Where the picots have to fill up empty spaces of a larger size, you can join several together by connecting them each in turn with the first.

When you have bordered all the outlines with button-hole stitches and picots, fill up the spaces enclosed within the lines, which properly speaking form the pattern, with flat stitch embroidery, worked in Coton à broder or Coton à repriser; after which the whole surface is sewn over with fine little spangles which give the sparkling look that constitutes the peculiar charm of this kind of embroidery. The flowers are covered with a fancy stitch that forms regular little lozenges, and every second row of stitches is hidden under a spangle.

With regard to the colours indicated at the foot of fig. 867, this is how they were distributed in the original, from which our engraving was taken; all the outlines in button-hole stitch, in Bleu pâle 668; the tops of the flowers in Bleu-Indigo 334; the bottom parts in Bleu-Indigo 332, and all three shades of blue so blended together in the solid parts of the design as to be undistinguishable from each other. It is not absolutely necessary to keep to the colours here indicated; there is no reason whatever why a greater variety should not be introduced, but in every case the more subdued shades should be selected; a pale red, for instance, for the flowers, a green and a brown for the arabesques, will always be found to produce a very pretty and harmonious effect.

When all the needlework is finished, you cut away the stuff underneath the network formed by the picots, with a pair of sharp scissors.

A word remains to be said with regard to the copying of fig. 868.

Our readers will notice that in fig. 867 the flowers and arabesques succeed and grow out of each other; that whilst the four quarters are symmetrical, yet at the same time, the curves in each quarter take a different inclination.

You cannot therefore simply repeat the subject four times; when you have copied the one quarter, given in fig. 868, you must lay this first quarter on again at the cross + on the left side; when the second quarter is finished, you again turn the copy to the left and tack it on at the +; when you come to the fourth quarter the lines of the first quarter must exactly meet those of the last. We beg here to draw attention to the directions, relative to the copying of patterns, given in the subsequent chapter.

Basket stitch on linen (fig. 869).—This stitch has some resemblance with the Greek stitch, fig. 278, and the Montenegrin, fig. 306, only that it is not crossed like the latter.

Basket stitch can be worked on all kinds of stuffs, on counted threads or on a wide or narrow tracing, with fine or coarse thread, and more or less closely, according to the taste of the worker.

You insert the needle from right, and pass it under, from 3 to 6 threads of the foundation, according to the stuff and the material you are using, then downwards from left to right, and over, from 6 to 8 threads, into the stuff again from right to left; then you push it under the stuff in an upward direction and bring it out on the left in the middle of the space left between the last stitch and the top of the second. The dotted line in the engraving indicates the course of the stitches.

Old German knotted stitch (fig. 870).—This is a stitch often met with in old church and house linen embroidery. A beautiful design worked in this way is given further on.

Contrary to most stitches, this is worked upwards; the needle is put in horizontally under the stuff, the thread tightly drawn, then laid from left to right and drawn through underneath the first stitch and a tight knot made. We find the same stitch, worked in a variety of ways, according to the taste and skill of the worker; for instance the knots may be set slanting, as in fig. 870, or else straight and very close together, as in fig. 873, where they present the appearance of a close string of beads, or again wide apart, as they are in fig. 876.

All these ways are admissible but care should be taken in each case, to make the stitches perfectly regular; it is the direction which is given to the stitch and the number of threads taken up with the needle that changes the appearance of the stitch.

Raised stem stitch (figs. 871, 872).—Take a very thick thread, such as Fil à pointer D.M.C No. 10 or 20, or one of the coarser numbers of Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C, lay it as a foundation thread along the line of your pattern and work over it wide stem stitches, as represented in figs. 172 and 173, either in the same number of thread used for the foundation thread, or a finer, according to the stuff you are embroidering upon.

You may overcast the same stitch in the manner indicated in fig. 872, using a different colour for the second layer of stitches to produce an agreeable variety.

