fruits, trees and foliage, sea
and sky, the birds, animal and insect life, all under different
aspects and ever-varying circumstances, increase our admiration and
pleasure. We reflect and gratify our need for colour in our intimate
surroundings--dress, hangings, furniture, carpets, pottery and
pictures. The embroideress who has a fine instinct for colour will
arrange a scheme wherein beautiful combinations of hues, tints, and
shades will mingle and produce a harmonious whole. It is for those
less favoured that the following hints are given. A knowledge of
the principles of colour will serve as a guide, while the use of a
chromatic circle, _i.e._, a colour circle, will be invaluable to the
beginner. This convenient arrangement wherein successive strips of all
the colours are placed concentrically in their due proportions--as in
the prismatic spectrum--will enable her to study the varieties, the
relations and the peculiarities of colour and help her to arrange and
select those hues, tints and shades which will combine well together;
it will aid her to obtain happy effects with some appreciation of its
harmonies and contrasts.
The three primary colours, green, red and blue--green being now
generally accepted as a primary instead of yellow--offer the greatest
contrast to each other. They are the strongest and most powerful and
exercise a greater influence on the mind than any of the others; add to
these, orange, yellow, violet, white and black--the sum of these six
colours constitutes white, and the absence of all, black--and we have
the eight from which all the other colours and their modifications can
be made, easily and systematically.
=Red= (=Complementary Colour, Bluish-Green=).--Red, the strongest and
most powerful, excites and stimulates the eye. It was the first colour
to be used for decorative purposes by primitive man, and the first to
receive a name: it is the most predominant of the warm colours, and
on account of its fresh, bright, cheerful character, is much used by
beginners; but this very assertive quality makes it rather difficult
to combine with other hues, therefore it is well to use it in small
quantities for general purposes. Red, in different hues, has always
been the symbol of power and distinction. Scarlet has been used for
regal robes and state ceremonials, as well as for military purposes--it
indicates bloodshed and war, fierceness and courage. Red of a rosy hue
signifies divine love. It has been a favourite colour with the poets
from the days of Homer to our own time. The complementary of red is
bluish-green.
=Blue= (=Complementary Colour, Yellow=).--Blue followed red--it is of
a quiet retiring nature, soft and soothing in effect, imparting the
same quality to all the hues in which it predominates. It is one of the
cool colours and is symbolically emblematical of heaven, piety, and
intelligence. The complementary of blue is yellow.
=Green= (=Complementary Colour, Purple=).--Green, the most prevalent
colour in nature, and the least stimulating, has a remarkably distinct
and striking effect on the eye. It is highly refreshing as well as
soothing, and is the necessary restful colour, the opposite of red.
Yet the nervous power of the eye is sooner exhausted by strong greens
than by any other hue; thus, a piece of work with a preponderance of
green is not so pleasing to look at constantly as the piece where blue
predominates. Symbolically, green is the emblem of bountifulness,
youth, happiness and prosperity. The complementary of green is purple
(violet-red).
=Yellow= (=Complementary Colour, Blue=).--Yellow approaches white,
and is therefore a brilliant and advancing colour. It possesses the
greatest power of reflecting light; is rather difficult to combine
unless modified. Bright yellow has been used emblematically, to express
charity, joyousness, plenteousness and old age--greenish-yellow is the
symbol of jealousy and envy. Its complementary is blue.
=Orange= (=Complementary Colour, Greenish-blue=).--Orange, coming
between red and yellow, partakes of the nature of both--it expresses
warmth, fruitfulness and wealth. The complementary colour is blue with
a tinge of green.
=Purple= (=Complementary Colour, Green=).--Purple is the quietest of
the rich colours, being composed of red and blue. It varies in tone
according to the amount of its constituents. When blue is predominant
it is symbolical of mourning, expressive of sorrow, sadness, and is
called violet; when inclining to red it becomes warmer and richer. It
expresses dignity, pomp, and regal power. Its complementary colour is
green.
These six bright colours, when used in conjunction with black and
white, with each other, or with their complementaries, will strengthen,
intensify and enrich each other without altering their true value--when
such vivid effects and sharp contrasts offend the taste of the worker,
when they appear too crude, too conspicuous and too obtrusive--which
they are apt to do--they may be harmonised quite simply, either by
modifying the complementaries or by using a tint or a shade, that is, a
lighter or a darker tone of the same colour. The strength and potency
of these startling contrasts are in this way tempered; they become less
glaring, less assertive, pleasanter and simpler to arrange, and lose
the jarring effect they might have if used in their full brilliancy.
For simple household articles with little decoration these bright
colours may be used with charming effect. It is well to remember, in
choosing the tints and shades of a colour, that the foundation material
will have a considerable influence on them. On a white ground they will
appear stronger and brighter, their tone being heightened by the white
or light background, while on a black ground they appear more distinct
and brilliant, particularly light ones, the contrast being greater.
Dull hues gain in brightness when used with black and lose accordingly
when combined with white.
=Juxtaposition of Colour.=--Colours, then, when associated, influence
each other simultaneously in various ways, darkening and lightening,
adding to or detracting from, as the case may be--thus, by placing a
light and dark one in contact, for example, black and white, the former
looks blacker, intenser, while the latter looks more startlingly white
on account of its dark neighbour.
It is advisable, also, in arranging the colour scheme--after taking
materials and positions into consideration--to determine at the very
outset what the leading features are to be, and to have _one_ colour in
the scheme more predominant than the others, either in intensity or in
area. There should be some central point or points of interest which
will attract the eye to certain parts of the construction.
=A Dominant Colour.=--A liberal use of a dominant colour, by conveying
a definite impression, will give decision of character as well as
beauty of tone to the work, while a vague, uncertain, or too equally
distributed arrangement will leave an unsatisfied and indefinite
impression on the mind.
[Illustration: PLATE II.
SOME USEFUL STITCHES (_See p. 29_)]
There are abundant suggestions to be had from fields, hedgerows,
flowers, plumage of birds, etc., for the embroideress who can adapt
them to her purpose, but a simpler plan for the beginner is to choose
her colour scheme from a good picture, a coloured illustration, a
piece of chintz, cretonne or good brocade, or, when possible, to study
the various pieces of old embroidery preserved in our museums, as a
record of the time when we could compete with other countries, when
embroidery was almost the sole occupation of women of rank, as it was
of the occupants of the convents.
=Green.=--If we were to use one of the primaries as a dominating
colour, say green, a bluish-green, we might have as a background a
deep pomegranate red, the design could be worked out in bluish-greens,
grey-greens, soft blues and purples, with touches of pale chamois
yellow here and there; all the colours should have a tinge of
bluish-green, the combining colour.
=Blue.=--Or we might choose blue, the pleasantest, simplest and most
harmonious combining colour, and select as a background a warm white or
cream. The decoration could be carried out in various tones of blue,
deep rich blue, turquoise, deep and pale orange, and a blue grey--much
would depend on the tones used in combination and the manner in which
they were employed. Always avoid a spotty effect, and do not contrast
colours too suddenly in an endeavour to emphasise special points.
=Red.=--Red, when used as the predominant or combining colour, looks
best on a dark blue or a cream background. With a dark blue ground,
white or cream, bright greens and a touch of dull orange will work
in well with the reds, the former combining to make the latter less
assertive. With a white ground and the same colours, the work becomes
suggestive of some of the beautiful Bokhara embroideries in which reds,
greens, blues and yellows--the latter used sparingly--are combined so
gaily and instinctively.