rjri i uS/iaryAnn x> evieaie (Decoratii^cArt QoUe&iotLi STIRLING AND FRAN CINE CLA1UC ART INSTITUTE L1BRART Bo0 *f& stationer. >20 P1KTBEKTH ST. , (CORCORAN BUILDING.) ft\>m nypTDiv,-;b 1 .q, Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Library http://archive.org/details/ladiesguidetoneeOOfros ¥£S} I, upon the lower line; the thread must be held - ? jf| <$-. with the thumb of the left hand under the needle •^l*_ ^ffi point, so as to be confined in a loop when the stitch is taken. A succession of such loops forms the edge called button-hole stitch. The entire beauty of scallops and points so Yiq. 1. — jii.'TTwN-jioLK stitch, worked consists in their being perfectly even, and this can be attained only by following the lines of the pattern with the most careful accuracy. Scallops can be made with -one clear edge or with the inside curve clear, and the outside one graduated in smaller curves. Either forms a pretty finish to muslin embroidery, the first being easiest to work evenly. 6 ladies' guide to needlework. JZyelet Holes are extensively used in cotton embroidery, and require practico and caro to work prettily and evenly. The plain eyelet holo is pierced yj first with a stiletto and worked over and over in very close, even stitches. Graduated eyelets have a double I circle upon ono side, and this must bo worked in j longer stitches, and care taken not to draw the thread | tightly. If large, the double line should bo tilled in I with long, loose stitches, as the scallops aro tilled. L Fig. 2. — EYELE Satin Stitch is the long stitch that folio* 8 tho pattern of leaves, flowers and figures, by filliug the spaces between the lines. This space must bo first carefully crossed and re-crossed by long threads running in the contrary way from those desigued to cover them, being put in to give the work the proper raised appearance. When this- is done, the working stitches, very close and fine, must follow the pattern carefully, with a perfectly even edge. Leaves must have the threads starting from tho centre of the veining and running out to the points in every case, never worked across, as they will certainly appear uneven. The veining should be carefully marked, but never stitched, as it is properly defined by the meeting of the- satin stitches. Flowers must be worked from the centre, every petal separately, each being properly defined if the Fig. 3. — satin stitch, satin stitch is even and close. Spot Stitch is used for dots ouly, large or small, the cotton being carried across tho stamped. circle twice, one row of stitches lay- ing over the other. Minute Stitc/t is used for exceedingly small dots, and is done in what is called minute cotton, very coarse. It is merely a short back stitch covering the tiny stamped dot, the cotton passing oil the wrong side from one dot to an- other. With a perfect knowledge of these stitches all the varieties of cotton em- broidery can be worked, the English embroidery being usually in less elaborate patterns than the French. » J >a1iterns are stam P e d for a trifle at all fancy stores, and where they can be so ^=~±. m procured are usually more accurate than those traced jT ^ ^^^ss - I over impression paper, or upon thin muslin. Ls^^Sf^^^^^fei'Ksg) The thread must be graduated according to the \ W^ ■ fine or coarse texture of the material to be em- ^%_^ -^ %' '■' I broidered, and where linen is used, linen thread wilL if. L'f^lv ""* ; ...; he found both handsome and durable. Fig. 5. — minute stitch. In embroidering initials, borders or corners for STITCH. LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. pocket handkerchiefs, the finest thread must be selected, and great care taken to keep the wrong as well as the right side of the work perfectly even. Leaves and flowers in handkerchief embroidery are very effective if worked upon one side of the veining in satin stitch, and upon the other in very fine dots close together. In this very fine work, the veining is frequently worked after the flower or leaf is filled in, with a close over-stitch. Lines, such as stems of flowers, must be followed in a very fine close over-stitch, slanting one thread only from a straight line. Care must be taken to raise but little of the material with the needle, no more being taken up than will suffice to hold the embroidery thread smooth and firm. In French embroidery there is frequently introduced the Wheel Stitch. The wheels are cut out with a pair of fine embroidery scissors, and the space ^^^^^p^^===^ ^^ filled with long threads knotted by a gHB | loop stitch to form a small, even circle p | in the centre, from which the threads i radiate to a strongly- worked edge. | There are many patterns, and the | stitch requires great practice, as the | beauty is gone if there is the slightest | uneven appearance in edge, centre or I the thread spokes. Fig. 6. WHEEL STITCH. is extensively used Herring-Sone Stitch in cotton embroidery for children's aprons 1 Fig. 7. WHEEL STITCH. Fig. 8. HERRING-BONE STITCH. and ornament- ing cheap garments where there is not time for em- broider}'. It is done by alternating loops and long stitches and sewing backwards. Patterns are stamped, but every needlewoman understands fol- lowing a seam or hem in herring-bone. Chain Stitch is also an easy stitch, formed by holding the thread firmly over the point of the needle while it is drawn out, so as to form a loop. The needle is set back into the centre of this loop, and the thread again passed over the point to form a second one, and so Pr on, the succession of loops forming the chain. Braid- pi; ing patterns worked in chain stitch, in colored cot- f ton, are very effective and will wash and wear better I than the braid. I Cotton embroidery is always fashionable for under- % \ garments, handkerchiefs, housekeeping linen and chil- g|!; dren's clothiug. Fig. 9.— chain stitch. Necktie JZnd in ^Embroidery. This can be worked upon fine Swiss or French muslin, the end hemmed, or if preferred, worked in a button-hole stitch scallop. The work is satin stitch, ex- cepting the middle of the large leaves, which are worked in spot stitch, well raised. s LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. Handkerchief Comer, to be worked in satin and minute stitch, with either hemstitched or button - hole scallop border. Silk and Wool Embroidery may come under the same head, as they are frequently used in combination, and arc done upon the same materials and in the same manner. Both require a frame in order to be pi r- fectly worked, and great care is necessary* in adjusting both frame and work. The standing frame is the best, being adjusta- ble by means of screws which raise or lower it to the height desired. But table frames can be used, and for small pieces of work the lap frame is very convenient. To prepare work for a frame it should be Strongly bound with coarse muslin or linen to baste to the webbing that should be at- tached to the frame. When the material to be embroidered is strongly bound, it must be basted into the frame with the selvages at the sides, by threads that are sufficiently strong to hold* it firmly in place. If too long for the frame, roll the material at the top, and fasten the roll firmly with strong threads. The materials for silk or wool embroidery are velvet, satin, silk, cloth, and at this time ticking and crash, both of which have been lately discovered to make an effective background for the bright colors of embroidery silk and zephyr. The patterns to be worked must be first carefully stamped or traced upon the material, aud the colors of the embroidery silk care- m fully selected and shaded, shades being artistically toned so as not to offend the eye by violent contrast. In embroidering flowers and leaves, the best rule is to follow the natural colors as nearly as possible, using the various greens for foliage as they would occur in the bouquet of real flowers. ^s-^j^m \- -Tm Loug stitches must be used, starting invariably from the m Js_ ' centre of leaf or flower near the stein, where the darkest BPv ^^^.c^^aifc, shades should be employed, shading to lighter ones ^B^ ^2J^- r '"^& near the edges. The stitches must vary in length to J rQm ^g^.1'] j p=a^ follow the pattern, and must be close and perfectly === ^ £ ^3^ 'fff3 <4^^:^ W|fci^ even, to produce a good effect. |||h;«HL? -- """"s p'jirj^^^ feS^--- Leaves must he worked outward W { — j=^^^fj|^£ = _^=^^ra ua ' always lengthwise, and the ] ^M JUT'/ W^i^^llP ~ IfcJi veiniug should be worked in, al- [ways in a darker shade than that Fig. 11. — HANDKERCHIEF CORNER. Fig. 10. — NECKTIE END. ' ladies' guide to needlewokk. 9 employed in working the leaves. Stems should be worked in darker shades than leaves or flowers, and browns are very effective. The stitch for stems should slant lengthwise slightly, excepting where the stem is thick, when it should be worked straight across. All leaves and petals should be done in satin stitch, carefully filled by long crosswise stitches of the same silk as that used for working. If the work is done in shaded silks, which can now be obtained in every color, of the best quality, care must be taken to match the shades exactly when joining on new stitches, or the effect will be broken and patched. But if carefully used in this respect, the shaded silk is very effective and much less trouble in working. JCnotted Embroidery. In forming knots for embroidery, for the centre of flowers or arabesque work, bring the needle up iu the spot where you wish to place the knot. Wind the silk twice round the needle and push it down in exactly the spot where it was pushed up. Let the silk be drawn through slowly, being careful it does not tangle, and the twist around the needle will form the knot. It requires some practice to do knotted embroidery well, but it can be introduced with good effect into many kinds of silk embroidery. (Raised Embroidery '_, in silk or wool, is made by covering the space to be worked with very fine jeweller's cotton, which is tacked down on the edges. It must be entirely covered with stitches close together, sewed across, and this again covered by satin stitch. Another form of raised embroidery is called tufted work, but can be done only in wools. The darkest shade is worked like the stem work, only in stitches straight across and very close together. The next shade is worked over the first, but the needle is not passed across underneath, but takes a very tiny stitch first on one side and then on the other over and over until the first stitches are covered. The shades are thus worked in one after another, each one as close as possible to the line of the last until the lightest shade covers all. Then the whole is cut through, exactly in the middle, and the tufts form themselves. Dahlias, birds, animals' heads, and shells, are very handsome worked in this way. A new and most beautiful style of embroidery has lately been introduced into this country, an imitation of Turkish Embroidery. It is worked upon very fine thick cloth in every shade and color, from the palest neutral tints to black. The patterns are stamped, and consist of lines similar tc those used in braiding, forming graceful designs, according to the use for which they are to be adapted. These lines are followed in a very fine close chain stitch in bright-hued silks of every color, harmoniously blended and contrasted. The effect is very rich and beautiful, and the work is iu great favor. Chair coverings, foot-stools, table-cloths, lambrequins, and a great variety of household ornamen- tation is done in the Turkish embroidery, and when it is evenly worked it cannot be distinguished from the imported work. Gold and silver thread may be intro- duced with good effect, but has the fault of tarnishing very soon. Slippers, smoking-caps, pincushions and many small articles are worked in 10 ladies' guide to needlework. Turkish embroidery upon velvet, satin, or silk, and are new and fashionable. Flowers and leaves may be so worked l>y filling the spaces with fine close rows of chain stitching, but the effect is not so good as in arabesque patterns. Crash .Embroidery is another fashionable freak for tidies, sofa cushions, and other articles. It is very easily done, and very effective. The crash must he of linen, with the pattern Btamped upon it. It is usually a largo star. This must be filled, and worked across in shaded zephyr, each star in a different color, or the colors arranged to form lines, diamonds, blocks, or circles. After the embroidery is done, the edge must be fringed by knotting in lengths of the zephyr, or if preferred, an edge can he worked in button -hole stitch scallops. The very coarse crash is not so effective for a hackgrouud as a finer quality, and the darker shades of lead color are the best contrast to the gay zephyr. Tidies of this work are very useful as they are strong, wear well, and do not soil easily. Fig. 12. — CASE FOR BOOK (OPEN). Case for Book. This case may be used to preserve a book in travelling, or a choicely-bound volume in the library. The case may be of cloth or hol- land, according to taste. It is ornamented with a simple pattern in embroidery in silk of any color, and is bound with sarcenet ribbon. The back, front, flap, and sides are cut in one piece, and the sides are joined to the back. The case must be cut to the size of the book for which it is intended. It is fastened with a band of elastic, and straps are put on to carry it by. Fig. 13. — CASE FOR BOOK (closed). Ticking Embroidery is another fashionable freak. The material which is used for bedding, would have been, one might suppose, the last thing to form the groundwork of ladies' fancy work, but the effect is excellent. Coarse colored netting silk and gold braid are all that is needed besides the ticking to embroider a pair of slippers which will ladies' guide to needlework. 11 have the effect of Moorish work. Between the stripes of the ticking a coral stitch must he worked, alternating with herring-hone stitch, the gold braid being run on between the black stripes of the ticking with very tine gold-colored silk. Being very easy and inexpensive, this is a work in which even a little girl could soon produce a pair of slippers handsomer than wool work, and wearing equally well. The celebrated authoress Jean Ingelow contributes to an English magazine the following description of some specimens of needlework, which will give my read- ers some useful hints and instructions iu embroidery. She writes : " You were saying the other day that you should like to have a description from me of some of the kinds of needlework that we possess which are either peculiar or pretty. " Of these T think a pair of pictures of dead game, worked by my aunt, after Miss Lin wood's style, come first. They are seldom noticed by our friends for the simple reason that they always pass for oil paintings ; hut when closely inspected as they hang on the wall, every stitch is visible. They are not done on canvass, and are neither in tapestry stitch nor square stitch, but iu a long irregular stitch. Here and there shadows have been worked in as an after thought, or deeper tints have been laid over the already worked ground. The stitches in the birds' heads are almost as fine as touches in a miniature ; but a falling feather, which seems to he coining down as lightly as a snow-flake, shows on investigation that the whole ground of the picture was finished before it was worked on, and the stitches form- ing it go across and over the other. "These pictures have been worked about seventy years, and are as fresh as ever. They may almost be called works of art, instead of which the lainb's-wool work generally done can rank no higher than the merest ornament, and it does not last ten years. " I thiuk any one who has a knowledge of drawing and a picture to copy might easily do this work. " When a child, I sometimes heard my old aunt describe the process. Mrs. Linwood, mother of the celebrated Miss Lin wood, had a school at Leicester, and the daughter gave lessons iu it, on this peculiar work. My aunt was educated by Mrs. Linwood. She showed a remarkable aptitude for painting thus with the needle, but unluckily she regarded the art as a mere accomplishment, and hardly ever troubled herself to exercise it after she left school. " The two pictures are all we have of her doing. She told my mother they were worked iu a frame on a stiff twilled material called ' tammy.' An outline of the picture to be copied was drawn in chalk, and the worker stood at her frame, and retired every few minutes to observe the effect from a distance. No stitches were over pulled out, but worked over. " Miss Linwood employed a special dyer to make innumerable shades of colors for her. She used cither a harsh thin worsted, or a very fiue crewel. Lamb's- wool and silk will not do, as they fade. Any one who has a taste for drawing, and a good oil painting for a copy, might work a picture thus. It is, of course, understood that the whole ground is to be carefully worked over. Landscapes look remarkably well, fruit and flower pieces, also birds and most animals. " Then J must mention a kind of work that my mother often does, and that you admired. Many years ago an aunt of mine was describing to my mother some work she had seen done at Taunton. It was satin-stitch embroidery, cut out, ar- ranged in some kind of regular pattern, and the interstices connected together with a net work of tine crochet. I may as well remark in passing that satin stitch, vet old and worn the fabric may he from which it is cut, does not fray ; it re- 12 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. mains intact and hard. My mother cut out the satin stitch patterns from some old India muslin gowns, babies' caps and robes, and instead of Connecting it with cro- chet, made a very much richer and far handsomer fabric with it thus: "She took apiece of stilt' writing paper, and with a needle and thread fastened down upon it the cut- out work, lace downward. She took care to uso such a variety of forma and sizes that no regular pat- tern could he traced in the work. At some point or other each piece of satin stitch touched the next. A great deal of the richness of the effed was found to depend on there not being too much groundwork. A very line thread was then drawn from point to point of the satin stitch, and worked over in button- hole stitch till the whole was quite secure, so that in wearing no point could rise, the fabric being firm enough to be cut away from the paper. We gen- erally make this work' in pieces about as large as the palm of the hand, and put them together afterwards. This insures their being perfectly clean. The effect is more beautiful than most kinds of ancient lace, and the fabric is very durable, a large berthe made by my mother twenty-five years ago being still in perfectly good condition, though it has been very much worn. " Of course the beauty depends partly on the rich- ness and variety of the work used. Any one can make it who lias satin-stitch patterns to cut out ; but I- must repeat that the fine effect greatly depends on the endless intricacies of the pattern, and this is an accidental perfection, depending upon there being plenty of work to select from, and from the careful- ness of the worker to avoid repetition. Several peo- ple, friends of our own, who have copied this work, have been iuduced, on the contrary, to make a de- cided pattern. This is always found to spoil the effect. " My mother invented another kind of needlework, but neither she nor I can describe it; for it is done without any pattern, and must be invented by the worker as she goes on. The annexed drawing may assist. " The fabric is cloth, and the flowers are worked in wool in their natural colors." ■Homan JStnbroidery Fig. 14. — EMBROIDERY. is one of the new devices for combinations of stitches. It is done on stout brown linen, which comes in the fancy stores already stamped for every suitable article, such as screens, comb-bags, pin-cushions, watch-pockets, or other trifles. It is worked with a brown linen thread that comes especially for ladies' guide to needlework: 13 this use. The principal stitch is button-hole, and the object of the work is to- make the edge of the button-hole stitch meet in the pattern, and wherever it does so a piece of the linen is cut out. Care must be taken not to cut where the but- ton-hole stitch does not meet. The centres of the pattern are done in satin stitch. After the work is finished and cut out, silk of any color should be put underneath, the brighter the better, as the design is then well thrown out. A very handsome piece of this work was made into a shawl bag for travelling, the brown liueu and embroidery being made over French cambric, highly glossed, of a deep rich crimson, the buttons being covered with the cambric, and the edges button-hole stitched with crimson thread to match. Mecliceval IZmbroidery is another popular fancy. It is done in crewells, or fine Berlin wool, the first being the best for articles requiring washing, the latter the most effective. The designs are, as the name infers, from the old tapestries. They are traced on linen by means of transfer paper, and then a line is worked round the margin in black chain stitch, and each petal or portion of design is filled up with chain stitch in one shade. The stalks are made by using double crewell and bringing the needle out between the two threads. The work is very durable, and is handsome and easily done. Embroidery after Nature. This style of work is often called ; ' painting in wools." It consists of working flowers in their natural forms and colors, and can only be done by persons who have a knowledge of painting. First, the flower must be drawn boldly on the piece of coarse unbleached liuen. The margin of the petal is worked in long close stitches, making a firm, thick edge, half an inch deep, the threads lying in the direction of the veins of the petal. Other shades are then worked in, to fill up the petal, in long unequal stitches, care being taken to bring the needle up in the middle of the threads forming the margin, so as to blend the work and make all smooth. Both in leaves and flowers it is necessary to place the stitches in the direction of the veining. When the flower is worked, veins in a darker shade can be added, if the nature of the bloom requires them, or spots of any size or shade. Middles are worked in the knotting stitch already described. If great care is taken not to draw the hand tight in the work- ing, no anxiety need be felt as to the apparent puckering. When the work is fin- ished, it must be stretched, face downwards, on a board, and strongly starched at the back ; then dried quickly and removed, when the effect will satisfy the most fastidious judge. The flowers stand up from the ground, which is now quite flat, and really seem as if they could be taken up. A country woman, seeing furniture covered with this work exclaimed, " Why, surely, it is a flower garden." Ladies who dp this work become wholly fascinated by it, and it is quickly done, as well as being so effective. Sometimes a groundwork is added of feather stitch in black machine silk. This has the effect of a tracery background, neither height- ening the effect of the flowers nor detracting from it, but disguising the roughness of the material and preventing its soiling so quickly. I - I ' - - _ ■ [ 1 - • - ladies' guide to needlework. 