Border in different kinds of stitches (fig. 873).—The straight lines of this border are all worked in old German knotted stitch in écru thread, forming a thick round cord which stands out from the surface in high relief; the flatter outlining of the outside figures is done in basket stitch in soft blue knitting cotton. The little oblong figures within the two inner lines of the border are worked in Gobelin stitch, in red embroidery cotton, and the filling of the figures, outlined in basket stitch, in one or other of the Irish lace stitches, worked in white lace thread, either so that all the stitches enter the stuff, or form a network over it.

The work may be simplified by sewing Soutache D.M.C or Lacet superfin D.M.C along the straight lines instead of embroidering them in basket stitch.

Roumanian stitch (figs. 874, 875).—This consists of stitches that are worked in the width of the stuff, intersected by back-stitches set slightly slanting.

Though the engraving is so clear as to render it hardly necessary, we subjoin an exact description of the way the stitches run.

Bring out the needle on the left, 2 or 6 threads beyond the line your embroidery is to follow; with regard to the number of threads you take up, you must be guided by the quality of the stuff and the material you have selected: put the needle in on the right, the same distance in advance of the line as before and bring it out in the middle of the stitch; then passing the needle over the first stitch, put it in again one or two threads in advance of the point where it came out, and draw it out close to where the first stitch began.

The border, represented in fig. 875, is worked in great part in Roumanian stitch.

The original, still very well preserved, notwithstanding its age, is worked in silk of a brilliant red on a stiff stuff which has been coloured by time and use.

Willems satin, Rhodes linen No. 2 and Algerian linen, make very suitable foundations for this kind of embroidery and have that soft tint which is almost indispensable to a satisfactory imitation of old needlework.

Any one of the shades of red named at the foot of the illustration, will be found to be a good match for the original colours.

Roumanian stitch is used wherever the lines of the pattern are widest; there where they narrow, in the indentures of the leaves and the twists of the stalks, flat stitch is used instead.

By the repetition of the detached subject, this pattern may be made to serve either for a stripe or for a grounding; if you use it for a stripe, the centre flower of the principal subject with the stalks lengthened, will look very well worked as a separate subject between the large bouquets. Worked in a double row, base to base, on any stuff and in any material, these large figures form a very handsome border which makes an effective trimming for furniture and curtains.

Pattern for piqué embroidery (fig. 876).—The stuff, called piqué, such as it is now manufactured, is simply an imitation of an old kind of needlework, almost unknown in these days, but very popular in the fifteenth and sixteenth century in Italy, for making coverlets and more especially curtains and blinds; the latter being highly esteemed, because without intercepting the light altogether, they tempered it agreeably.

A similar kind of work was common in Bohemia until a recent date for the making of caps. It is done on two layers of stuff, of different kinds, the upper one fine and transparent, the lower, more substantial.

The pattern is drawn upon the fine stuff, because on that side the different kinds of stitches are made.

You then tack the two stuffs together and work all the outlines of the pattern in Old German knotted stitch with écru Fil à pointer D.M.C No. 20; that done, thread a tapestry needle with white Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C No. 1 or 2, slip it in between the two layers of stuff and secure the end by two or three stitches; then push the twist quite close to the knotted stitch and fasten it in between the two layers of stuff, with small and very regular running stitches, in a fine pliable material, such as Fil d’Alsace D.M.C on reels.

Fill up in this manner all the ground of the pattern, leaving the arabesques and the ornaments plain, or embellishing them with some kind of lace or embroidery stitch.

When these stripes are intended for blinds, you can produce pretty transparent effects in them by cutting away the underneath stuff, in places.

Alphabet in Soutache (braid) (figs. 877, 878, 879, 880, 881, 882).—This alphabet, which is one of the best of its kind, was taken from a work published in Venice in 1662, by Giovan’ Antonio Tagliente, secretary and calligraphist to the Republic.

The letters lend themselves, better than any we know, to being executed in Soutache D.M.C.

