[Illustration: FIG. I _a._ SIMPLE LONG AND SHORT
STITCH.]
_A._ =_Simple Long and Short Stitch._=--This stitch may be done in
the hand, but as already intimated it can be _perfectly_ done only in
a frame or hoop, which should be rested on the table edge and held by
a weight. The material should be stretched straight with the woof and
warp. The stitches are then laid by using both hands, one below and the
other above the frame, to send the needle up and down perpendicularly.
To make the stitch, bring the needle _up_ on the outline of the design
and send it _down_ within the form. When the fabric is held in the
hand the needle takes the stitch over and down on the outline and _up_
within the form. Let the first stitch be a long one, one-quarter of an
inch to an inch in length in proportion to the size of the form. The
next stitch should be but two-thirds as long and should lie parallel
with the first or closer to it within the form, if it is a narrowing
one, than on the outline; or vice versa, if it is a form increasing
in width. The contour of the design must decide the stitch direction.
The third stitch should be long, followed by a short one, and so on
alternating long and short. We are sometimes told that these stitches
should be "irregular." This is both true and it is not. The long
stitches should certainly not be all of one length and the short all
of another. In this they should vary, but they should be absolutely
regular in that they should be even on the surface without piling or
yet having spaces between them, and they should form a perfect unbroken
surface and the edge should exactly coincide with the outline. This,
then, is the "long and short" stitch, and it may be considered complete
in itself as far as it goes. It is the first stage of solid embroidery
or "opus plumarium." See Fig. I _a._
[Illustration: FIG. I _b._ FEATHER STITCH.]
_B._ =_Feather Stitch._=--The next step is to lay another row of
stitches over these, differing from them in that they shall be long and
short on both edges. The long stitch should commence just below the
outline and should end further within the form than any of the first
row. It should be taken in exactly the same direction as the first
row and over them. The next stitch should be started below the first,
something less than a third of its length, just beside it, and should
reach the same distance below the end of the first. The third should
be similar to the first, and so on. It is obvious that every other
stitch of this second row is the long one at its start and the short
one at its finish. The second row is the same as the first, except
that it is long and short on both edges. This is not "irregularity,"
but _absolute regularity_. The more regular and the more accurate the
alternating is, the smoother the surface will be. This second row
should lap well over the first. It should indeed cover two-thirds of
it if the colors are to blend instead of appear as rows. This is the
secret, or rather, the real principle of shading. It will not do to
economize material and expect a rich result. This is likely to be the
fault of American embroidery. The preceding rows of stitches must be
solid under the succeeding ones. There may be as many rows as are
necessary to cover the form, and these should all lap deep over each
other so that the under rows show only because of the difference in
length of the stitches of the upper edge of the over rows. In this way
one shade passes into the next as tones in painting, perfectly clear
in themselves yet, because they are distinct, making a luminous and
unbroken whole. If the stitches are not placed according to such a
method the effect will be--again as in painting when the colors are
muddled--broken and harsh and expressionless. By this means shades that
differ greatly can be blended and the whole is brought into relief by
the raising of one row over the other. The lower ends of the stitches
of the last row may adapt themselves in terminating to the form. See
Fig. I _b_.
[Illustration: FIG. I _c._