15 Feather Embroidery. The piece of stuff, cloth, net, muslin, or velvet, which you would embroider, must be stitched into a frame, and the design traced on it. Having selected the feathers of such colors as you require for the flower or bird you wish to represent, take a paint brush and carefully cover the inside of them with green ; when dry, Fig. 16. — LAMP-MAT tN FEATHER EMBROIDERY. cut them with a sharp pair of scissors, in the shape of the petals or leaves required ; this being done, take a needle threaded with fine silk of the color of the feather and secure it to the design, carefully fastening the ends of the silk. This embroidery is very beautiful, and is rare, owing to the difficulty of procuring small, high- colored feathers. 16 ladies' guide to NEEDLEWORK. Another method of embroidering in feathers is to sew them one over the other covering the edgeB of the last row with embroidery, fringe, quilted ribbon or any other trimming. ' The following illustration is a lamp mat upon net canvas, in feather embroidery. ^^^^,^« Fig. 17. — PATTERN TO SHOW HOW THE FEATHERS ARE FASTENED. The ends of the feathers are slipped through the meshes of the net, to the wrong side, and securely fastened. The edge consists of three rows of feathers, two rows of quilled ribbon, and the centre of the mat grounded in a dark color, or, if pre- ferred, a pattern can he emhroidered in silk or Berlin wool upon the net. Embroidery in Narrow "Ribbon. The ribbons to be used are the narrow shaded ones to be bought at most dry goods shops. The design is traced upon the material to be worked, and as each stitch forms a petal or leaf, the design must not be too elaborate ; small rosettes and flowers are prettier than large ones. The ribbon is to be threaded through a large wool needle, and worked as you would silk or wool. For the stems, tendrils, centres of flowers, etc., colored silk must be used. Table or Jifantelpiece ^Bordering. Take a piece of common linen stair-covering, cut off the border (take care the pattern is a good flowery one) ; work the leaves of the pattern with different shades of green, single Berlin wool, iu a long embroidery stitch. Buttonhole the flowers, some with different colors — crimson, bright pink, lilac, and blue ; work the centre eye of the flower in black wool, stitch the black wool down at intervals ladies' guide to needlework. 17 with yellow purse-silk, and make rays of the yellow silk and the wool in sets of three long stitches from the eye to the buttonhole border, which should be a zig- Fig. 18. znjr, should be in four shades of brown, beginning from pale maize and finishing with an outside one of black, large stitches of yellow silk caught over each point of the border. Hug Worked on Sackcloth. This mat is worked upon common corn-sacking, and the length required for a rug is about a yard and a half or three-quarters, according to taste, and the cost is about one shilling and six pence for the piece necessary. It was first seen in Ireland, but who first introduced the idea is not known. The sacking requires first to be well cleansed of the little uneven discolored bits of sacking, •. No. 19. by pulling them out, and when that is fin- ished, you begin by No. 19, working a com- mon herring-bone in yellow wool round the edge of the sacking, as seen in the illustration. As much care as possible must be made to keep the herring-bone equal in size. No. 20 is the same stitch, but worked in black wool. Two rows all round the mat must be worked, and eventually crossed like the illustration, and then the corners are formed by working eight stitches or squares above the double row of black, beginning from the corner stitch. Continue working these eight stitches, one row upon the other, till a complete square is formed, allowing you to count eight stitches on each side of the square. Make one of these squares at each corner of the sacking, after which the points round the mat must be worked, and that can only be done by counting how many squares or stitches there are between No. 20. 18 LADIES' GUIDE TO NEEDLEWOllK. each corner, and how many stitches can be reserved for each point, leaving one or wo etitehea between, and graduating the squares orfitchesto a ^>£*"*»£ the illustration. Aitei Davingoom pleted the large Bquarea at the cor- ners and the points, comes No. 21, a star in red (double) wool, with a centre of double yellow wool, which is made in the centre of each corner and each point, those of the corners being much larger. No. 22 consists of stars worked in single wool of various colors, accord- ing to taste, one being placed above each black point, ami one between them. Then make a centre to each star, in black, as shown in the illus- tration ; after which put a star of yellow wool over the black centre, except to the mellow stars, which remain black. These centres are made in Single wool. No. 24 is simply a large herring-bone stitch pointed with black, and caught hi the centre with yellow, like the illustra- tion. This is worked in red or mageuta, and forms the first row of the centre of the mat, and must of necessity be worked at an efpial dis- tance from the corners. No. 25 is worked in red, black and green, like the No. 22. No. 21. No. 23. "tm-lTiuTfZSSZ ^colors, Placed as seea i, .the £**£ them exactly as you did those in No. 22. No. 24. No. 25. No. 27 completes the mat by making the illustrated stitches all over the mat where it is not covered in black double wool. No. 26- No. 27. ladies' guide to needlework. 19 After which, with a nice red fringe sewn round the border, and a lining at the back of coarse material, the mat is complete, and can be placed in front of the hearth or before a dressing-table. Pig. 28. Needle- Case. An admirable invention for a needle-case, in which all the needles are threaded, has been sent me by a young lady, who has kindly permitted me to describe it here. It is on the priuciple of the rolled-up pocket needle-book ; but inside the roll at the eud are three reels of cotton, the ends of which are passed through the eyes of the needles, which are darned into the nee- dle-book in three even rows. In this manner the needles are always fed by the cotton until the reels are empty, when the roll must be undone at the end and fresh reels supplied. It can be made of velvet or leather, or Fig. 29. any material lined with flannel and bound with ribbon. The annexed drawing will make this explanation clearer. Embroidery is, at the date of this writing, the most popular of all kinds of work, both in dress and ornament, and it is a fortunate circumstance for many women that it is so, for hundreds have been kept in employment in the last two years, who would have starved had not the fashion of elaborate ornament on every article of dress been revived. And although machine embroidery has largely superseded that done by hand in cheaper goods, the finer work can never be rivalled, as no 20 ladies' guide to needlework. machine can follow the intricacies of design, or make the varied stitching required for really exquisite embroidered articles. Most of the muslin embroidery is imported at so comparatively trifling a cost, that but few care to work any elaborate articles. But there is one branch of it that will always be popular. I mean Initial Embroidery, to do which well requires both care and skill, but which amply repays the worker for the time bestowed, since a handsomely embroidered initial is a handsome finish to every articlo of underwear, toilet muslin, and handkerchiefs, in the fair worker's possession. The beautiful pillow shams, so much in fashion, are greatly improved by a largo initial letter or monogram embroidered in the centre, and a bedroom can have no prettier addition to its elegance than initial lettering in embroidery upon pillow, cases, sheets, towels, toilet mats and tidies, done in sets to match. One of the most beautiful arts to be learned in connection with silk embroidery, is flower-drawing and painting. When a lady is proficient in this, she is inde- pendent of the pattern makers, and can present t<> her friends articles of beauty, not only embroidered, but designed by her own skill and taste In studying (lower embroidery, make it the first object to become familiar with the peculiarities of form perceptible in every different class of flower. Not merely is the shape of each leaf and petal distinct, but the calyx, the bend of the branch, the mode of growth is characteristic in each separate species of flower. Irrespec- tive of c< dor, also an important consideration, this is imperative; for sketch cor- rectly the merest outline of a rose-leaf, and it will not need color to distinguish it from a vine-leaf, while if the shape is incorrect, no coloring will make it appear perfect. Study the forms of the natural flowers until you can draw them accu- rately, and when you are competent to group them, and to rectify any errors in patterns you may buy, you will find the mere coloring a much simpler affair. Embroidery proper is worked in colors similar to the articles copied, but this rule will not apply to dress, since variegated embroidery would bo far too pro- nounced iu effect for any but evening wear. Yet there is really something incon- gruous in brown roses, black leaves, aud gray pausies. It is infinitely easier, therefore, to work for dress than ornament; since the pattern is only to be followed in one silk, no shading is required and no artistic knowledge necessary. The pat- tern is worked throughout alike, being but a repetition of itself. But in articles of ornament, the more closely nature is followed in imitating her works the more beautiful the effect will be. Jnvalid's ^Pocket. Few things contribute more to the comfort of an invalid than one of these useful articles, which may be made of any materials that will hartnonizo with tho furniture, but are most elegant if embroidered in the style of our specimen. The materials are : half a yard of rich black satin ; sarcenet, to correspona in color with the hangings; strong cardboard; wadding; pot-pourri; and nine yards of satin ribbon, the color of the lining. Buy the satin nineteen and one-half inches wide, aud divide it up the centre, having nine inches on one side, ten and one-half on the other. The narrower half forms the back, and leaves enough to make a small pincushion for oue of the pockets. The other half forms the pockets. These are three in number, tho lowest having no division, the second one down the centre, tho upper oue two ; so that thero are really six pockets. ladies' guide to needlework. 21 One group of flowers covers the lower pocket, two the centre ; the third has an srnamental initial in the middle and a light spray on each side, and the divisions of the pockets are ornamented with a light pattern in embroidery. The little pincushion should also have some device worked on it. The engraving will show the form of the whole complete article, as well as of •the separate poekets. To make it up : Cut a piece of cardboard, eight inches wide and about twelve long. Slope it, as in the pattern, and cover it with satin at the back, and wadded sarcenet on the other side. Line each pocket with wadded sarcenet, scented with pot-pourri, and trim the top of each with the ribbon, quilted iuto a ruche. Each pocket must be put on plain at the bottom, and sloped a little on each side, which the greater width will allow, so as to set rather full, and hold things conveniently. Fkr. 30. — invalid's pocket. "When all are put on. the divisions must be made, and the whole trimmed with quilted ribbon. These pockets are intended to hold watch, chain, and seals in the upper pocket ; pincushion and smelling-bottle in the two centre ; and the handkerchief in tho lowest The embroidery to be done in fine floss. Similar watch-pockets may bo done in canvas work. 22 ladies' guide to needlework. 'Purse in Embroidery. EMBROIDERED UPON STEEL-COLORED GLOVE-KID, IN HIGH COLORS. The edges are trimmed with quilled ribbon, and tbe ends finished with silk to match. Cord and tassels of mixed silk to match the embroidery. The same de- sign makes a handsome tobacco bag, when lined with oil-silk. In conclusion, it must he remembered that every style of embroidery in any material depends entirely for its beauty upon the perfect evenness of the, work. Irregularity of stitch is never intended to imply a straggling character of work, and roughness of surface must be alwavs avoided. The outlines must he carefully drawn, "distinctly defined, and then followed in working with the most exact accuracy. Fie. 31. Next in importance is the selection of good material. Embroidery being a luxury at best, it is better to do without it entirely than to have it upon interior material or worked with poor wool or silk. In cotton embroidery it is best always to wash and iron the articles before the edges are cut, as the scallops have a fanner and more even appearance than when they are cut before washing. ih ^ ot course, does not apply to such work as can be worn before washing, hut this should be carefully pressed before the edges are cut. INDIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 23 Embroidered Lamp- Screen, with 'Pattern of Wo?*k. This screen is worked upon white crape in floss silk, the edges corded with coarse netting or crochet silk of the same color. Under the dots and leaves are pieces of contrasting silk, which show through the crape when the lamp is lighted, with heautiful effect. Green silk, with the work in golden brown, or cherry colored silk, with work in a deeper shade of red, is also effective. Pig. 32. — EMBROIDERED DAMP-SCREEN. CHAPTER II. BRAI DING. Braiding is generally considered the simplest of all the varieties of fancy work, and yet it requires some skill to make it handsome and durable. There was uevcr probably a time when it was inure fashionable than at present, for it is the styliak trimming for the most elaborate wraps and dresses now imported, and is univer- sally used for linen dresses and every kind of clothing for children. The imported sacques and wraps of every description, trimmed with elaborate braiding, and very expensive, may be imitated at home so perfectly that the differ- ence can never be detected, at comparatively trifling cost, and the patterns can b« stamped at the fancy stores upon any material required. Cot/oji o //(I Linen 'Braiding is used for wash goods of all descriptions, being extremely fashionable for tho linen and cambric dresses now worn, for underclothing, aprons and children's clothiug. There are several kinds of braid to be procured. French 'Plait Braid is of various widths, determined by numbers. It comes in white, scarlet and mixed black and white, washes well, and has a firm, even edge. ^Russia Braid is not quite so fine, thicker, and gives a richer effect ; it is used extensively for children's garments, and is the best for heavy material, such as Marseilles or pique. Wared Braid has a waved edge and requires great care in sewing it down, as each wave must be secured or it will wash into rolls and be extremely difficult to iron. This braid is also called Eugenie tape. Alliance Braid, a mixture of cotton and bright-colored worsted, is handsome and washes well. It is extensively used for children's garments, looking well upon natural -colored linen and on white and colored materials when in good contrast to the ground- work. When the material has been selected and the braid chosen for working, the ladies' guide to needlework. 25 pattern must be traced very carefully, unless already stamped. It is cheaper to have the stamping done by experienced hands, but where this is impracticable, the pattern should be carefully traced upon tissue paper, basted down upon the material, carefully followed in thread in short, even stitches, and the paper torn away. The braid must be fastened upon the wrong side at the beginning of the work, carried through by being threaded in a coarse worsted-needle. The stitches should then be taken very close, across the braid, keeping the braid carefully on the lines funning the pattern, curving with very slight fulness and making points by sharply folding the braid over, if alike on both sides, or turning it sharply if not alike. The difficulty will be found to keep it from spreading at turns or curves. Broad braid must be run on both edges, and the patterns must have longer curves than are required for narrow braid. The waved cottou braid is exceedingly pretty for aprons and children's wear, and it is very handsome for babies' linen or Marseilles cloaks, and for little girls' linen dresses. In making points, with either waved or plain braid, one stitch must always be taken across to secure the point, and broad braid must have a close running under the fold to keep the point in place. Stresses when braided, must be first sewed at every seam, that the pattern may not be uneven in crossing them. The basque or polonaise patterns come in all sizes, but unless a dress is fitted aud basted before stamping, the effect is not good. Wraps of all descriptions must also be fitted and basted before stamping, to secure a hand- some appearance. Trimming made by braiding a pattern upon a strip of the material of the dress or wrap, is far easier thau braiding the actual garmeut, and is very much worn. It can bo put on as a heading for ruffles or flounces, or made into ruffling or flouncing. In the latter case it must be always finished with a buttonhole-stitch scallop, in thread to match the braid. Worsted and SUA; Braid are nsed for many ornamental purposes as well as for dress. The best known braids are 'Plain 7tnssian Braid, so called from the threads being woven in what is known as Russian plait. Two plaits, the French and Russian, are used in braids, the latter having all the threads carried from the edge to the centre, insuring a very firm, even edge, highly desira- ble in working. It is very important in braiding to select braid that is close and firm, as it will wear far better than the loosely woven, and will not stretch so much in working. Alliance "Braid cornes in silk and wool, as well as in cotton, with the same variety, being of ono Color on one edge and a different color on the other. It is used principally for faney dresses and ornamental articles. It can also be procured iu gold or silver thread combined with colored silk, but is very expensive aud wears black. 26 LADIES' GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. Star 'Braid is a variety of waved braid with serrated edgOB. In worsted it washes well and is very pretty for children's aprons. In silk it is very effective in leaves and (lowers. Besides the varieties mentioned, new braids are constantly being introduced into the market, to meet some caprice of fashion. 'Braiding in Cord comes under the same head as flat braiding, but is not done in the same manner. In selecting cord for braiding it is important to choose the softest and silkiest, as the stiff, hard cord will never curve into graceful patterns, and is very difficult to sew on. Lay the cord on the pattern, securing the end as the Hat braid is secured. Holding it firmly, sew it down with stitches taken underneath, so as to be entirely invisible. Never cross the cord with stitches. Chenille 'Braiding is very difficult, requiring the greatest care to keep the material from roughening in the hands. Great skill is required to avoid injuring the pile. Use the finest silk procurable, and let it exactly cross the chenille, into which the needle must never go at all. Slip the needle under to the next stitch, and again cross it. The stitches should be about three to an iuch. Hold both cord and chenille loosely, or the work will be likely to pucker. 