The sewing on of the braid is done with very small running stitches and the interlacing with a tapestry needle, into which the braid is threaded; both operations are shown in figs. 877 and 880. The embroidery of the connecting bars, and the small leaves and tendrils that complete the letter are explained in fig. 881, whilst fig. 882 represents the letter A in its finished state.

For sewing on the braid, a fine soft material is the best, such as Soie de coton D.M.C[A] and for embroidering the small accessories, Coton à broder D.M.C No. 50[A].

Flowers executed in Soutache and embroidery (fig. 883). Flowers and sprays, such as here represented, make a charming trimming for summer dresses, sunshades, aprons etc. and can be executed with admirable effect in the D.M.C Soutache, now to be had in all the colours of the D.M.C colour card. A very pretty running pattern can be formed out of the spray, fig. 883, by turning the flowers first to the right and then to the left and making the stalks come out underneath the ears of corn. In order to reverse the position of the flowers thus, you will have to make two tracings of the spray, one negative and one positive.

For the ears of corn in fig. 883, use either Soutache écru, or Jaune-d’Ocre 677 No. 2; for the marguerites, white Soutache No. 2½ and for the corn flowers, Soutache Bleu-Indigo 322 No. 2. Nothing could be simpler than the mode of working these flowers.

Thread a tapestry needle with the Soutache and draw it into the stuff, and then pass it through from the right side to the wrong at the bottom of one of the petals of the flowers, secure it on the wrong side by two or three stitches and then bring the working thread, which should be of the same colour as the Soutache, out again at the point of the petal, then carry the Soutache back to the bottom of the petal and fasten it down, like the gold threads in fig. 242, by a stitch rather wider than the Soutache, fold the Soutache over again to the starting point, and secure it by a stitch, and so on. In order to give a different character to the flowers, use Soutache of different widths, fold it over more or less closely and lay it down in shorter or longer lengths, as required. The natural irregularity of the petals of a flower can be very faithfully imitated in this manner. Fig. 883 shows the way in which, for the ears of corn, the braid is folded back upon itself and fastened down, whilst in the white flowers the two layers of the braid that form each petal are separated at the bottom.

The stamens of the marguerites are worked in knot stitch with yellow cotton and those of the cornflowers with dark blue.

The other little details are executed in flat and stem stitch in the colours indicated at the foot of the engraving. With the pattern to go by, the distribution of the colours for the different parts can present no possible difficulty.

We need only point out that Rouge-Cardinal 348 is intended for the little knot that connects the stalks of the flowers.

Chinese subject (fig. 884).—This quaint and graceful composition, copied from an interesting piece of Chinese embroidery, gives our readers the opportunity of turning the different damask stitches, already described in these pages, to quite a new use.

The kind of gauze which forms the foundation of the original work can be replaced either by Spanish or Rhodes linen No. 2, by any stuff, in fact, the threads of which can be counted.

The drawing has to be transferred to the stuff, and the different parts are filled in with the stitches, clearly indicated in the illustration.

By the introduction of several colours, this pattern is capable of being infinitely varied.

Thus, in the model before us, the neck and bulb of the flask, the leaves it stands upon and those attached to the flowers in it, are worked in Vert-Pistache 367, the handles, the ornament on the bottle, and the triangular figure in the centre are in white; the little flower on the left, the second on the right, the straight staff, the upper wings of the butterfly, as well as the three leaves underneath the triangle are in Bleu-Indigo 334; the first flower on the right of the flask, the knot above the triangle, the lower wings of the butterfly and the middle part of the bottom subject on the right of the engraving are in Gris-Amadou 383; and Violet-lie-de-vin and Brun-Caroubier 357 alternate in the pointed leaves that support the flask; the former colour recurs in the ornaments of the staff, and Rouge-Cardinal 347, black and Gris-Tilleul alternate in the other details of the drawing.

For the setting it will be best to take Or fin D.M.C pour la broderie or else Chiné d’or D.M.C, used either double or single, according to whichever the drawing seems to require.

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