'Raised Braiding. This effect is produced by sewing the braid down upon one edge only, if it is narrow ; or if wide, by sewinr«idi/tff is much used for ornamental articles, for slippers, smoking caps, and cushions. The French braid is the best, wearing longer without tarnishing than any other. It shouM be sewed on with silk the exact color of the braid. It is a good plan in sewing on silk and worsted braid to buy one piece more than is required for the work, cut it in yard lengths and draw out the threads to sew down the braid used to follow the pattern. In this way an exact match iu color can be obtained. Bead 'Braiding is only difficult from the danger of crowding the beads, which will give the work a coufused appearance. It is much iu fashion for wraps, and is very handsome upon fine black cloth or black silk, worked in jet beads. These must be of the best quality, or they will cut through the silk. The lines marked for braiding must be carefully followed, putting on one bead at a time iu a long back-stitch, bringing the needle out sufficiently ahead of the last bead to make room for the next one in the back-stitch. It may be done more rapidly but not so securely in another way. Secure the silk thread by a knot, and string the beads. Pass the thread along the pattern, and fasten it firmly at the other end. Secure the beads in place by a tiny stitch across the thread at every third bead. When bead braiding is done with LADIES* GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 27 gold beads, an edge of gold braid adds very much to the effect. Alternate rows of gold and steel beads have a very handsome effect on velvet. Patterns in Turkish style, arabesque, key bordering, and other designs, are more effective for braiding than dowers or leaves, which are apt to look stiff. Grape leaves and stems in braid, however, with tendrils and grapes in silk em- broidery, are very handsome for flannel work — infants' blankets and skirts espe- cially. When a child's dress is to be done in raised braiding, take care to select a pat- tern in which the lines never cross each other, which would at once destroy the effect. A rather strong straw needle is the best for braiding in cord, but you cannot put on chenille or silk braid with too tine a needle. It should be long and thin. If braid is sewed down with a sewing machine or carefully stitched on by hand, a line in the exact centre, of a contrasting color, is very effective. All braiding requires to be pressed with a moderately cool iron when finished. Generally it may be done in the ordinary way, upon several folds of flannel, to en- sure a very sott surface ; but raised and chenille braiding must have the wrong side passed tightly over an iron held upright. In making up embroidered or braided articles which are lined and wadded, it is a great finish to the whole to quilt the lining silk very neatly in small blocks or a pattern. It is very easy to do so. Take a piece of silk large enough to allow you to cut out the lining, fold it over and over, beginning with one corner ; when it is all folded to look like one narrow strip, pass a cool iron along to crease it. Fold again iu the contrary direction, and do the same. You may then cut it the proper shape, tack fine wadding under it, and run it in the creases, in fine stitches, or stitch it in the sewing machine with silk of contrasting color. Watch cases, pockets, glove cases and such articles, should be sprinkled with perfumed powder, on the wrong side, before being made up. The calico case for the feathers of a soft cushion, should be cut crosswise and wadded before being filled with feathers or down. Down is the softest and will not so soon flatten. The wadding keeps the cushion in good shape longer than feathers or down alone. Ribbon trimming must never be quilled too full ; it spoils the effect. Every knot of braid should be wound before using. In all fancy work the greatest neatness is necessary in working and making up articles, as they will never pay for the labor bestowed if carelessly wrought or put together. The Toilet Set. PINCUSHION, GLOVE, AND HANDKERCHIEF CASES. These are made of satin or velvet to correspond with each other, and with the bed-furniture and curtains. They are worked in silk braid of four different colors, une corner of each pattern being worked in a different color. The little centre pattern is worked in the same way, reversing the colors, and the whole braiding bordered with gold thread. The pincushion is a card-board box, lined inside with wadded silk. The top is stuffed, to form a pincushion, and the sides are braided, each in a different color. The glove and handkerchief cases are also lined with wadded silk, and scented. 28 LADIKS GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. t'» and the whole are trimmed with cord or fringe to correspond, and are alike pretty and useful for a lady's dressing-room. LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWOKK. Toilet Mat. 29 The nest pattern is designed for a toilet mat to match the set, and can bo worked ihe full pattern for centre mat, and the centre pattern only for small cologne-bottle mats at each side. They should be worked on fine white Marseilles, in colored cotton braid, to match the pincushion, glove, and handkerchief case, A fringe can be added by buttonhole stitching cotton to match the braid, in long loop stitches. They are very pretty worked in white star braid. Fig. 35. — THE TOILET MAT. CHAPTER III. APPLIQUE WORK. The term applique, or application work, applies to the style of embroidery in which a pattern is cut or stamped out of one kind of material, and transferred to another material, or the same in a different color, to which it is fastened by some edge of needlework, uniting by braid, satin stitch, cord or beads. In white goods this style of work js called transfer work, and will be found under that heading, the term applique being generally confined to articles of cloth, velvet, satin or silk. It is necessary in the first place to purchase a complete set of stamping tools, to secure accuracy of outline in patterns, stars, circles, or diamonds, but the patterns are procurable in all varieties already stamped out of velvet cloth, satin or silk. When you have selected your pattern, baste it carefully down upon the material for your background, always having either fabric or color in contrast. Velvet on cloth, silk on velvet, cloth on silk — any combination most effective to the worker's eye, can be used. When carefully basted down, work the edge carefully in satin stitch, or run on a cord or braid, carefully covering the edge of the applique on both sides. Many articles, such as slippers, sofa cushions, pincushions, smoking-caps and others, are very handsome done in velvet and cloth and finished with gold braid. A set pattern is more effective than leaves or flowers, although both are exten- sively used. 'Patent c±ppliqwe is an easier form of the same work, and can be procured at all fancy stores. The pattern is stamped out upon the material but not cut through, the design beiug of a different color from the groundwork. The outlines must be braided or worked in satin stitch, exactly as in the genuine applique. The effect of this edge is to raise the inner work, so that it is impossible to tell that it is not actually laid on. Many of the patterns are very elaborate, and there is a great gain in escaping the actual edge which will often escape from the most careful braiding, and soon wear ragged. LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 31 Cretonne Work. This is a charming new style of application. The cretonne in every design and color can be procured at any fancy store, and the patterns must be cut out with very fine, sharp scissors. They are always clearly defined. Take a piece of the material — black satin being one of the favorite fabrics — suitable for a Y'lS. '■%}. — FLORAL DESIGN FOR CRETONNE WORK. 32 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. screen, cushion or any article chosen, and pin it clown very firmly upon a perfectly flat surface. Cut out your designs from the cretonne. Birds are the most effective, being so brilliantly colored. Cut out a branch, say apple-blossom, and such birds as you prefer. Lay these face downward, and paste carefully with starch or very fine gum-arabic. Then lay them upon tho satin. It would be well first to place them on the satin, before Btarehing or g-imming the back, to judge of the effect and mark tho places where you wish them to be with pins; then gum and attach them. It is then best to put tho work in a frame; but, if this is iuconvenient, the cretonne must bo further Fig. 37. — BUTTERFLY DESIGN IN APPLIQUE. attached by a stitch here and there, as it is liable to break away if much pulled. Soft lloss silk is the best for the cretonne edges, which must be very carefully done. Care must be taken to make the down stitch always in the cretonne and the up stitch in the satin, close to the cretonne margin. The edge must not bo made in overcasting, but in close fine satin stitch, blending with tho coloring of tho cretonne. When the cretonne designs are selected, tho edge of each must be carefully matched in every shade by the floss silk purchased. In the edges of birds aud flowers many colors and shades will be required, for each stitch must match as LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 33 ■closely as possible the painting of the edge it touches. When all the margins are worked, the labor of the undertaking is over, and its more tasteful phase begins. You must then work long stitches in the highest lights of every portion, using the lightest shades for this purpose, and in the dark parts use the very darkest shades; afl this has to be done by a few long stitches, and the effect it produces is mar- vellous. The middles of flowers should be worked in a knotting- stitch formed thus: Draw your needle out at the point where you wish to make the first knot; place the thumb of the left hand on the silk about an inch from where it emerges from the material, letting it stand in a loose loop; twist the needle in this from right to left till there are three coils on it ; then put it over the thread near the thumb, and put the point firmly into the material, holding it with the left hand, while with the Fig. 38. — CALLA LILY. right you take the silk where the thumb of the left held it, and gently draw it tight ; then hold the left thumb on the knot, while with the right hand you draw the needle through. A cluster of these knots makes a very effective centre to a flower. The stems, if fine, are very difficult to manage, because the cretonne is apt to give way ; it is easier to cut them off and work the stems in embroidery. French cretonne is the best for this work ; the heavy twilled cretonne is very diffi- cult to manage, and the coloring is less delicate ; the satin-faced has a fine effect, but is difficult to cut. 3 34 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWOUK. Table Bordering in cipplique. Take a piece of fine black cloth the length required. Cut circles in paper the size of a silver dollar, with a piece the size of a .silver (en -cent piece cut out of the centre. Cut circles in colored llama cloth large enough to cover the paper ones. These are to he tacked down to the cloth with a piece of military braid, threaded through the circles as shown in illustration. They are then sewn ou each edge to the cloth in buttonhole stitch with gold-colored embroidery silk. White beads are then sewn on the edge of circles and braid. The colored rings are to be put on in the following order: drab, crimson, blue, yellow, violet, green, pink, drab, crimson, and so in regular succession again. This makes a very handsome border- ing for a table or mantelpiece, and the color of the material and rings may be varied to suit the taste of the worker. Applique work combined with braiding and embroidery is very effective for Fig. 39. — TABLE BORDERING. cloth garments, but has become somewhat old-fashioned. With the revival of braiding and other trimming that passed out of date and again became fashionable, applique likewise is coming into favor. Some of the recent importations show it in two shades of one color upon street wraps. It is a difficult fancy work, but for any purpose where velvet, clotn, satin, or silk is available, will be found to have the richest effect, well worth the trouble of con- quering its difficulties. A wall-pocket was recently shown the writer, of applique work in crimson vel- vet and black cloth, the edges in gold-colored satin stitch. The whole was mounted in black walnut, and was a very handsome ornament, intended for a library. LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 35 Applique jEmbroidery. The foundation 5s of velvet. The design may he cut out of velvet or fine cloth, and is fastened to the foundation with eording-stiteh in silk of two colors. The veins of the leaves are worked with fine silk. Fig. 40.— DESIGN FOR CIGAR-CASE. 36 ladies' guide to needlework. Lamp Mat in Applique Work. The foundation is of velvet, with Bilk of three different shades of i i Ik sewed or u BhovS Xstration, with gold-colored silk braid, or gold braid. I rings ofspft ,1 red silk laid in phut., at the top Of scallops aud points, having the efloct as gold-c of tassels. Fig. 41. CHAPTER IV. CANVAS WORK. Although there have been within the last few years many additions to canvas work both in material and in working, the general directions for the old-fashioned tapestry work will be found available for all of them, and will be given before each of the new kinds of canvas comes under consideration. There are five kinds of stitches used in canvas work, although many more are sometimes reckoned; but these are but modifications and variations of the original five. These stitches are: Cross Stitch, Tent Stitch, Tapestry Stitch — or Gobelin, German Stitch, Irish Stitch. Fie. Cross Stitch is worked by bringing up the needle on the left hand, then down on the right, upon the right again, and down on the left. This is reversed in all the other stitches, the needle being brought up in them on the right, and down on the left. Cross stitch is indeed a double stitch, being a stitch taken diagonally over two threads from left to riijht, and then a similar one being made from right to left, which, crossing the first , completes the stitch. 38 ladies' guide to needlework. Tent sate a is worked by bringing the thread through the canvaa on the right side, and down on the left, crossing over one thread each way. Four tent stitches thufl occupy the space of one cross stitch. Tapestry Stitch is worked over two threads of canvaa in height, and one in width ; in working a Berlin pattern, therefore, two stitches, side by side, are to bo reckoned lor every square, and it will then lie of the same size as if worked in cross stitch, over which it has a great advantage in the superior appearance of the shading, ami the com- parative fineness of the work. Jt is also the stitch the best adapted to work which is painted on the canvas, which should lie embroidered in as artistic a manner as if a paint-brush were handled instead of a needle. Indeed, these painted canvas pictures should never be attempted by any one who has not some knowledge of painting, as the stitches cannot he counted, and it is very difficult to manage the shading with accuracy and smoothness. Persons ignorant of paint- ing should obtain such patterns as are marked in blocks so as to be easily couuted. Irish Stitch is very easy, and may be very rapidly done; it is, therefore, very suitable for grounding. The first Hue of Irish stitch is worked by covering alternately two and four horizontal threads with the wool, leaving the perpendicular uncovered be- tween ; in the second, and succeeding rows, the needle is brought up in the square where the wool had crossed only two threads, and crossing four horizontal threads is brought down ; it is then passed on to the next stitch of the short row. Refer- ence to the engraving will show this to the learuer. German Stitch is somewhat similar, but the stitches are diagonal, and alternately short and loug throughout. The canvas which forms the foundation of all Berlin work comes iu great variety, mauy kinds beiug receutly introduced into the market. Cotton Canvas, or French canvas, is the best for the ordinary work, such as slippers, chair covers, and other uses. All the threads are of the same color, firm, round, and square in the mesh. It is made in several degrees of fineness, which are determined by numbers. Germa?i Canvas is woven with every tenth thread of a different color, which makes it very easy to count ; but it is not so strong as the French, nor so true iu the square, while the colored thread is apt to show r through in light portions of the work. It will not bear stretching so well as the French, being more elastic in the web. ^Penelope Ca?ivas is so-called from presenting the appearance of having been worked and the stitches picked out again. It is very nice for teaching children canvas work, as it is easily counted and does not strain the eyes. It requires double wool to fill the meshes. ladies' guide to needlework. 39 Silk Ca?ivas dees not require the work to be grounded. This is a great saving of labor, but it is not suitable for any article requiring much wear, being delicate and easily soiled. In the selection put the canvas over some dark material to ascertain if there are rough or uneven places in it. These spoil the appearance of the work, however carefully executed. !Rug Canvas is one of the newer varieties, and comes in the natural color, a pretty shade of buff. It is coarse in web, requiring double zephyr to fill the meshes, but is very close, requiring no grounding. When worked in handsome patterns and heavily fringed, it makes a rug at once beautiful and serviceable. It is used also for car- riage rugs, and other uses where heavy material is required. 2$u?~lap Canvas is a finer mesh of rug cauvas, and much used for carriage rugs, chair covers, foot- stools, and other work where heavy material and the rich double zephyr are avail- able. Java Canvas is extensively used for Berlin work that requires no grounding, and is very hand- some worked in single or double zephyr, wears well but soils easily. It is very close in mesh, and firm in the web. Panama Canvas is a variety very largely used iu combination with the straw that is so fashionable in many kinds of fancy work. It is a very stiff, harsh canvas, a pale, cuir color, matching the straw beautifully, needs no grounding, and makes its own fringe by ravelling the edges, and overcasting with a thread of the ravelling. It can be worked in any of the canvas stitches, and will contrast well either with the Berlin wool or with floss silk. Toilet-mats, card-baskets, and a great variety of small fancy articles, are manufactured of Panama canvas worked in floss silk and com- bined with straw in making them up. A very beautiful toilet-mat cau be made by working a pattern in the cent/e of a small square of Panama canvas, fringing the edges about two inches deep, leaving six threads above the fringe and then drawing out six lengthwise. Fasten each edge of the fringe and heading with a buttonhole stitch between each crosswise thread, in silk to match the embroi- dered pattern. Line with bright-colored silk to the top of the fringe. It is easily made and very saleable at fairs, or suitable for a gift. JVet Canvas comes in both black and white, is very strong and stiff, and will admit either of grounding or lining. It can be worked with double zephyr in cross stitch or filled with tapestry stitch. Mats made of the net canvas should have a fringe of wool on the edge ; run in the netting with a coarse needle, the mesh of the net forming the pattern as it crosses the wool. If grounded, it does not need lining, but is very pretty worked in a Berlin pattern and lined with bright-colored silk The materials used for filling up canvas are wools of various kinds, called gene- rally zephyrs, silks, aud chenille. Beads are often used for grounding iu pincush- ions and mats. 40 ladies' guide to needlework. Berlin Wool is emphatically the Lest used, being of superior finish, softer, smoother, and dyed in more lasting and brilliant colors than any other. For variety and 1. canty of shading it stands unrivalled ; and the peculiar weaving of the thread enables the worker to split it to any degree of fineness required, while for coarse work you can use it of two, or even three thicknesses. It comes, however, in three degrees of fineness, and one of these can generally be adapted to any work in hand. It is called the coarsest thread, double Berlin wool, medium thread, single, and finest split Berlin wool, or double, Bingle, and split zephyr. It should never he wound for auy work, and for canvas work should be cut into lengths and kept in shades. JSnglisli Wool is rougher than the Berlin, but is a good foundation wool, wearing well. It does not come in such variety of color, but is good for coarser work or for children, being much cheaper than Berlin. Gcrmantown Wool is a still cheaper zephyr, but inferior in color and quality to the imported goods. It is useful for sampler work for children, but not adapted to finer kinds of canvas work. Fleecy Wool is used more for tufted work on canvas than for flat stitches. It comes in all shades and colors. Silk. The kinds most used for canvas-work are floss, coarse and fine, Dacca, Berlin, crochet, and netting silk. Of these the floss, crochet and netting are used both in combination with wool and alone. With wool the floss silk for all the lightest shades of the various colors is very effective, adding greatly to the beauty of the work. And where gold is introduced into the pattern, hard-twisted crochet silk of gold color will be found quite as effective as the gold thread, aud will keep its beauty much longer. Floss in gold color is not so good an imitation. Shaded silks in all colors are extensively used in canvas work, and as in embroidery, re- quire accurate matching when a new thread is taken. Chenille for canvas work is much finer than that used for braiding, and is called embroid- ery chenille. It comes in all colors, and also in shaded colors, but requires great care in working, and is only suitable for articles that will not require frequent handling, as it soon wears rough. It is very delicate, and while catching the dust very easily, will not bear much brushing. At the same time, no work is so rich as that done in chenille. It must be used in short lengths, as it wears rough and thin in working, and in long threads makes the work appear uneven. JVeedles. Have both long and round-eyed needles ready for use, always selecting one amply large to carry the wool and silk and prevent it from fraying, yet not large enough to stretch the mesh of canvas through which it passes. For canvas alone, always use blunt points, but where the canvas is laid over other material, a sharp point must be used. LADIES' GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 41 When doing very delicate work, use an ivory thimble, and if you find the warmth of your hands is running the colors of wool or silk, wash them in hot water and bran, drying very thoroughly before again touching the work. All canvas work should be done in a frame, and when the canvas is to be placed over other material for working through, allow it always a little larger every way, as mos* materials will be found to stretch more than the canvas in framing to work. The directions already given for framing the material for embroidery, apply as well to canvas work. The next consideration in canvas work is the Selection of ^Patterns, which really demands great judgment and considerable artistic knowledge, if the effect produced by the work is in any way to compensate for the labor bestowed upon it and the expense incurred. A moment's glance at the patterns of the different kinds of canvas will show that the same design worked on each would have in every one a totally different appearance. But it requires further thought to provo that one style of design will advantageously bear to be worked smaller, and an- other kind will look larger than the original pattern. This point demands con- sideration and judgment. The Berlin patterns, which are intended to represent historical, sacred, or other paintings, are mostly taken from the works of artists. Generally speaking, the originals are of considerably larger size than the Berlin pattern, and where this is the case you must calculate the stitches closely, as the work will probably greatly increase in size. It is well when about to bestow upon work such labor and expense as are re- quired to work these canvas pictures for framing, to see an engraved or painted copy of the original picture, and carefully note any difference. A carefal com- parison will probably give sufficient reason for this caution ; for the Goths and Vandals who paint the Berlin patterns, not deeming the artists they copy sufficient judges of beauty and appropriateness to be implicitly followed, frequently think proper to add extraneous matters, with the same good sense and success, too, with which they would " gild refined gold, or paint the lily." Occasionally they err on the other side — cutting out some important figure or other accessory, which they, iu their wisdom, deem superfluous. Besides sacred and historical subjects, groups, and wreaths of flowers may fre- quently be worked of an increased size with good effect. They should, however, be tolerably massive and compact, if worked more than one-third larger, as long stems, tendrils of vines, sweet peas or other straggling lines, would look stiff and clumsy, and altogether lose the graceful effect produced in smaller space. When a pattern is to be worked on very fine canvas, the shades should be clearer and more distinct than in coarser material; care should be taken in work- in ir on silk canvas not to pass the thread from one part to another, as it will cer- tainly show when completed. Grounding is the term applied to the filling in of the canvas after the subject is worked; gen- erally this is done in one solid color, but occasionally in several shades of ono color. This is the most diffcult part of the work, as it must be perfectly even and smooth to look well. Very few workers upon canvas are proficients in grounding. 42 ladies' guide to needlework. It should be executed with perfect regularity, and without the slightest appearance of lines. Begin at the lower left-hand corner, and work to the right, then hack again to the left, crossing each stitch before beginning the next, if you are work- ing iu cross-Stitch, and carefully making every upper stitch slant in one direction. To avoid joining always in one line, it is bpst to cut the wool fur grounding ill un- equal lengths. Buy always an ample supply of wool for grounding before com- mencing it, as it may prove difficult to obtain an exact match, and the slightest difference will ruin the work. Much time is saved by working on canvas over other materials, by which the labor of grouuding is entirely dispensed with. It improves the appearance of such work, however, to purchase wool the exact color of the material, and till in all spaces iu the embroidery, and in finishing, work one stitch all round the pattern of the same color. This gives the work a richer raised look, and the canvas can he cut off close to the stitches, instead of being drawn out, thus securing greater rich- ness of effect and a much smoother surface. Colors Used i/> Grounding must necessarily depend on the style of pattern to be worked; for the wools for the design and the grounding should always he selected with a view to harmony of color. The ground of a piece of work should always he a durable color; the dye should always be good, and not liable to rub off. Black, though effective, is not a good color for this purpose, as it wears rusty. Blue and lilac are apt to fade very soon, but rich, deep shades of dark colors, and very clear and brilliant shades of light, are the best. Drah, mode, gray, light brown, and stone iu all shades, have a very cool effect. They wear well, but do not light up well iu artificial light — either gas or candle. Some shades and 'colors are so delicate as to render it almost impossible to ground with them. Light blue is one of these; a good reason for always working iu any sky tints in a landscape picture last, is that the sky would inevitably be of a hazy, muddy appearance instead of a bright blue, if a long piece of work was commenced by having the sky tints worked in first. Never attempt a light ground on any but purest white canvas, as the effect will not be good. Economy may be exercised in working by avoiding long stitches at the back, and the work will present also a more even appearance. Irish stitch or German stitch will look better iu cheuille than the closer stitches, and flowers, fruits, and birds are very handsome worked in this material. Begin a centre piece always on the centre stitch ; but all others at the lower left-hand corner. Keep wools and silks in wash leather, excluded from the air. Silks and che- nilles should be wound very lightly on card, and each card marked with the num- ber of the shade. Berlin wool should be cut in lengths and wrapped in long papers or calico, with the wool doubled over, to draw out at the loop. Never mingle silk and wool in any work intended to imitate painting, as it ruins the effect. The directions for beads on canvas will be found in the chapter on bead-work. When patterns are drawn on the canvas they are more difficult to shade than those copied from a pattern with the defined stitch, and if it is necessary to repeat, it is better to copy exactly the first one worked, stitch for stitch. LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 43 ^Basket in ^Panama Canvas. This basket is made upon Panama canvas embroidered in a Berlin wool pattern. It is made over cardboard and lined with quilted satin, and closes into- the handle as shown in the engraving. Fig. 44. 44 ladies' guide to needlework. Shawl Strap in Canvas Work. The pattern is worked upon canvas in bright-colored Berlin wool, and sewed down upon wide strips of leather, which is afterwards lined with silk, a crochet border kuit all round, and made up as shown in illustration. When canvas work is finished it should be taken from the frame and beaten carefully upon the wrong side until every particle of dust or loose thread is removed, but very gently, or the work will look dented. Prepare a table by laying out several thicknesses of woolen, covered first with white muslin, afterwards with canvas the same texture as that in the work. Over this, right side down, stretch the work, confining it with pins, to bo perfectly even. Cover with a damp cloth (not wet) and press lightly and rapidly but thoroughly with a warm iron, not hot enough to injure delicate coloring. If the work is then to be put in a frame to hang, stretch it firmly over the sides, perfectly even, and fasten with very fine up- holsterer's tacks. Very elaborate pieces of canvas work for framing are not now in fashion, except- ing for school girls, but every kind of smaller work is very popular, and at the end of this book, amongst the fancy articles described, will be found many that will require a knowledge of canvas work to execute. It is au accomplishment that dates back to remote ages, and which has never gone entirely out of use. The many new varieties of material in use at the present day, greatly reduce the labor of working, and simplify the designs, while the effect is as good, in many cases better, than the elaborate workmanship of those wonderful specimens of patience and skill handed down from our grandmothers. Fig. 45. — SHAWL STRAP IN CANVAS "WORK. Shopping Sag, in Canvas Work. This pretty bag will be found most useful, and the sachels for shopping were never in more universal favor. Materials — Canvas, No. 14, grey Berlin wool, coarse floss silks of a bright emerald green and gold color, gold thread, small pearl and garnet beads, white and gold tassels, cord, rings, half a yard of colored silk. Work in any block pattern, and make up with silk lining, finishing with cord. The same work may be made up at an upholsterer's with a strong steel clasp, and will be more serviceable. ladies' guide to needlework. 45 JFiff. 46.— THE SHOPPING BAG. CHAPTER V. BEAD WORK. Beads are now so generally used in trimming dress, as well as for strictly orna- mental pieces of embroidery, that they seem to call for a separate chapter, although it must he remembered that in every kind of embroidery, braiding, kuitting, net- ting, crochet work, and canvas work, heads are always available. All braiding patterns used in articles of dress that do not require washing, are much enhanced iu richness by adding beads, about six to an inch, either on one or botli edges of the braid, or in the centre. This is the simplest form of applying beads to braiding patterus. It is still more effective to study the capabilities of a pattern and apply the beads in masses. Thus, if a braiding or embroidery pat- tern represents acorns and oak leaves, let the inside of the acorn and of its cup be filled in with beads, and all the veins in the leaves be thick with them. Black velvet or cloth, with this pattern worked in floss silk and cut jet beads, is very rich, and wears better than braiding alone. If a geometrical pattern is selected, let the beads cluster heavily towards the centre of the design. Lace, especially of the heavier kinds, is much improved by the addition of beads ; and here also the outline of the pattern must be followed, as the firmer work of the lace is the best for attaching the beads. Each bead in lace work must be sewed on separately, and in every kind of braiding and embroidery where beads are introduced it will be found that attaching each bead separately, with a firm, strong stitch, although tedious in execution, ensures greater beauty and durability. Great care must be taken in selecting beads for articles of dress, as an edge that is not perfectly smooth and rouud will cut the silk very soon, and require constant renewing. The introduction of beads in canvas work is very effective, and will always be popular, because of its durability. A design well executed in beads alone is as beautiful as a mosaic, and will last for a much longer time than if worked in silks or wools. Black, dead white, or crystal beads, make a most beautiful grounding for highly-colored designs in silk, wool or chenille, throwing out the colors in bold relief. A great variety of articles are embroidered entirely in colored beads, with good effect, arabesque and scroll patterns being very beautiful in beads of one color only, while flowers can be worked in shaded beads. The designs are the same as those used in canvas work, and the stitch for canvas is always tent stitch. The best thread for bead work upon canvas is a strongly-warped sewing-silk, or firmly twisted cotton thread. In using colored beads, they should be carefully sorted in small, shallow boxes, and taken from the box ou the point of the needle. Gold and silver heads especially, should never he handled. It is difficult in this country to procure perfect shades in beads ; but such as are ladies' guide to needlework. 47 required for white roses or lilies, can be obtained in any large fancy-work em- porium, and also tbe shades of gold and brown. A group of flowers on geometrical pattern in these two sets of shades, grounded in the brilliant peacock blue now so extensively used, makes a beautiful design for a cushion, mat, foot-stool, or screen; it can be washed with flannel and fine white soap, when soiled, and with fair usage will last a hundred years, without loss of beauty. With a fringe of the same shades this work makes the most beautiful lambrequins for mautelpieces, tables and brackets. All embroidery in beads, on any material, has a brilliant effect, and is suitable for most of the purposes to which silk and wool embroidery is applied. In gem patterns on canvas, beads can be introduced with wool, silk or chenille; and names or mottoes worked on embroidered cushions, satchels, glove-cases or other articles, in gold, steel or white beads, add greatly to the beauty of the design. Steel beads are used for embroidering velvet, either black or colored, and have a very rich appearance, while steel bullion is effective with the beads for stems or tendrils. The pattern is to be traced as for all other embroidery, and the beads sewed on separately with waxed silk, as they are apt to cut. They must be laid ou in such forms as the stitches would take if the pattern were worked in 6ilks, or the character of the leaves and flowers will be lost. A name or motto worked in beads may be set, as it were, in gold, by being en- tirely surrounded with gold braid, more or less fine. This has the effect of throw- ing the beads into strong relief. Bugles are also extensively used in bead work, and come both in black and white. They are only available for articles of dress, being too long to work gracefully into any but line patterns for braiding. When a piece of work entirely of beads is finished, it should be carefully stretched and held with pins upon a thick, soft surface, face downward. Then a solution of gum-arabic should be spread with a brush over the back, and left to dry. Three coats well dried between each application will make the work much more durable, as it holds the threads firmly in place, and lessens the danger of cutting. If the beads are of gold or steel, great care must be taken that the first coat of gum is not made tgo wet, as it will soak through and tarnish, but in glass or porcelain beads, if the right side should be wet, it can be polished with damp flannel after- wards. A still more fashionable, but less enduring style of bead-work, is produced thus: Buy a yard of white cotton velvet, stretch it on a board, face downward, securing it firmly on the edges by pins set close together ; cover the back with thick starch, applied with a pasting brush, taking great pains to keep a perfectly smooth, even surface. When quite dry, draw on the surface so starched the leaves, flowers, or other designs you wish to embroider upon the screen, cushion, or article you con- template making. Have a piece of rich-colored velvet or cloth, suitable for the Bcreen, ready. Cut out the designs in the white velvet by the lines you have drawn, and tack them on the colored material with very fine stitches in white thread. Then cover each leaf, flower or portion of the design with beads worked in very thickly, but not crowded. Crystal beads are the most effective for this purpose, as they glitter in artificial light with the brilliancy of tiny diamonds; and the in- troduction of a few steel beads for veining, and a few pearl-white ones for flower centres, makes a great improvement. A shade or two of green, crimson or brown, if they can be procured in transparent glass, may bo introduced with good effect. This style of bead work is very handsome for banner screens, hand screens, cushions, lamp mats, cologne stands, penwipers, and all light articles. Bead 43 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. work is used for the separate pockets or bags that arc in present fashion, in braid- ing patterns, and is very effective. A style that is not new, but has never gone out of fashion, is the imitation of Indian work in dead-white beads upon cloth or rlaunel of a vivid scarlet, the edges finished by a bead fringe or scallops worked in white silk in buttonhole stitch. The pattern can be stamped upon the rlaunel or traced upon tissue paper, which can be basted down on the flannel, worked through and pulled away when the design is finished. To be a good imitation of the work done by the North Ameri- can Indians, it must, always be on scarlet material, worked in milk-white heads. A toilet set of pincushion, cushion mat, two cologne stands, aud hanging watch- case, the patterns to match, is a very handsome bridal present. Hanging-baskets in beads, although somewhat out of date, may still be seen. They are made by stringing large crystal beads upon strong but flexible wire, which is twisted into the required shape and fastened firmly with waxed crochet silk. The pendants are made by stringing the beads npon silk and fastening in loops. If for actual use they must be made over a wire frame that is strung enough to hold a glass dish to contain water for the flowers. Bead book-marks are made by working names or mottoes in beads upon per- forated card, and sewing them to a ribbon the width of the card. Bead fringe, made by sewing beads to any piece of work in loops or ends, give a very handsome finish to pincushions and many fancy articles, and black silk fringe for dress use can be greatly improved by a narrow heading of black heads. We have seen a broad silk braid, stamped into a pattern, that was frayed and worn beyond all beauty, made into a rich trimming for a cashmere sacque, by the use of bead work. The braid was sewed in the usual manner upon the sacque, and then the stamped pattern was followed with jet beads sewed down separately, cov- ering entirely the frayed satin surface, aud leaving the heavier silk of the braid to still be seen as a groundwork. It had all the beauty of an imported wrap when finished. Old belt ribbons can be made very handsome again by tracing a pattern aud covering it with beads, jet beads looking well upon any color. Purses being once more in use for silver money, bead work can be largely in- troduced into their manufacture, both in knitting, crochet work, and embroidery. Handsome purses are made in fine glove kid of soft shades, embroidered iu colored beads, aud made up with steel clasps, or in velvet, embroidered in gold or steel beads with clasp to match. These are very fashionable, and all purses, whether knit or embroidered, are fastened with clasps, rings aud tassels being entirely out of date. In knitting or crochet work, with beads, all the beads to be used must be threaded upon the silk before the work is commenced. When a bead is wanted, it must be slipped on the thread to the stitch last taken and fastened by the next stitch. In crochet work, to prevent the bead from slipping to the wrong side, bring the thread to the front on the first finger of the left hand ; by keeping the bead in this way always in front, and putting the needle through the back loop of the next stitch, you can finish by drawing the thread through the back and make the last loop in the usual way. There is a great difference in the quality of beads — glass, metal, and porcelain — and the best is the cheapest in the end. In purchasing, it is well to pass each string through the fingers, as inequalities may often be felt that are not easily seen. Bugles should be of one length, or, if used for canvas or silk embroidery, they will give all the work an uneven appearance. The hole is another important consideration, as, if it is too fine, the thread LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 49 tised will not be of sufficient strength; if too large, the work will present an irregular appearance. The German beads are the best iu quality and the most varied and brilliant iu color. For all black dress-wear the real jet bead will be found far handsomer, and more serviceable, than the glass ones, and less expensive in the end, though costing more at first. The work of embroidering in beads upon dress materials is so very tedious that it will never be found profitable to put it upon inferior goods or in inferior beads. ^Pocket Embroidered in Beads. The foundation is of black gros grain silk, and the embroidery of fine jet beads. If preferred, the material can match the dress with which the pocket is to be worn. The same design in cloth of vivid scarlet, worked in milk-white beads, makes a beautiful wall pocket. "Purse Embroidered in Beads. The square is of canvas, embroidered in crystal beads, and grounded in Berlin wool. The border is of crystal and milk-white beads. The top is of silk to match the grounding. Fig. 47. Fig 48. CHAPTER VI. LACE WORK. Lace, as we now know it, is not probably older than the end of the sixteenth century. Earlier fabrics of this kind, such as the " fine twined linen wrought with needlework/' the " cauls " and " checker work " of the Old Testament, as well as the work mentioned by the ancient Greek and Roman authors, are evidently the produce of the needle only ; not a woven texture, but embroidery, both colored and plain, together with an introduction of gold and silver thread. Doubtless among these early works there was an interlacing or knotting of threads as well as the sewed embroidery. Sixteenth century cut work appears to be that which makes the nearest approach to modern point lace. " Cut work was made,'' says a modern writer, " in several manners. The first consisted in arranging a network of threads upon a small frame, crossing and interlacing them into various complicated patterns. Beneath this network was gummed a piece of fine cloth called ' quintain,' from the town in Brittany where it was made. Then, with a needle, the network was sewn to the quintain by edging round those parts of the pattern that were to remain thick. The last operation was to cut away the superfluous cloth ; hence the name of cut work. " Agaiu, the pattern was made without any linen at all; threads, radia- ting at equal distances from one common centre, served as a framework to others, which were united to them in squares, triangles, rosettes and geometric forms worked over with buttonhole stitch — point noue forming in some parts open work, in others a heavy compact embroidery." The knitting of lace is claimed by John Beckman, in his " History of Inven- tions, Discoveries, and Origins," to be a German invention. He writes : " I will venture to assert that the knitting of lace is a German invention, first known about the middle of the sixteenth century ; and I shall consider as true, until it be fully contradicted, the account given us that this art was found out before the year 1561, at St. Annaberg, by Barbara, wife of Christopher Uttman. This woman died in 1575, in the sixty-first year of her age, and that she was the inveu- tress of this art is unanimously affirmed by all the annalists of that part of Saxony. About that period the mines were less productive, and the making of veils, an em- ployment followed by the families of the miners, had declined, as there was little demand for them. This new invention, therefore, was so much used that it was knowu iu a short time among all the wives and daughters of the miners, and the lace which they manufactured, on account of the low price of labor, soon became ladies' guide to needlework. 51 fashionable, in opposition to the Italian lace, worked with the needle, and even supplanted it in commerce." Italy appears to have been the cradle of the beautiful art of lace-making, and its earliest production a needle-made fabric. The celebrated Maria de Medicis is said to have introduced the use of lace into the French court from her native country; but to the sagacity of the famous Colbert, minister of Louis XIV , is due the credit of having established a manufactory of lace in France, by calling skilled work- women out of Italy, thence spreadiug itself into many of the French towns and villages. The principal laces are Brussels, Mechlin, Valenciennes, Lisle, Chantilly, Alen- <;on, Spanish, Italian, Bedfordshire and Devonshire. ^Brussels Z,ace has always heid a high position, and may be recognized by the great fineness of the ground, aud by a peculiar rib surrouuding the flowers and scrolls. Jfec/tlin Is ace is a very delicate, fine lace, with a small grounding or net, and flowers surrounded with a flat, silky looking thread. Yalencie?ines Z,ace is of excessive firmness, but wanting the border or cord around the design, as in Brussels or Mechlin. Some of the ornamental groundings of this lace are marvels ■of beauty and patient industry. Lisle lace has a regular clear ground with quaint flowers, bordered as in Brussels. C?iantillj> JO ace is usually black, and made with a silk thread. Blonde is also a silk lace, both black and white. 'Point d' jLlencon is a lace of great richness and beauty, made entirely with the needle, and usually with a great subdivision of labor. The flowers and scrolls are delicately bor- dered. Spanish and Yenice Point lace have become familiar from the very successful imitations of these rich laces now manufactured, and the patterns given at the present day for enabling them to be made at home by any expert needlewoman. Venice joint, or rose point, as it is sometimes called, is a lace of great richness and beauty ; the design being funned of leaves, flowers and stems of a quaint, con- ventional form, projected in bold relief from the surface by an underpadding of thread, and ornamented with fillings in stitches of a curious and varied character. Beyond these laces other towns and districts of Europe are celebrated for lace fabrics, but our Bpace compels us now to turn our attention to the directions for the manufacture of lace work at home. The first of these is : ZToniton lace, which may be divided into two kinds — applique and point ; the former includes -all those laces which have the pattern applied and sewn to a net ground, originally 52 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. all made on the pillow or with the needle, bat in the present day, the pattern or sprigs are applied to machine-made net. In making the Huuilou applique it is best if possible to cut the thick work from Fig. 49. — HcrxrroN. genuine Honiton lace and sew it down upon a fine Brussels net, in any handsome pattern. But the sprigs may be worked in crochet in precise imitation, and then he used. Directions will be found in the chapter on crochet work. LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 53 When the sprigs are finished, cut the exact shape of the article required in "bright colored paper, allowing a margin of half an iuch all round. On this tack the net, and then the edge, beginning always in the centre. Arrange the sprigs and tack them also in their places, using short stitches on the upper side, and long ones beneath. Sew all the sprigs on the net with very fine cotton. The net may be turned in on the right side and covered neatly with the edge and finished with a short close buttonhole stitch. Another imitation of Honiton is made by select- ing a close pattern, working it in buttonhole stitch to meet at all points, upon cambric, and cutting away the cambric, filliug the spaces with any of the stitches which will be described later in this chapter. Point Honiton is made something in this way, having no net but meeting at -every point of the sprigs and scrolls, and joined by threads wrought in any of the lace stitches. Gitipiwe Lace is generally understood to mean that lace of which the pattern is formed by a continuous flat braid or tape, and is the easiest of all laces to imitate. The original is made on a pillow, but machine braids in perfect imitation can be pro- cured at any fancy emporium. Large flowing scrolls and flowers of a peculiar form are the characteristics of guipure, while the fillings are very varied and sometimes a coarse geometrical grounding is introduced. The great art in imitating this lace is to copy carefully the old, quaint forms of the original genuine lace, and the curious needlework fillings belonging to them. 54 ladies' guide to needlework. Point Lace, or, as it is generally called, modern point lace, is a very fascinating employment for ladies — so many pretty and elegant articles can Lo made in it — and if worked with the great neatness and wonderful evenness of old point, there is no reason why it should not be as Valuable. The materials required for tliis work are plain and fancy linen braids of the width suitable to the pattern to be worked ; but many ladies prefer making their own braid, that the work may be entirely from their own hands. It is scarcely advisable, however, as the home-made braid has rarely the even- ness and finish of that procured at trifling cost. Point Zace 2Jitttc?'fly. It is bettor not to begin on too large a piece of work ; we therefore give one of the butterflies so fashionable to wear now mi colored ribbons in the hair, and which can always be put to some pretty use when that fashion is over. Fig. 51. — BUTTERFLY. There are six different stitches in it. Tack the braid very neatly on the out- line of the butterfly, then fill in the stitches. Fill the upper part of the top wing- thus : Fasten strands of thread across each way two at a time, as shown in the engraving ; make the circle where the strands cross, passing the thread round two or three times ; work over these threads two buttonhole stitches in the space between the two threads, three buttonhole stitches in the next, space ; repeat from first threads ; twist your thread round the strand to the next crossing, and repeat till all the spaces are filled. Then the cobweb for the spots on the lower wing : fasten six strands firmly across the circle formed by the braid ; take a fresh piece of thread and pass it round and round, under and over, leaving an end which will be in the middle. When the cobweb is the size shown in the engrav- ing, pass the needle under it into the middle, then make one or two neat overcast stitches, which will fasten in the first end ; then cut off both closely. In the divi- sion surrounding this cobweb work what is called spotted lace. This is worked backwards and forwards; Avork two buttonhole stitches close to one another,, miss a space about the eighth of an inch, work two more buttonhole stitches- LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 55 close together, miss a space ; repeat. At the end of the row work two button- hole stitches down the side, and work back, the stitches to be worked into the space, and the space made over the stitches. Work the remainder of the lower wing in honey-comb stitch. Fasten the thread to the right-hand side of the work. First row — Make long loops across, fastening to the braid with two close or buttonhole stitches at iutervals of about a quarter of an inch apart. Second row — Work twelve buttonhole stitches into each loop and one into the fastening. Third row — The same as first, being careful to work the two close stitches into the centre of each loop. To edge the butterfly, work all round the outline of it. Fasten the thread to the braid and work a buttonhole stitch, miss a small space, and leave about the same leugth of thread in the same place — about the eighth of an inch — and in some a quarter of an inch, according to the curve of it, but so that it will lie Hat; when this is done, work into each loop of thread three button- hole stitches, pass the thread round a strong pin while the next stitch is worked ; repeat the loop after every third stitch. This completes the butterfly. 'Point Lace Judging. The same stitches described for working the butterfly can be used to make the edging, of which the engraving gives the best suggestion to the worker. 56 ladies' guide to needlework. SPIDER'S WEB. Thf A few of the most desirable stitches are the Spider's Web Stitch, This is worked with a fine thread and requires a very sharp medic. Fasten a number of strands across — according to the space to be filled — six- teen or twenty; twist each strand bach as you make it; when you come to the last — twist back to the centre only— run the thread three «>r four times under and over the alternate strands, then twist once down the last strand, and carry the thread round, passing the needle through each .-Hand, and, if possible, splitting the thread; continue till the space is filled. "For all round spaces this stitch is the most desirable and effec- tive, but requires practice to make it perfectly even, and looks badly if irregular. Sorghese Toint Stitch. Borghese stitch is much used in the old Roman point, and the most effec- tive stitch known. The stitch is always worked from right to left, and is button- hole stitch, with a double twist, the thread being twisted back from the end of the row by passing the needle up between each stitch, and twice or three times in a space- according to the length. To avoid repetition, the twist back, from left to right, is to be done after every row, and will not be mentioned again, but will be understood, and in the description each row will begin from the right-hand side. First row : Work six stitches, miss the space of five; repeat. Second row : Work five stitches over the six, and six stitches into the space of the five. Third row : Miss five and work six stitches. Fourth row : Work six stitches into the loop, and five over the six; repeat. Another Borghese point is made thus : First row : Work two stitches, the same as in the preceding directions miss the space of two : repeat. Second row : Work two stitches into the space ; miss two, repeat, and so pro- ceed in alternate rows. "Point de I,ouvaine. Fasten strands across the work at dis- tances of rather more than quarter of an inch, as shown in the engraving ; then fasten a perpendicular strand ; twist down this to the first horizontal one, and work as follows : Make a stitch at second strand; bring the thread over first strand and make a stitch at third strand, then back to first strand ; repeat, keeping the threads that pass over first strand very even. Fie. 55. ladies' guide to needlework. 57 3)elecarlian Stitch is a grounding stitch, worked from right to left. Insert the needle in the braid, bring it down in a simple sewing stitch, leaving it a little loose; then pass the needle over the thread, going up to the braid ; under the thread, coming down. Draw tight when the row is finished. Twist the thread back, and proceed as b re, being careful to keep the squares as even as possible. 58 ladies' guide to needlework. The chart of stitches here given will aid iu the description of twelve more beau- tiful stitches for the production of modern Point lace, and should bo carefully studied before working. Toint de Colbert. _ This is a very beautiful stitch, and is suitable either as a grounding stitch or for tilling spaces large enough t<> show the beauty of the design. Fasten straight strands across each way, about a quarter of an inch apart; then fasten diagi ua' straude each way ; where they all join, run ii..- thread round twice, under and over the strands alternately J then worlc with a sort of back Btitch, passing the needle under two strands, then taking it over the last of theso two, under the same, and one beyond: re- peat. Work five or six rounds in "this way, according to the size you wish the star to be; make a little dot iu the centre of the scpiare by Fig. 57. running the thread round three times. ^Poi?it de Uruxclli ?s. This stitch is simply the ordinary buttonhole stitch, which is worked on the edge of the braid, but not so close to it that the work will be liable to fray. The stitches are not t<> be taken close together, but about fourteen to the inch. This stitch must be worked from left to right, and the thread must not be drawn tightly, but must form a small loop, as in the engraving. Generally the entire edge of the braid must be worked in Point de Bruxelles or Point de Veuise. jPohtt dc Yc?iise is a heavier and handsomer edging than the Point de Bruxelles. It looks better, therefore, than that stitch, for the outer edtre of collars, cuffs, and other articles. Work a stitch of Point de Bruxelles on the braid, and in the loop thus formed work four tight stitches, passing the needle under the loop and the thread which comes from the braid, and over the remaining part of the thread. 3)en telle de Bruxelles is made by filling up a given space of lines of Point de Bruxelles, working them alternately from left to right, and from right to left. In making Dentelle de Bruxelles and de Yenise the needle is put through the loop of the preceding line, to form the second and following lines ; and in working the last one, the needle must be caught in the braid after every stitch, to attach it properly. ^Dentelle de Yenise is formed by working a number of rows of Point de Venise, to fill up a leaf, flower or section of either. As this stitch must always be worked from left to right, it is imperative to either fasten off at the end of every line or slip the thread round to the place where the next line is to begin. In working alternate rows of Point de ladies' guide to needlework. 59 Bruxelles and Point de Venise, the Point de Veuise is worked from left to right, the other from right to left ; and the needle must he passed through the braid at the end of every row. A more simple edging than the Point de Venise, and more elaborate than Point de Bruxelles, is made by working one tight stitch iu every loop; it is called Petit Point de Venise. Twisted Thread. This is worked by taking a stitch across an open space, and then another back to the same place, twisting the second thread several times round the first. It is impossible to say how many times the twist should be made, as it depends wholly upoD the size of the space to be filled. If the open part be an inch in diameter, twist the thread seven or eight times, and in other spaces proportionately, more or less. Point d'Mencon is merely the old-fashioned herring-bone stitch, with a twist after it, formed by passing the needle under the thread of the last stitch before making another. It is used to connect lines of Point de Venise or Point de Bruxelles, or sometimes to join the edges of braid. 'Point d'&nffleterre. This stitch is chiefly used to fill up large spaces, such as the principal divisions of a rose, or other open part. It is made thus : Make a series of bars across the part to be filled up, at distances of about the eighth of an inch apart, making every separate line firm by taking one or two stitches in the braid to secure it. When all the bars are made iu one direction, cross them with others, at the same distance apart, taking care to slip the needle alternately under and over the threads so crossed. At every place where the bars cross each other a small spot is to be worked, by passing the thread five or six times round it, alternately over and under the bar. Twist the thread twice round the thread to bring your needle to the next cross, which you will work iu the same manner. Rosette of "Point d'cLngleterre is a single large spot, sometimes used to fill up a vacant space. The space is crossed with four or six twisted threads, the cotton being run through the braid from one point to another. The last single bar is only to be twisted to the centre, where they all meet. Work a stitch of Point de Bruxelles to connect them together, and work all round the centre by passing the needle round one thread aud under the second; round the second and under the third ; round the third and under the fourth, and so on. Work as many rounds as the size of the space may suggest, remembering it is not intended the rosette should fill up the space, in which it is merely to form a heavy spot. The last round must be worked only as far as the single thread, on which the thread must be twisted and fastened off. Ptars of Point de Yenise are merely bars of buttonhole stitch worked on two or three threads passed from one line of braid to another. Sometimes these bars are made to take the form of a cross; thus, having worked half the length of the bar in buttonhole stitch, make a bar at right angles with it, and work that down ; then another in the opposite direction, and finally finish the first bar. Sometimes these bars are edged with Point de Bruxelles or Petit Point de Venise. 60 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. Bars of 'Point d'jilencon. These bars are used to connect two lines of Point de Bruxelles or Point do Veuise. Begin by putting the needle through a stitch, bringing it out underneath it; then through one in the opposite line; back into the first Yenise or Bruxelles stitch, and again into the same opposite one. Do this three or tour times, missing one stitch, make another bar on the second, and so on. Then, ladies' guide to needlework. 61 To give these bars a good effect in some places, it is necessary to miss more stitches on one line than on the other. For instance, if a semi-circular space were to he so filled, two stitches at least should be missed in the larger half of the circle,, where one would be left iu the smaller, as the bars should radiate from a common centre. Edged Bars in 'Point de Yenise. , These are simply bars of Point de Venise, edged with Petit Point de Venise. They are frequently used for the centre fibres of leaves and other similar parts. Dotted Bars of Point de Yenise. Work the thread across the space from right to left, and on the bars thus formed make four or five stitches of Point de Bruxelles ; instead of drawing the last thread tiylit, make it long, by putting a needle in it to form a loop. Work three stitches in this, then more on the bar, and repeat. . The next bar may be passed through the points of the spots thus formed. Infant's Dress in Point Z,ace. WAIST, SLEEVES AND BAND. This pattern combines the two kinds of work ; the daisies which are grouped in the different parts being formed in tatting, while the rest of the work is done in the point-lace stitches. The daisies are somewhat small, and have only three picots each. Fourteen are required for the waist, and six for each sleeve. The number necessary for the insertion depends, of course, on its length ; they are alternated with the leaves. The leaves are worked round in Point de Venise, the inside and the rest of the braid in Point de Bruxelles. All the leaves in the waist are worked uniformly, with a bar of Point de Venise in the centre, the intermediate spaces being filled with Point d'Alencon. In the sleeves the leaves are filled with Point d'Angleterre, and in the band they are done alternately like those in the waist, and with Dentelle de Bruxelles. All the points are connected together throughout with Point d'Alencon. Two Handkerchief Corners. In working the handkerchief, Fig. 59, right pattern, three pieces- of braid w ill be required, as there are three distinct lines, which constantly cross each other. It is advisable not to begin putting on all the lines of braid in the same place, as the joins might then be more visible than they ought to be. The engraved patterns give only one quarter of each handkerchief, which must be braided, and completely worked ; the stitches at the back are then cut, the pattern re-arranged, the braiding continued, filled up, and again taken from the paper; the process being continued until the whole is completed. To keep the braid disentangled, each piece should be wound on a small card, and when the braiding for the quarter of the handkerchief is done, the cards should he put in a small silk bag, attached to the paper pattern. The outer edge is worked in Point de Venise, as are also the outer line of the heart in the centre of the side, and some parts of the corner. The rest of the braid is edged with Point de Bruxelles, excepting the wheels, which are left unedged. 62 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. The heart is filled up with Point d'Aogtorerre-, worked rather closely, and with small spots ; the outer part in the same stitch, but with larger spots, on lines placed at greater dfsfnnop*. to The wheels, of which there are three between the heart and the corner, that is, six on each side of the handkerchief, consist of three circles, one within the other. ladies' guide to needlework. 63 The largest is worked iu Dentelle de Bruxelles, and the second in Point d'Alen- •con ; in the centre of the third, or inner circle, is worked a rosette of Point d'Angle- terre on eight threads, which divide the circle into as many compartments ; every alternate compartment is then filled up with Point d'Angleterre. Some part of the corner is filled up with the same stitch, as is also the division where the initial is formed in hraid ; hut the greater part of the horder, near the inner edge, is worked iu Dentelle de Bruxelles. ZTandl*erc?iief, JVo. 2. This pattern, left hand in Fig. 59, like the preceding, contains three distinct lines of braiding, namely, oue which is to unite the horder to the cambric, and two for the pattern. These last cross each other continually, the line which forms the Vandyke of oue point makiug the centre of the next, and vice versa. The edge is worked iu Poiut de Venise, as is also that part of the braid nearest the inuer line ; the other side of all the braid of the Vandyke, as well as both sides of the circle, heing edged with Poiut de Bruxelles. In each circle is a rosette of Poiut d'Angleterre, worked not less thau eleven times round, and the space be- tween the circle and the point is filled up by radiating bars of Point d'Alencon. The corner is filled up with Point d'Angleterre, worked somewhat closely ; and a single spot of the same stitch fills up each of the small rouuds made iu the braid near the inuer line. One edge of the inner line of braid is worked in Poiut de Bruxelles, and this is •connected with the rest of the pattern by Point d'Alencon. This pattern, with a corner, is a handkerchief border; but it is also suitable as an edging to trim a dress, or anything else, for which you would use point lace. Not the least remarkable feature iu the tastes of the present day is the rage for ■old lace, which has revived after the lapse of mauy years, during which compara- tively paltry and inexpensive laces have been worn. There can be no question that the heavy and elaborate point lace is incomparably superior iu effect to the loom manufactures which for so many years superseded it, but its expense places it beyond the reach of the majority, and therefore the directions for making it have been given elaborately that the readers of this little book may possess the art of reproducing the beautiful fabric by their own skill. Even the most trifling articles iu point lace are at present luxuries which only the wealthy can possess,. For this there are two causes. It is true that point lace, being done entirely by hand, will always be more expensive, as well as more durable, than any machiue-made article can be, but the great scarcity of real point lace is the great cause of the extravagant price paid for it. In former times it was the employment of the inmates of religious houses, the monotony of whose existence was diversified by the production of those exquisite pieces of needlework now regarded as precious treasures by their possessors. Now young ladies do not require to be immured within convent walls whilst acquiring any beautiful art, but it is greatly to be desired that they should perfect them- selves in the delicate employment only suited to dainty fingers and requiring taste and exquisite neatness. No art can be easier to acquire than that of making point lace, and certainly no ornamental needlework can be more exquisitely beautiful wheu done. Another style of lace-work, differing from those already described, is made upon net or cambric, and was formerly classed under the head of Bobbinet. Iu this, as in everything else, fashion's caprices can never be depended upon, and it is dropped and revived like other faucy work. 64 ladies' guide to needlework. The material for the foundation of this work may he very sheer fine lawn, fine Brussels net, or Swiss lnusliu, very fine. The patterns generally are small and delicate, and the designs are governed by the article to be made. Every style of neck-wear can be made in this style of lace- work at comparatively trifling cost The pattern must he carefully drawn on paper and the lawn or muslin laid over it, and the design carefully marked witli a tine camel's hair hrush dipped in a mix- ture of thin mini water and indigo, unless it cau he stamped at a fancy store. which is always preferable. The pattern being drawn, the net is next carefully hasted upon the wrong side. Tho pattern must he then run on in tine embroidery cotton, and worked over in the same, the stitch being governed by the character ..f the pattern; edges being done iu buttonhole stitch. Leaves or (lowers in satin stitch, and stems in over stitch. When a good design has been Beleoted, and is well and neatly worked, this kind of lace has a very rich .tied. When the work is finished, the embroidered places most he carefully fastened in very close tine stitches at the edge, after which the lawn must he cut awav, leaving the net for a groundwork. Handkerchief squares must he made of tine linen lawn, buttonhole stitched mi the edge, and the corners worked as described, the net. after the lawn is cut away, being carefully fastened down along the edgeof the embroidery, on the wrong side. They can he stamped or marked in monogram <>r initial in one corner, the other three in a pretty pattern, and all embroidered in lace-work. Another kind of lace-work is done with cotton upon net alone, aud a coarser kind is often very effective in split Berlin wool upon colored net. It has the net worked over in spots, sprigs, or buttonhole stitch scollops or points, not taking the stitches too close. # , A very elegant scarf or necktie may be made in this kind of lace-work by work- ing black or white blonde in colored hoss silk. The pattern for the edges should benarrow and the ends deep. A thousand pretty things can be made in this work, rapidly done and inexpen- sive. Covers made" of white net aud cotton, with a simple pattern, put over soded pincushions or other articles of sUk or satin, will make them appear almost new a sain. CHAPTER VII. TATTI NG. If any old Point Lace is carefully examined, there will frequently be found attached to it an edging of loops, made in a kind of buttonhole stitch, sometimes ornamented with very tiny points, almost resembling those in pearl edging ; lines of the same material, similarly spotted, are used also to connect the more solid parts on the same work. These loops and lines, looking like buttonhole stitch, are made with a small instrument called a SHUTTLE, of which there is a representation in the engraving, and the art of making them is termed the art of tatting or frivolite. After dying out, as all fancy work will do at times, the art of tatting has been lately revived, and sonfe of the most beautiful work imaginable in this form was exhibited at the Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia. One piece of work, a bureau cover, in rosettes of tatting, in No. 200 spool-cotton, placed over rose-colored satin, to display its fineness, was universally taken for the finest thread lace, and was as delicate as a spider's web. It is a very strong and serviceable edge for underclothing of all kinds, for chil- dren's aprons and other garments requiring frequent washing, and can be made very rapidly and without any strain upon the eyesight. The implements required for tatting will be more readily understood by refer- ence to the engraving. Figure six is the shuttle, figure seven a pin attached by a chain to a ring. The pin is used in forming the pearling, or picot, as the French call it, and when pearled tatting is done, the ring must t>e slipped on the thumb of the left hand, and thus the pin will always be ready for use. The cotton used for tatting is soft, and not too closely twisted. Thread that is much twisted is very apt to I i:<> round the outer edge of the large loop, round which they arc afterwards to be sewed. An inch or two of cotton should he left, before the next large loop is made. This may be called the Hen a /id Chic kens ^Pattern. Fig. 5 is made partly in tatting and partly in one of the point lace stitches. The circle being made, and the small loops sewed securely t<> the edge, the centre is filled thus: draw three strands of thread across to meet in the centre of the space inside the circle. Fasten a thread securely to the centre, connecting the threads firmly, and work out on each line in Point de Yenise, passing the thread from the edge back to the centre for each one. In the middle, work the spot by passing the thread alternately under and over the bars in circles. The Weaver's A'/iot. Fig. 8 is used for securely fastening wool of cotton. There is a great variety of edging to be made by varying the loops, and wider handsome borders are made by making successions of stars, first three, then two and then one, forming a point, and carried along the edge of the article to be trimmed. A lambrequin of tatting in green Berlin wool, with this six- star point, every loop pearled in gold-colored saddler's silk, was one of the most beautiful specimens of tatting I have ever seen. It ornamented a round table covered with green cloth embroidered in gold color. This cover was tacked to the edge of the table, and the lambrequin of tatting sewed on the edge, making a very handsome article of furniture out of a table scratched to shabbiness on the top by constant use. Child's Stress. The following engraving gives the pattern for a child's dress trimming done in tatting and point lace stitches combined. It is worked upon a foundation of fine Swiss muslin, on which the pattern is traced in braid, the flowers and leaves worked in the stitches described in chapter on point lace, the muslin being left to connect them together. This style of work is done more rapidly than the point lace work proper, and has the advantage of being close, and therefore more suitable for children's wear. The muslin must not be cut away from the open parts until the whole is com- pletely finished ', and to prevent the muslin from tearing, the edges of point must be worked very close and firm. The engraving represents the waist-sleeve, insertion and edging for the dress. The insertion may be used either for the band, or as an ornamental finish to the LADIES GUIDE TO NEDELEWORK. hem and tucks of a little girl's dress, for which, purpose I should recommend its "being worked on the muslin, without the two straight lines of braid, which now form the border ; it will then have a less stiff and formal appearance than it has at present. As it requires very nearly the full breadth of mull-muslin to make the body of a child's dress sufficiently full, tear off a width, of a depth suited to the age of 70 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. the cliild, and having tacked the pattern in the centre work on it, leave the two- ends for the remainder of the hody. The pattern of the waist contains a complete centre-piece, unconnected with any other part ; the two lines which, form the top are done with another piece of hraid, and all the remaining parts of the pattern are traced in one continuous line. The middle group consists of a centre flower, with one on each side of it. The upper part of the former is filled with dentello do Bruxelles, all the other parts heing united by point d'Alencon. The upper part of the large flowers of the cen- tre has a bar of point de Venise, edged with point de Bruxelles in the middle, and is united on each side by Lars of point d'Alencon; point d'Angleterre fills up the middle, and radiating bars of point d'Alencon, the lower division of these flowers, ail the narrow points being connected by point d'Alencon. This stitch also unites the two straight lines at the top of the stomacher. The open space between the second and third lines is filled with diagonal bars of point d'Alencon, with one perpendicular in the centre. The remaining leaves and the roses are filled in dentelle de Bruxelles, and the lilies in radiating bars of point d'Alencon. The sleeve must be worked to correspond with the stomacher, and a glance at the engraving will at once show in what stitches the insertion is to be worked. The edging is of tatting. The loops, as you will perceive, are of unequal sizes, being alternately large and small. Blake a loop of 24 double stitches, draw it up, and then make one of 20, with a picot or pearl-stitch after every fifth but the last ; draw this loop up, and make one of 30, with picots as before, and then another of 20. These three picoted loops must be so drawn up that they will just go round the first. In the next set of loops, the first is to be made of 32 double stitches, with 3 picoted, all the same size, round. When they are sewed on, they must be placed close together. Case /'or Tatting Implements. This beautiful case is made of fine French kid, of any neutral tint, embroidered m tatting, in crochet-silk of bright colors, and lined with silk to match. Fig. 62. — open. ladies' guide to needlework. 71 Fig. 63. — CLOSED. JZnd for a JYecktie. To he made in tatting of fine cotton, and sewed neatly to a tie or bow of fine Brussels net Fig. 64. 72 ladies' guide to needlework. Wall 'Pincushion. This pincushion is made of colored satin, with broad ribbons to match. The tatting is in crochet-silk of a contrasting color. Fig. 65. CHAPTER VIII. KN ITTING. Knitting is an art of comparatively modern invention. The honor of origin is disputed, but it is generally attributed to the Spaniards or Italians, as they attained great proficiency in the art before it was known to any extent in other countries. The Scotch, however, lay claim also to the invention, but although now very expert kuitters, they have not succeeded in proving their claim. A knowledge of knitting has so many advantages that it is almost superfluous to enumerate them. Little girls can knit wash-rags, stockings for the baby, scarfs and other simple articles ; young ladies can knit so many beautiful pieces of fancy work that their mere names would fill a volume ; socks for papa, break- fast shawls for mamma, hoods for grandma, scarfs and pulse warmers for grandpa, clouds for each other, and a variety of ornamental and useful gifts for holiday times. The importance of knitting can hardly be over-estimated, as no machine work has yet reached the perfection of hand-knit articles. Knitting is really the em- ployment of the million, rich and poor, old and young, gentle and simple resorting to it for amusement or occupation. And for this there is excellent reason. The cheapness of materials required, the simplicity of the work, the scope it affords for the exercise of taste and ingenuity, and the very small amount of attention and application it requires, have placed the art within the reach of the most humble, and the power of the most stupid. And it is, a universal blessing when a species of employment of this kind is within the reach of all, for no one can calculate the amount of good which results when otherwise idle women find occupation for fingers and thought in employments that if not always profitable, are at least innocent and inexpensive. .Still there is much to be done before we can consider the art of knitting to have reached a state of perfection. Books of new designs have appeared by dozens, and many contain exquisitely beautiful patterns, but none of them have done much towards inducing the worker to attain perfection in the art which they profess to teach. Notwithstanding the instructions given, knitters, with very few exceptions, may be said to "amuse themselves sadly." Watch their serious faces, wrinkled foreheads, and round shoulders; listen to the impatient ejaculations which the slightest interruption elicits, and then tell me whether they have just claims to be considered adepts in the art practised with the most complete success by the blind. Assuredly, what woman has done, woman can do ; that they do 74 ladies' guide to needlework. not dd it arises from two causes — they have not considered its possibility, and, con- sequently, have not tried to do it ; and if they did try, th< and hree or three and three, according to the width the rih is required. / /a \ turn ^% / <\ v/ \ \ &. / f \ CD \ 00 M J '~~ J * V < [ x/ <\ - 7\ J" It ! m fiMis M > /■ ?t x x fa To PmW. — The right-hand needle is slipped in the loop in front of the left one, and the thread, after passing "between the two, is brought round it ; it is then ladies' guide to needlework. 77 worked as before. The thread is always brought forward before beginning a purled stitch, unless particular directions are given to the contrary. To Join a Round. — When three needles are used to make a round in knitting, cast one-third of the stitches on the first needle, and slip the second needle in the last stitch, cast on the second third, and do the same with the third needle. To Join Two Edges. — Divide all the stitches on two needles, hold both in the left hand, and knit with the right-hand needle from each alternately. To Knit Three StitcJies, to Make a Bib of the Centre One. — Slip two off the needle together, knit the third, and draw the two others over it. The accompanying plate will best explain the most important of the stitches just described : Fig. 1 shows the method of casting on with two needles, which is preferable to using one only, in many kinds of knitting. It has two advantages : it forms a looser stitch, and the stitch is also narrower. Fig. 2 shows the ordinary method of casting-on with one needle. Fig. 3 gives the position of the hands in plain knitting, as they appear to the person sitting opposite to the knitter. Fig. 4 shows the method of making two or more stitches. To make one, merely twist the thread once round the needle ; to make more than one, once round for each stitch. Fig. 5 shows the method of slipping a stitch that is not to be knit. Fig. 6 shows the method in which the right-hand needle is inserted in the loop for a purled stitch ; the thread being previously drawn forward. The thread is then put between the needles towards the front, and so drawn through, as in plain knitting ; should the next stitch be in plain knitting, pass the thread to the back again, before knitting it. Fig. 7 shows the position of three needles on which the stitches are cast when using four; knit two stitches from the third needle to the first to join the round before using the fourth one. Fig. 8 shows the method of joining two pieces of knitting at the edge, holding both needles in one hand and knitting of each at once to the third. Fig. 9 shows the method of casting off. When very long and elaborate pieces of knitting are described, thesa abbrevi- ations are generally used, but in short descriptions are not required, as they sometimes puzzle inexperienced knitters: M. — make stitches. P. — purl. K. — knit. K2 tog. — knit two together. To Knit Two Stitches Together. — This is done in two ways : First — Put the right-hand needle over two loops and knit them as one. Second — Slip one, knit one, pass slip stitch over the other. In diminishing a diamond, use the second mode for one side, and the first for the other, to give a uniform appearance. To Knit Three or More Together. — Always slip one, knit two (or more) and pass the slip stitch over. To Purl Two Together. — Knit two as one. To Purl Three or More Together. — Slip the first, and pass it over, as in knitting. ^Plain -Knitting can be used for an infinite variety of pretty work, suitable for children's occupa- tion, for aged people, and for twilight amusement. From coarse dishcloths, t > be knit in cotton, for kitchen use, to prettier, softei 78 ladies' guide to needlework. ones, for tlio toilet ; to scarfs, and other straight pieces, little fingers will pass deftly and rapidly to the fancy .stitches and more elaborate work. Fashion's caprices, while constantly suggesting new stitches, leave the old ones always in use. Stockings are knit to-day as our grandmothers knit them, scarfs as our grandfathers wore them in boyhood, while the baby's carriage-blankets and the various head-dresses for evening wrap, are constantly introducing new patterns. The fashion of covering babies' weo little feet with dainty blankets of finest "knitting, while they are taking an airing, has given patterns for many beautiful pieces of work, one of which will he introduced into this chapter. jl Gentleman '.v Sock. Three ounces <>f lamb's-wool vain arc required. The best sized needle is No. 1G— steel. The same pattern, upon very fine needles, in split Berlin wool, makes a very pretty short stocking for a little child just learning to walk. All stocking knitters require stretchers, which can be obtained at any large housekeeping store. These are wooden shapes of the foot, and come in all sizes. Stockings or socks, when finished, must be dampened and stretched upon them, and not removed until thoroughly dry and in perfect shape. Cast 28 stitches on the first needle, and 24 on each of the other two. 1st round. — Seam 2, knit 2, repeat; knit 30 rounds in this manner. 31st round. — Seam 1, knit the remainder plain, knit 85 more rounds the same as the last; then for the heel take 18 stitches on each side of the seam, and knit them in rows backwards and forwards, alternately plain and seamed — plain when the right side is towards you, and seamed when the wrong side. Knit SO rows in chis manner, then take 4 on each side the seam- stitch, and place the stitches on each side of these onto separate pins, the centre stitch to be knit and seamed alternately; and at the end of each row knit 2 stitches together from the sides, till there are 17 stitches on the centre pin ; then continue knitting those on the centre pin, and with the last stitch of each row take one stitch from the sides, and knit it together with the last as one; when all are knitted off, take up l8 stitches down each side of the heel, knit a plain round, next round decrease by knitting 2 stitches together on each side of the foot; repeat from * five times more,* knit 2 plain rounds in the next, decrease 1 stitch on each side of the foot, repeat from last * three times more, knit 64 plain rounds, divide the stitches for the toe. decrease on each side of 4 stitches on each side of the foot in every alternate round until only 20 stitches remain; place them on two needles, half on each, fold them together, and cast off. JCnit Opera Hood. Two contrasting colors in Berlin wool, single, are required. For a blonde, white and blue ; for a brunette, white and pink, or white and scarlet, would made pretty combinations. The needles should be of ivory, medium sized. Cast on eighty-two stitches wiih the colored wool, knit one and seam one, repeating until ten rows are knit. Join the white wool, and knit and seam in the same way, after knitting one row plain to conceal the joining. In this way knit alternate stripes, of ten rows each, of colored and white wool, until there are five rows of each knitted. Now carefully take the first stitch on your needle, drop the second, take the ladies' guide to needlework. 79 third, drop the fourth, and keep on alternating the stitches taken up and dropped, to the end of the row ; keep the first and last stitches on the needle. Knit the half you have kept, very loosely across, and then cast off. Then let the dropped stitches run down, and fasten them neatly. Gather the edge neatly with the ravelled stitches, and finish with a how of ribhon "behind. About one-third is sufficient fullness to fit easily upon the head. It may be lined with silk, and have hroad ribbon strings. Baby's Shoe. One ounce each of fine split Berlin wool, pink and white ; very fine steel needles. The whole shoe can he knit in white, if preferred, but the foot in col- ored wool is very pretty, and if done in single wool on one size larger needles, has the effect of a little slipper over a white sock, as shown in the illustration : Cast on thirty stitches with pink; knit twelve rows, increasing one stitch at +he beginning of every row ; knit twelve rows, increasing at one end only, for the toe ; take thirty stitches on another needle or a piece of thread, and with the remaining eighteen stitches knit thirty-six rows for the toe. Cast on thirty stitches to correspond with the thirty let off ; knit twelve rows, decreasing a stitch by knitting two together at the beginning of every alternate row at the toe end ; knit twelve more rows, decreasing a stitch at the beginning of every row ; thirty stitches will then remain. Take up eighteen stitches with white across -p'm 67 the instep on the right side, one between every rib or two rows, and an extra one at the beginning and end, quite at the corners, to prevent a little hole that sometimes shows there. The thirty stitches on each side must be taken up on separate needles. The taking up of the stitches across the instep will count as the first row. 2d voir. — Knit one, seam eighteen, take a stitch from the side needle, and knit it together with the last as one. 3d row. — Knit one, make one, knit one, make one, knit two together, knit one, knit two together ; repeat from first stitch ; at the end, knit the last stitch with one off the side needle together as one. 1th row. — Same as second. 5th row. — Knit one, make one, knit three, make one, slip one, knit two to- gether, pass the slipped stitch over ; repeat from first stitch ; knit the last stitch with one off the side needle. 6th row. — Same as second. 7th row. — Knit one, knit two together, knit one, knit two together, make one, knit one, make one ; repeat from first stitch ; knit the last stitch, with one off the side needle, together as one stitch. 8th row. — Same as second. 9th row. — Knit one, slip one, knit two together ; pass the slipped stitch over, make one, knit three, make one ; repeat from first stitch ; at the end, knit the last stitch with one off the side needle. 10th roic. — Same as second ; repeat from the third row twice. This will have taken thirteen stitches from each of the side needles, leaving seventeen on each, and twenty in the centre. Place them all on one needle, and, with the right side of the knitting towards you, knit the whole number of stitches, a plain row. 2d row. — Plain knitting. 80 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 3d row. — Cast on a stitch at each end, make one, knit two together; repeat. This is for a row of holes, to run a narrow ribbon in. Knit the same pattern for the leg as for the instep, beginning at the third row, one stitch to be knitted plain at the beginning and end of every row; repeat the pattern three times, or more if that does not make the leg long enough ; knit four plain rows, and cast off; take up tho stitches all round the 6hoe part on three needles, knit two plain rows, and cast off; this is tu make it neat where the colors join. Return to the leg, and work into tho row of casting off, with the wrong side toward you, a stitch of double crochet, make three chain, miss two loops; repeat. 2d roiv. — Work a stitch of double crochet into the three chain, make four chain; repeat. 3d row 1 . — Same as second, but five chain, instead of four. Sew the shoe up neatly, and run a ribbon through the' holes. The knitting must be put on a shape to stretch. An expert knitter can vary the above pattern in many ways, making the shoe into a boot by continuing the colored wool over the instep, and sewing on very tiny buttons, or knitting a band of colored wool, to fasten at the back and be car- ried across to button round the ankle. JCnittcd Cou?ilerpane. The next pattern will be a favorite with those housekeepers who delight in handsome bed-furnishing, as it is beautiful in design, and will outwear a dozen counterpanes bought in stores. Fig. 68. — KNITTED COUNTERPANE IN STRIPES, WITH BORDER AND FRINGE. Six pounds of No. 8 three-thread knitting- cotton, and ivory pins, No. 11, are required. For the stripes that form the centre, cast on 47 stitches. 1st row. — Knit 1, knit 2, seam 2, knit 2, seam 2, knit 7, seam 1, knit 13, seam 1, knit 7, seam 2, knit 2, seam 2, knit 2, knit 1. 2d roic. — Knit 1, seam 2, knit 2, seam 2, knit 2, seam 8, knit 1, seam 11, knit 1, seam 8, knit 2, seam 2, knit 2, seam 2, knit 1. LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 81 3d row. — Knit 1, seam 2, knit 2, seam 2, knit 2, knit 7, seam 1, knit 1, seam 1, knit 9, seam 1, knit 1, seam 1, knit 7, knit 2, seam 2, knit 2, seam 2, knit 1. 4th row. — Knit 1, knit 2, seam 2, knit 2, seam 2, seam 8, knit 1, seam 1, knit 1, seam 7, knit 1, seam 1, knit 1, seam 8, seam 2, knit 2, seam 2, knit 2, knit 1. The 9 stitches at the beginning and end of each row that form the border of the stripe must be repeated from the first row, and will not be mentioned again, only the star that forms the centre of the stripe. 5t\ row. — After the border stitches, knit 7, seam 1, knit 1, seam 1, knit 1, seam 1, knit 5, seam 1, knit 1, seam 1, knit 1, seam 1, knit 7. 6th row. — Seam 8, knit 1, ceam 1, knit 1, seam 1, knit 1, seam 3, knit 1, seam 1, knit 1, seam 1, knit 1, seam 8. 7th row. — Knit 7, seam 1, knit 1, seam 1, knit 1, seam 1, knit 1, seam 1, knit 1, seam 1, knit 1, seam 1, knit 1, seam 1, knit 1, seam 1, knit 7. 8th row. — Seam 8, knit 1, and seam 1 alternately till 14 are done, seam 7. 9th row. — Knit 1, seam 1, repeat. 10th row. — Seam 2, knit 1, and seam 1 alternately till 11 are done, seam 3, knit 1, and seam 1 alternately till 11 are done, seam 2. 11th row. — Knit 3, seam 1, and knit 1 alternately till 9 are done, knit 5, seam 1, and knit 1 alternately till 9 are done, knit 3. 12th row. — Seam 4, knit 1, and seam 1 alternately till 7 are done, seam 7, knit 1 , and seam 1 alternately till 7 are done, seam 4. 13th row. — Knit 5, seam 1, and knit one alternately till 5 are done, knit 9, seam 1, and knit 1 alternately till 5 are done, knit 5. 14th row. — Seam 6, knit 1, seam 1, knit 1, seam 11, knit 1, seam 1, knit 1, seam 6. loth row. — Knit 7, seam 1, knit 13, seam 1, knit 7. 16th roic. — Seam all the stitches. This forms half the pattern ; reverse for the other half, taking the 15th row next, and then the 14th, and so on, till the star is completed. Knit a plain row and a seamed row alternately till 8 are done, still continuing the border on each side; then repeat from the beginning until the stripe is the required length. The stripes can either be sewed or crocheted together. For the border, cast on 40 stitches, knit 2 plain stitches at the beginning and end of every row. These will not be men- tioned again. 1st row. — Knit 8, seam 1; repeat. Fi#. 69. — fringe foe COUNTERPANE. 2d row. — Knit 2, seam 7 ; re- peat. 'id row. — Knit 6, seam 3 ; repeat. 4th row. — Knit 4, seam 5 ; repeat. 5th row. — Knit 4, seam 5 ; repeat. 6 82 ladies' guide to needlework. 6th roto. — Knit 6, seam 3 ; repeat. 7th row. — Knit 2, 6eam 7 ; repeat. 8th row. — Knit 8, seam 1 ; repeat. Repeat from first row until the border is the length reouired; it can either be united at the corners or joined straight. For the fringe, cast on 9 stitches. 1st row. — Make 1, knit 2 together, knit lj repeat. Make 1, knit 2 together; insert the point of the needle in the last stitch, as if to knit it ; wind the cotton over the needle and first and second fingers of the left hand 5 times, t lie Gth time over the needle only; draw all these loops through the last stitch. 2d row. — Knit all these loops together as one stitch, put the stitch back on the left-hand needle, and seam it very tightly; make 1, seam 2 together, seam 1 make 1, seam 2 together, repeat from third stitch, once. 3d row. — Make 1, knit 2 together, knit 1 ; repeat twice. 4th row. — Seam 1, make 1, seam 2 together; repeat twice. Itepcat rrom first row, until enough is done to go round the counterpane. The pattern for the centre can be knit in squares, if preferred to stripes; in that case, 8 rows the same as the side border must be knitted first, and 8 rows, alternately plain and seamed, with the exception of the border, before beginning the star. Knitted Cloud or Cache-JVez. Four ounces of Shetland wool and ivory pins, No. 5. Cast on 334 stitches. 1st row. — Plain knitting. 2d row. — Knit 2, * insert the right-hand needle between the 3d and 4th from the point of left-hand needle, draw the wool through and pass the stitch on to the left-hand needle, repeat from * twice more, knit 2 together 3 times ; repeat from first, * at the end knit 2. 3d, 4th, and 5th rows. — Plain knitting. Repeat from 2d row till the knitting is half a yard wide, cast off, tnen work the following border in crochet down both sides, but not at the ends. 1st row. — VVork 3 long stitches into 1 loop of the casting off, make 1 chain, miss 3 loops ; repeat. 2d row. — Work 1 long stitch into the 1 chain-stitch in the last row, make 3 chain and repeat. 3d row. — Work 3 long stitches into the centre one of the 3 chain in last row, make 1 chain, miss 3 loops, and repeat. 4th row. — Work one long stitch into every loop. 5th row. — Work 7 stitches of double crochet into successive loops, make 9 chain, miss 6 loops, and repeat. 6th row. — Work 5 stitches of double crochet into successive loops, beginning on the 2d of the 7 in last row, make 9 chain in last row, make 7 chain, and re- peat. 7th row. — Work 3 stitches of double crochet into successive loops, beginning on the 2d of the 5 in last row, make 7 chain, work 3 long stitches into succes- sive loops, beginning on the chain before the 1 long stitch in last row, make 7 chain, and repeat. 8th rotv. — Work 1 stitch of double crochet over the centre one of the 3 in last row, make 5 chain, work 1 long stitch into the 7 chain-stitches in last row, make 5 chain, work 1 long stitch into the centre one of the 3 long stitches in last row,. ladies' guide to needlewokk. 83 make 5 chain, work 1 long stitch into the 7 chain-stitches, make 5 chain, and re- peat. 9th row. — Work 1 long stitch into the 5 chain-stitches, hefore the stitch of doable crochet in last row, work 1 long stitch into the 5 chain-stitches after the stitch of double crochet, make 4 chain, work 1 long stitch into the next 5 chain, 84 ladies' guide to needlework. make 5 chain, work 1 long stitch into the next 5 chain, make 4 chain, and repeat; work the same down the other side, then draw up tlio ends, and add a long, heavy tassel, mado of the wool, at each end. These clouds are very popular both for evening and sea-side wear, and are universally becoming. Blanket for Infant's Carriage. The abbreviations will bo found explained in this chapter, and the pattern will bo found very beautiful. This stylo of work is usually termed knitted embroidery, and is popular for breakfast shawls, sacques and much ornamental work. Books containing patterns are sold at all fancy stores. The plate (Fig. 70) gives a section of the blanket, sufficiently large to dis- tinguish its component parts. It consists of a centre, surrounded by an open border ; then a border of forget- me-nots, with rose-bud sprays as corner pieces, a narrow and a wider open border, and a Vandyke edge. The first part to bo done is the border of forget-me-nots, to secure tho whole of the pattern being perfect. Begin where the flower leans towards the right; thus each of tho four sides ic considered to begin at the left-hand corner. The materials are No. 14 ivory needles, and double Berlin wool, blue, yellow, green and white. Cast on CO stitches. Plain knitting with every alternate row purled. The same may be said of all knotted embroidery, the self-coloreu parts only, such as centres of scarfs, being knit in patterns. 1st row, 3 white, 1 green, 50 white. 2d, 51 w, 1 g, 3 w, 1 g, 4 w. 3d, 5 w, 1 g, 1 w, 4 g, 49 w. 4th, 48 w, 6 g, 6 w. 5th. 7 w, 6 g, 47 w. 6th, 40 w, 7 g, 7 w. 7th, 7 w, 7 g, 40 w. 8th, 25 w, 2 g, 18 w, 7 g, 8 w. 9th, 8 w, 7 g, 9 w, 10 g, 20 w. 10th, 27 w, 11 g, w, 7 g, 9 w. 11th, 9 w, 8 g, 4 w, 11 g, 28 w. 12th, 29 w, 11 g, 1 w, 2 g, 1 w, g, 10 w. 13th, (begin blue), H w, 5 g, 3 w, 11 g, 4 w, 1 blue, 25 w. Uth, 24 w, 3 b, 5 w, 7 g, 5 w, 4 g, 12 w. 15th, 13 w, 2 g, 7 w, 5 g, 5 w, 5 b, 23 w. 16th, 22 w, lb, 1 w, 3 b, 1 w, 1 b, 15 w, 2 g, 14 w. 17th, 10 w, 1 g, 13 w, 3 b, 1 w, 1 b, 1 w, 3 b, 21 w. 18th, (begin yellow), 20 w, 5 b, 1 yellow, 5 b, 10 w, 2 g, 17 w. l, (P) knit 2, p 8, (w) p 5. ll'/<, (W) k 4, (p) k 2 together, m 1, k 1, k 2 tog., m 1, k 1, m 1, k 2 tog., k 1, m 1, k 2. 12^*, (P) k 2, p 10, (w) p 4. 13th, (W) k 3, (p) 2 together, in 1, k 1, k 2 tog., m 1. k 3, m 1, k 2 tog., k 1, m 1, k 2. l\th, (P) k 2, p 12, (w) p 3. 88 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWOKK. 15th, (W) k 2, (p) k 2 together, m 1, k 1, k 2 tog., m 1, k 2, x m 1, k 2 tog. r k 1, x twice, m 1, k 2. 16*/*, (P) k 2, p 14, (w) p 2. 17th, (W) k 1, (p) k 2 tog., k 1, m 1, k 2 tog., k 1, in 1, k 2 tog., k 2 tog., k 1, x in 1, k 2 tog., k 1, x repeat. 18th, (P) k 2, p 12, (w) p 2. 19th, (W) k 3, (p) k 1, m 1, k 2 tog., k 1, m 1, k 3 tog., x m 1, k 2 tog., k l r x twice. 20th, (P) k 2, p 10, (w) p 3. 21s*, (W) k 4, (p) k 1, m 1, k 2 tog., k 2 tog., x m 1, k 2 tog., k 1, x twice. 22d, (P) k 2, p 8, (w) p 4. 23d, (W) k 5, (p) k 1, in 1, k 2 tog., k 1, k 2 tog., m 1, k 2 tog., k 1. 24*/*, (P) k 2, p 6, (w) p 5. 25th, (W) k 6, (p) k 1, m 1, k 3 tog., m 1, k 2 tog., k 1. 26*/*, (P) k 2, ]> 4, (w) p 6. 27th, (W) k 7, (p) k 2 to^., in 1, k 2 tog., k 1. 28th, (P) k 2, p 2, (w) P 7. 29*/*, All white. K 7, k 2 tog., twice. 30*/*, Purled. Cut off the pink wool, leaving about three inches, and repeat the white Van- dyke, then the pink, and so on, until sufficient is done to go round the blanket, slightly full. Terminate with pink Vandyke. 12 order /or a A'/iit Sacque or '/Jreak/'ast Shawl. Three colors are required for the pattern of this border, besides the ground- work, which should be that of the body of the sacque. They are a rich bright green, olive green, and brilliant scarlet ; or, by way of variety, the scarlet may be exchanged for blue. Pig. 71. As it is desirable that the running border should be much wider in the skirt than in the body, it is necessary to procure Shetland wools of exactly the same shades as the Berbn; and by knitting the pieces to trim the body with Shet- land wool and finer needles, and for the skirts with Berlin and coarse needles, you will produce the same trimmings of different widths. The pattern is as follows : ladies' guide to needlework. 89 (S), scarlet; (o g), olive green; (g), green; (b), brown, for the ground ; (or black if it is preferred). Cast on 40 stitches, with two needles. 1st row, 3 b, 12 g, 2 b, 5 g, 2 b, 2 o g, 1 b. 1 o g; 1 b, 4 s, 7 b. 2d, 6 b, 6 s, 3 o g, 2 b, 1 o g, 20 g, 2 b. 3d, 1 b, 21 g, 1 o g, 2 b, 2 o g. 1 b, 6 s, 6 b. 4tf*, 7 b, 4 s, 3 b, 1 o g, 1 b, 2 o g, 20 g, 2 b. 5th, 3 b, 12 g, 2 b, 5 g, 2 o g, 1 b, 1 o g, 4 b, 2 s, (break off the scarlet), 8 b. 6th, 14 b, 3 o g, 1 b, 5 g, 3 b, 10 g, 4 b. 7th, 6 b, 7 g, 3 b, 6 g, 2 b, 2 o g, 14 b. 8th, 14 b, 1 o g, 4 b, 6 g, 3b, 4 g. 8 b. 9th, 10 b, 1 g, 3 b, 7 g, 4 b, 1 o g, 14 b. 10th, 14 b, 2 o g, 4 b, 8 g, 12 b. 11th, 11 b, 9 g, 4 b, 1 o g, 15 b. 12th, 15 b, 1 o g, 5 b, 9 g 10 b. 13th, 9 b, 9 g, 6 b, 1 o g, 15 b. Uth, 15 b, 2 o g, 6 b, 7 g, 10 b. 15th, 11 b, 6g, 6 b, 1 og, 16 b. 16th, 16 b, 2 o g, 7 b, 3 g, 12 b. 17th, 13 b, 2 g, 6 b, 3 o g, 16 b. 18th, 13 b, 1 g, 3 b, 2 o g, 7 b, 1 g, 13 b. 19th, 20 b, 2 o g, 3 b, 2 g, 13 b. 20th, 12 b, 3 g, 4 b, 2 o g, 10 b, 2 s, 7 b. 21s*, 6 b, 4 s, 7 b, 3 o g, 3 b, 6 g, 11 b. 22d, 11 b, 6 g, 3 b, 3 o g, 6 b, 6 s, 5 b. 23d, 5 b, 6 s, 6 b, 2 o g, 3 b, 8 g, 10 b. 24th, 10 b, 9 g, 3 b, 2 o g, 6 b, 4 s, 6 b. 25th, 7 b, 2 s, 7 b, 1 o g, 3 b, 9 g, 11 b. 26th, 12 b, 8 g, 3 b, 1 o g, 6 b, 1 o g, 4 b, 2 s, 3 b. 27th, 2 b, 4 s, 3 b, 1 o g, 5 b, 2 o g, 2 b. 7 g, 3 b, 1 g, 10 b. 28th, 8 b, 4 g, 3 b, 6 g, 3 b, 1 o g, 4 b, 1 o g, 2 b, 1 o g, 6 s, 1 b. 29th, 1 b, 6 s, 1 b, 2 o g, 1 b, 1 o g, 3 b, 1 o g, 3 b, 5 g, 3 b, 7 g, 6 b. 30th, 4 b, 10 g, 3 b, 5 g, 2 b, 1 o g, 2 b, 2 o g, 1 b, 1 o g, 3 b, 4 s, 2 b. 31a*, 3 b, 2 s, 2 b, 2 s, 3 b, 1 o g, 1 b, 2 o g, 2 b, 5 g, 2 b, 12 g, 3 b. 32d, 2 b, 21 g, 2 b, 3 o g, 2 b, 4 s, 6 b. 33d, 5 b, 6 s, 2 b, 2 o g, 2 b, 22 g, 1 b. 34th, 2 b, 21 g, 2 b, 1 o g, 3 b, 6 s, 5 b. 35th, 6 b, 4 s, 4 b, 1 o g, 1 b, 1 o g, 6 g, 2 b, 12 g, 3 b. 36<7i, 4 b, 10 g, 3 b, 5 g, 1 b, 3 o g, 5 b, 2 s, 7 b. 37^, 14 b, 2 o g, 2 b, 6 g, 3 b, 7 g, 6 b. 38th, 8 b, 4 g, 3 b, 6 g, 4 b, 1 g, 14 b. 39^, 14 b, 1 o g, 4 b, 7 g, 3 b, 1 g, 10 b. 40th, 12 b, 8 g, 4 b, 2 o g, 14 b. 41st, 15 b, 1 o g, 4 b, 8 g, 12 b. 42tf, 11 b, 8 g, 5 b, 1 o g, 15 b. 43d, 15 b, 1 o g, 6 b, 8 g, 10 b. Uth, 10 b, 7 g, 6 b, 2 o g, 15 b. 45th, 16 b, 1 o g, 6 b, 6 g, 11 b. 46^, 12 b, 3 g, 7 b, 2 o g, 4 b, 1 g, 11 b. 47th, 11 b, 2 g, 3 b, 3 o g, 6 b, 2 g, 13 b. 48th, 13 b, 1 g, 7 b, 2 o g, 4 b, 3 g, 10 b. 90 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 49th, 9 b. 6 g, 3 b, 2 o g, 20 b. 50///, 9 b, 2 scarlet, 8 b, 2 o g, 4 b, 7 g, 8 b. 51,s/, 8 b, 9 g. 2 b, 2 o g, 7 b, 4 s, 8 b. 52(L 7 I., 6 b, 5 b, 2 o g. 3 b, 8 g, 9 b. 5;}//, 10 b ; 8 g, 3 b, 1 o g, 5 b, 6 s, 7 b. 54///, 3 b, 2 s, 3 b, 4 s, 5 b, 2 o g, x! 1», 9 g, 10 b. 55th, 11 b, 9 g, 2 b, 1 o g, 6 b, 2 s, 3 b, 4 s, 2 b. 50///, 1 b. (i B, 2 1>, 1 o g, 6 b, 2 o g, 2 b, 7 g, 13 b. 57//;, 10 b, 1 g, 3 b, 7 g, 2 b, 1 o g, 5 b, 1 o g, 1 b, 2 o g, 6 s, 1 b. 58///, 2 b, 4 s, 3 b, 2 o g, 5 b, 1 o g, 2 b, 6 g, 3 b, 4 g, 8 b. 59///, 6 b, 7 g, 3 b, 5 g, 2 b, 2 o g, 3 b, 3 o g, 4 b, 2 8, 3 b. 60///, 7 1-, 2 b, X! b, 2 o g, 2 b, 1 o g. 3 b, 4 g, 3 b, 10 g, 4 b. The GOtb row completes one pattern. It will be necessary to knit the piece which is to be inserted in the skirt before knitting the skirt itself, in order that the patterns may join exactly. When you have knitted the 60th row of the last pattern, cast off with brown wool; break off the ends of the other colors, and fasten them off carefully with an embroidery needle. Take partic- ular caro in joining this pattern that the two ends shall correspond exactly. Fig. 72. — sofa cushion. The band is to be knitted in Shetland wool. Shaded green will look well for the leaves and stems, but I prefer the berries ■of one bright shade. To make up all articles in knitted embroidery, cut out the exact shape of every part in paper, and then knit the trimmings. Mark on the paper the space they occupy, and knit the remaining parts in a seef color, either in plain knitting or in any fancy stitch you prefer. Knit the waist and sleeves to the paper pat- tern, increasing or diminishing, as the size requires. It is impossible to give the number of stitches to be cast on in the different plain parts of this style of knitting. Necessarily this must depend upon the size of the article required, size of needles, and many other things. ladies' guide to nedelework. 91 Sofa Cushion in Knitted Embroidery. The groundwork of this cushion, Fig. 72, is of deep crimson, and the pattern in shaded brown Berlin wool. Lined with damask, and trimmed with silk cord and tassels. Satchel in Knitting and Embroidery. This satchel is made of dark cloth, embroidered in colors, and made up over leather. The top is of Berlin wool, knit in stripes, and finished with a steel clasp and leather handles. Fig. 73. CHAPTER IX. CROCHET WORK. Crochet work, a species of knitting originally practised by the peasants in Scot- land with a small hooked needle, called a shepherd's hook, has, aided by taste and fashion, obtained a popularity second to no other kind of fancy work. It derives its present name from the French ; the needle with which it is worked being by them, from its crooked shape, termed " crochet." This art has attained its highest degree of perfection in the elaborate and beautiful articles now made, as it is applied to almost every article that can be produced in knitting or embroidery. Shawls, table-covers, couvrepieds, pillows, ottomans, footstools, mats, slippers, purses, unlimited numbers of pretty articles are constantly made in this work. Silk, wool, cotton, chenille, and gold thread are all suitable materials for this description of work, but the purpose for which each article is intended must deter- mine the choice of material. Crochet has the recommendation of being a less intricate method of working than knitting, and one great advantage it possesses is that, if hastily laid aside the stitches do not slip as in knitting. It can be worked in thread as fine as a cobweb for imitation lace, in heaviest double wool for carriage rugs, or in strong twine for horse blankets, and between the lace and horse blanket the range of stitch and work is unlimited. Shawls, sleeves, comforters, mittens, gloves, etc., may be made, without diffi- culty, in crochet. It has not, however, been deemed necessary in the following pages to givo directions for any of these simple articles, as, when the crochet stitch is acquired, the modes of working such, and a variety of others, in daily use, will readily present themselves. As an example of the double appropriation, which almost all the following directions admit of, we may instance the bottom of a bag; this, if commenced with a chain of about fifty stitches (not joining the ends), and worked in coarse wool, with a large needle, in rows backwards and forwards, gradually increasing with a seam stitch, will form a warm and comfort- able round cape. A paper pattern, the size of any desired object, can easily be cut — and the making a stitch at the commencement, or the decreasing in the middle, or the end of a row, and vice versa, render this work subservient to almost any form. For large pieces of work, when wool is employed, that kind denominated fleecy, either English or German, is generally to be preferred. This material, of a six- ladies' guide to needlework. 93 thread size, with, an ivory needle, offers the easiest kind of work with which we are acquainted. It may be readily learned, and has, therefore, been much prac- tised, both by invalids, and by persons whose sight either needs relief, or has become impaired. All striped patterns, if desired, may be worked in narrow breadths, and joined in the dividing lines ; so that a table cover may be made in four or six lengths, and afterwards sewn together with wool, without the least detriment to its appearance. Crochet may be executed with coarse and fine che- nille, for pillows, bags, caps, and waistcoats ; with crochet silk, for caps, slippers, and bags ; with coarse netting silk, it forms strong purses, bags, and shippers ; and the most delicate work may be done with the finer silks. Gold and silver cord, and passing, may be intermixed with the chenilles and silks, or employed sepa- rately ; and gold and steel beads, first strung on the silk, may be worked in vari- ous patterns, so as to produce the most rich and beautiful effect. Crochet may be divided into plain single crochet, plain double crochet, plain stitch open crochet, and open crochet with one, two, three, or more stitches. These varieties will be described, as they occur, in the following directions for working. The mode of working the crochet stitch, although in itself most simple, is diffi- cult to describe in writing ; but, with the aid of the annexed engraving, which shows the position of the hands, and the manner in which the needle and the work should be held, we will endeavor to explain the elementary process. Having wound a skein of wool, make a loop at one end ; through this loop draw another S^&$$P loop, through this second loop another, and so z^*^^ — "V on, moderately tightening each, as it is drawn Mw^^^-'-^^^^^^^S. through, until a chain of sufficient length be / 'l^pv^^^^^^^^^^a made to serve as the foundation for the article m v ji^^^^Sij-A^ m intended to be worked. Pass the needle jr -^^^^^^^^^S '% through the last loop of this foundation, and /FV^^^v^^V5^^^L *• 4 catching the wool, draw it through, repeat- / \ ^^^^^^^^'i^X^^^^Ml ing the same at every successive loop; then, I ^^Sm^^^'^^L.'^^^W^ -"'"^k return along this row, and, in a similar man- ^ ^''"^'mW'^^^^v^^ '"' I) ner, form a second. A repetition of this pro- \\'tM\ n^'V-C^^"" cess, alternately backwards and forwards, \ ^ v ' ■ from right to left, and from left to right, will Fig 74. give the first and easiest lessons. The work will be the same on both sides, producing by turns one raised and one sunken row. Before proceeding further, however, it will be found useful to examine the plate and description of the usual stitches. The stitches used in crochet are, Chain-Stitch, Slip-stitch, Single Crochet, (3c), Double Crochet, Treble Crochet (Tc), Long Treble, (Long Tc). We also speak occasionally of working through a stitch. Chain-stitch is the foundation of all other crochet. A loop is made on the hook, and through this the thread is drawn. A second loop being thus made, the thread is drawn through it ; and so on, until the required number of chain- stitches is made. Observe that we never reckon the first loop in counting a chain. Slip-stitch. — A chain being made, the hook is inserted in the last stitch but one to that already on the needle, and the thread drawn through both together; then in the next stitch, and so on. In working back a chain in slip- stitch, you will always work one stitch less than the number of the chain, because the last of the chain is missed before the first slip is worked. This stitch adds 94 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWOKK. "but little to tho width of work, and is, therefore, very useful to strengthen the veins of leaves, and to bring the thread to some new point. Slip-stitch is also used in the Honiton lace, to finish off each leaf and flower hefore proceeding with the stem. The hook is put through the thickest part, close to the stem, ladies' guide to needlework. 95 and the thread drawn through it and the loop on the needle together, which renders it firm and neat. Single Crochet (Sc.) — In this the thread is drawn through the chain of the last row, and forms a second loop on the needle. Through the two loops the thread is drawn "by a single movement. Double Crochet (Dc.) — The thread is passed once over the needle, before the hook is inserted in the chain through which the thread is drawn ; there will thus he three loops on the needle. Draw the thread through two, which leaves one and the new loop. Draw the thread through these ; thus, hy the double movement, completing the stitch. Treble Crochet (Tc.) is worked precisely like Dc; but the thread being put twice over the needle, instead of once, the stitch is completed by drawing the thread three times through two loops. Long Treble Crochet (Long Tc.) — Like Tc, except that the thread is twisted three times round the needle, and drawn four successive times through two loops. "When directions are given to work a stitch through another, you must put the hook under both threads of the last row. A glance at the engraving will, how- ever, explain this stitch more clearly than any words I can use. To CLOSE A loop, pass the needle through the stitch directed, and draw the thread through that and the loop already on the needle ; as this takes up one stitch, one less than the number marked will be the actual size of every loop ; thus, a chain of sixteen for Open Leaf (see first sprig) leaves fifteen to be worked round. In working a flower or leaf, pass the thread under the stem, and keep the needle above it. for each new round. To fasten* off. — Cut off the thread about three inches from the work. Draw the end through the last stitch, and, with a common needle, run it up and down a few threads, invisibly, at the back. Do the same with the end left when the work was begun, and cut off close. The size of the crochet work depends entirely upon the style of working. One person does crochet work in a very tight stitch, others very loosely, and a few stitches had better be tried for every article before selecting the hook. Examine carefully the form of the needle, and try the hook to ascertain that it is perfectly smooth. Some are so sharp and rough as to tear any of the usual threads in use. Select those which are not of uniform thickness up to the hook. The best are those which are thinner there than an inch farther up. Where the needle is not proportionably fine near the hook, it is almost impossible to keep the work even. Chain-stitch ought to be done rather loosely, as working on it afterwards con- tracts it, and is apt to give it a puckered appearance. It is often advisable to use a needle one size larger for making the chain than for the rest of the work, especially iu edgings. It will be found much easier to work the succeeding rows when this precaution is taken. Crochet needles should be kept in a housewife similar to those used for ordinary needles. The slightest soil or rust should be effaced with fine sand- paper. A steel crochet needle is generally advisable ; with expert workers, it makes the most even stitches, but an ivory needle is easier to work with. The second sized netting silk is prettiest for purses. The coarsest, or crochet silk, is best adapted for bags, with steel or gold beads. Where many colors are required in a pattern, and the same do not very fre- 96 ladies" guide to needlework. quootly occur, it is advisable to introduce them in short lengths, instead of carry- ing on each thread. This should always be atteuded to when working with chenille. When beads are used, they should be strung on the silk with a needle. When beads are introduced, the wrong Bide of the work becomes the right. It is possible to crochet with the beads on the right side, but they never lay so firmly, nor indeed is it the proper way of using them. The average number of stitches for the length of a purse, in tine silk, is on© hundred and sixty. In coarse silk, one hundred and ten. From ninety to one hundred stitches form the circle of a purse in fine silk. One hundred and thirty stitches may bo taken fur the round of a bag, in cro- chet silk. A table-cover, in six-thread fleecy, is generally computed at about four hundred stitches iu length. Borders of flowers, aud very intricate patterns, may be worked in crochet, but it would be impossible to convey a complete idea of these even to the most experi- enced worker, unless accompanied with colored patterns, which the nature of our illustrations precludes us from offering. The expert needlewoman will soon per- ceive the best method of copying any pattern of this description she may desire. The terms chine and ombre arc frequently applied to the materials employed in crochet and knitting. Wool and silk are chine, when two, three, or more different colors ate introduced, at iutervals, on one thread, in the process of dying ; they are ombre, when one color only is similarly employed, but which gradually runs from the lightest to the darkest shade. N. B. In the directions for working the different patterns in crochet, it must bo borne in mind, that unless any other stitch be meutioued, the plain, or double crochet stitch is always to be employed. j1 Sofa 'Pillow, or Table-cover. This is given as the first and easiest pattern in crochet, for the purpose of teach- ing the stitch. A good sized ivory or steel crochet needle, with six-thread fleecy, will be required. Instead of working the rows backwards and forwards, as before described, begin each row separately at the same end. When the last stitch of each row is finished, draw the wool through, and cut it off, leaving an end of two or three inches. It is impossible to determine the exact number of stitches — that must depend on the article, aud its required size; but with this description of wool, half a yard in length will generally be fouudto number about sixty-five stitches, and a calculation may accordingly be made. 1st stripe — one row black ; one row white ; one row black. 2d stripe — one row dark scarlet; one bright scarlet; one light scarlet; reverse the same, to form a shaded stripe. 3d stripe — the same as the first. ith stripe — the same as the secoDd, bnt in shades of blue. These stripes are to be repeated alternately. Anot/ier y°ery JEJasy Pattern. The ground of this pattern is plain. The cheques are composed of chine wool, the first row differing in color from that of the second. The dividing line is in plain colors. This pattern may be worked in stripes of different colors, varying the color of ladies' guide to needlework. 97 the cheques agreeably to that of the ground. It is adapted for a pillow, or a variety of other articles, according to the material employed. ■■■■■■HHiuiiiiuiiilliiiiaiMniaBauiHi KMnaa aDaaaDnaDnnananBCDoaaaaaaapnocaaoaaanaanacaH ■■■cni«a^BBLJ3BiinaaHaDa«crHHcniBnDBBCDoa33E«anBBnnH IIIIHgialBIIKMIMIUIIIBKHHIIUimil ■■nn::D3D3Ha«oiir:acnnaBHMMi ._ _ janBBSEHnnnCECHHBHMaDDDCiai SBEcacccaa iiiccDnnniuBaEnuDQDnmiiiuDnaaiii — ^ccDaBBBBBcnnnnnBBHsaHnnnnnnBBBHBBnannnaii jcccBHBBBBncDcnoaHBSsaacnnnnnBHBBBiiaaQDcinB □ODCiHBcaBnnoDnnBBBHHBJDnnnaBBBBBiiaannncB D3crBBBBBB[-nrn3DBE=jiflBB3nnnnnBBBBBBD3anncBl — ■■BBnaBBBBBBBBBBBBBBaBBaaaBBI BaaBBBaaaai Fig. 76. Gentlemen 's Crochet Silk IPurse, IN POINTS OF CERISF AND BLACK. Three skeins of each color of middle-sized purse-silk, and " Penelope " crochet- needle, No. 4£, are required. These purses are coining very much into use, and most gentlemen like them very much. The manner in which they are worked makes one end of the purse one color, and the other another, the two colors meeting in the centre in points. The two colors are convenient for distinguishing at which end the gold or silver is placed. Make a chain of 112 stitches with black, draw the cerise silk through the black loop on the needle, aud make 17 chain with it. 1st row. — Turn, miss 4 loops of the chain, work a long stitch into the 5th, * make 1 chain, miss 1 loop, work a long stitch in the next, repeat from * five times, make 1 chain, miss 1 loop, take up the silk and insert the needle in the next, draw the silk through, then take up the black silk aud draw it through the 2 loops on the needle, and finish the stitch ; * make 1 chain, miss 1 loop, make a long stitch iutj the next ; repeat from * to the end of the row with black. 2d row. — Turn, make 4 chain, work 1 long stitch into the hole formed by the chaiu-stitch, make 1 chain, and repeat into every hole until within 8 holes of the cerise in last row, take the cerise silk and hold it along the top of the row, take up the black silk on the needle, draw it through the hole. Finish this stitch and the row with cerise. 3d row. — Turn, make 4 chain, work a long stitch into the first hole, make 1 chain and repeat, working 7 long stitches beyond the cerise in last row, and join- ing to the black as before in the 8th ; finish the row with black. Continue to work in this way, carrying the cerise 8 stitches farther on in each row until only 8 of black remain ; then decrease the cerise stitches, and increase the black in the same proportion. Repeat this until two perfect points of each are done. The purse will then be wide enough. It must be crocheted together, by working * a Btitch of double crochet into the first hole on each side together, make 1 chain, repeat from * till 20 holes are joined. For the mouth of the purse, work 2 stitches of double crochet into each of the next 23 holes on the side towards you ; work in the same way into the 23 corres- ponding holes on the other side, join the other end in the same way as the first, stretch it, and sew up the ends. Tassels made of the same silk are very pretty. 7 98 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. )'//■>' J^lr;/(/nt Crochet 'J y a 7Av // , IN CIRCLES, SUITABLE FOR LARGE COUVREPIED, QUILT, OR ANTIMACASSAR, OR A SINGLE CIRCLE FOR A d'OYLEY OR PINCUSHION. The object in designing this pattern is to introduce as many different stitches in crochet as can be placed in one pattern. Light quilts done in these sort of pat- terns are particularly fashionable just now; they are lined with silk or satin, ac- cording to the furniture of the room they arc intended for. For a quilt, six dozen of cotton. No. 12, aud "Penelope" crochet- needle, No. 5, are required. Fig. 77. 1st round. — Make a chain of 8 stitches and unite it. 2d round. — Work into the circle 16 stitches of double erochet. 3d round. — Work a stitch of double crochet over the 1st in last round, taking the front part of the loop, make 4 chain, miss 1 loop, and repeat; unite it to 1st of double crochet by a stitch of single crochet. 4th round. — Work into the back loops of 2d round, make 4 chain, work 1 long stitch into every loop, make 1 chain between each ; at the end unite by a stitch of single crochet to the 3d stitch of 4 chain. ladies' guide to needlework. 99 5th round. — Make a chain of 18 stitches, turn, and work into the 4th from the needle 1 long stitch, * make 1 chain, miss 1 loop, work a long stitch into the next, repeat from* three times ; make 1 chaiu, miss 1 loop and work a stitch of single crochet into the next. Work into the hole formed by the 1 chain just missed, 2 stitches of double crochet, work 2 stitches of double crochet into each hole, between the long stitches till you come to the 3 chain left at the top, work 5 stitches of double crochet into these and 2 into each hole down the other side of leaf. Work 3 stitches of double crochet into the hole of the bottom, into which 2 have been already worked, * make 4 chain, miss 1 loop, work a stitch of double crochet into the front loop of next, repeat from * all round the leaf; unite by a stitch of single crochet to 1st of double crochet, make 2 chain, work into the back part of loops of double crochet round the centre of leaf, 10 long stitches into successive loops, make 2 long stitches into each of the next 5 loops, and 1 into each of the next 10 loops, make 1 chain, and unite by a stitch of single crochet to the 1st of 2 chain; work a stitch of double crochet into the next loop, * make 5 chain, miss 1 loop, work a stitch of double crochet into the next, taking both front and back loops up, repeat from * 16 times, unite by a stitch of single crochet to 1st of double crochet, work 2 stitches of single crochet into the 1st 2 loops of 18 chain, made at the beginning of the leaf. This completes one leaf. Work 7 stitches of single crochet into successive loops, beginning in the same loop as last of single crochet in 4th round. Work 5 more leaves in the same manner. In working the last row of 2d leaf, unite it to the 1st in the 3d loop of 5 chaiu in the following manner : after making 2 chain, work a stitch of single crochet into the 3d chain of corresponding loop in 1st leaf, making 2 chain, and continue; join each leaf in the same way, and the 6th to the 5th and 1st. 6th round. — Work into the centre of 3d loop of 5 chain in first leaf, counting from the loop, next to that joined to second leaf, 9 extra-long stitches ; work a stitch of single crochet into the 1st extra long stitch, make 1 chain ; work in the same way into the corresponding loop of second leaf, make 6 chain ; work 1 long stitch into the centre loop of next 5 chain, make 5 chaiu, miss the next, and work a stitch of double crochet into the centre loop of next 5 chain ; make 5 chain, miss 1 loop of 5 chain ; work 1 long stitch into the centre loop of next, make 6 chain, and repeat from the beginning of the round; at the end unite by working a stitch of single crochet into the one that unites the 9 extra-long stitches. 7th round. — Work a stitch of double crochet into each loop except those of the extra-long stitches. 8th round. — Make 3 chain, work into the 1st loop 8 extra-long stitches ; unite to the 1st by a stitch of single crochet, make 3 chain ; work 13 stitches of single, crochet into successive loops, and repeat from the beginning of the round. 9th round. — Work a stitch of double crochet into the 1st of 3 chain, make 8 chain, miss 1 loop, work 1 long stitch into the next, make 5 chain, work 1 long stitch into the top of 1st extra-long stitch, make 5 chain, work a long 3titch into the stitch uniting the extra-long stitches ; make 5 chain : work another long stitch into the same place, make 5 chain, work 1 long stitch into the top of last extra-long stitch, make 5 chain, work a long stitch into the centre of same extra- long stitch, make 5 chain, work 1 long stitch into the same as the 8 extra-long stitches, miss 3 loops of last round, work 7 stitches of single crochet into suc- cessive loops, repeat from the beginning of the round, work 1 long stitch, and 5 chain instead of 8 chain. 100 ladies' guide to needlework, iOth round. — Work into tlio 1st loop of chain 3 stitches <>(' doable crochet, * work into the centre loop of next 5 chain 3 long stitches, make 5 chain, work a stitch of single crochet into tin' top of last long stitch, work 2 more long stitches into the same loop as the 3; repeat from * once, work I long Btitobea into the next, make 3 loops of 5 chain, working a stitch of single crochet into the top of the 4th long stitch after each ; work 3 more loiiL r Ptitches into tho same place na the 4, work 3 loops to correspond with them mi the other side of the point. In working the second point, unite it to the first in the centre of 1st loop of ."> chain. There will be 12 of these points ; the last must he united on both sides. This completes the circle. When the circles are all united, it will he found that some small pattern is wanted to till up the space; nothing can he better than the centre of this circle. Sprigs and Edging for Boniton Lace. Having referred in the chapter upon Lace Worlc to this chapter for the crochet sprigs to he used in making imitation Iloniton lace, a \\-\v are here given. When worked, they must lie carefully sewed to the net foundation with fine thread. The net or muslin must lie tacked to dark glazed paper cut in the re- quired shape, the sprigs or edging basted to the muslin, not throngh the paper; then removed from the paper and sewed to the muslin. Hon if on Sprigs. — . \ '<>. / . [Cotton, No, 50. — Needle No. 24, tor this and all succeeding Iloniton Lace.] This pattern (Fig. 78) is particularly suitable for a veil or fall. It forms the lower herder, and the upper part may he ornamented with any sprigs your lasto may suggest as suitable ; only the first row should not be very light or small. Each pattern is complete in itself, as it is engraved ; and when you wish to form many into the border of a veil or Bertha, lay them in their proper places; and unite them with your needle and thread where they happen to touch. The pear edging is sewed on when the article is finished. Begin with the upper of the two bars in the open work of the large leaf, where it is marked a, 45 Ch., miss 4, Dc. on 5th, + 3 Ch., miss 3, Dc. on 4th + 9 times; 3 Ch., slip 1, work up the other side of the 45 Ch., || 3 Ch., Dc. on centre cf the 3 missed iu the last row, || 8 times; 3 Ch., Sc. on 4th, slip 4, 7 Ch., now form the lowest row of open hem, Dc. on the last of the 4 slip, 3 Ch., miss 3, Dc. on 4th, © 8 times; 3 Ch., miss 3, Sc. on 4th, slip 4. This completes the open- work: work round in Dc, working two into everyone round the point. The edge is worked as follows : + 1 Sc, 1 Dc., 1 Tc, 2 long Tc, 1 Tc, 1 Dc, 1 Sc, 1 slip, + repeat all round the leaf, working two stitches into one at the point. Stem— 20 Ch. Star Flower. — 22 Ch., slip in 13th for loop, Sc. all round, |[ 8 Ch., 7 slip, Sc. all round, 1 slip on loop, || 5 times ; 12 Sc. on Ch. 12 Ch. for stem. Leaf, No. 1. —22 Ch., miss 3, Dc. on 4th, © 2 Ch., miss 2, Dc. on 3d, © twice, 2 Ch. I Sc 1 slip. Slip 1 round, slip on stem : for the loops, + 11 Ch., miss 2, Dc. through 3d, + 4 times, 11 Ch. slip, work round in Sc, missing every 12th. 8 Sc on stem. Repeat leaf, 12 Ch., for main stem. Leaf, No. 2.-26 Ch., 1 Dc on 23d, + 3 Ch., Tc. on 4th, + repeat, 3 Ch., Dc, in 4th, 3 Ch., Sc. in 4th, slip 1. Work up the other side (leaving 5 Ch. for LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 101 stein), 2 Ch., Dc. on 3d, || 3 Ch., Tc. on 4th, || 3 times, taking caro that the middle one of the three missed in the last row is now taken up ; 3 Ch. slip at the s E>int, and slip-stitch down the centre, © 1 Sc, 2 Dc, 2 Tc, 1 long Tc, 1 Tc, 1 c, 1 slip © repeat ; and again for the point working 2 in 1, repeat also twice 102 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. for the other side of the leaf, hut reversing the directions (1 slip, 1 Dc, etc.), 5 Sc- on stem. Or the leaf, No. 1, may he repeated. Repeat 1st leaf, with 12 Ch., instead of 8, for stem. Then opposite 2d leaf, + 18 Ch., slip 11 for small leaf, and work round in Sc, leaving 6 Ch. for stein. + Repeat this last leaf, forming part of the flower. 1 Ch., 11 slip, 5 Sc. 5 Ch., for the short bar to connect the two leaves, join to the corresponding side of the last leaf; work hack in Sc, 4 Sc. on leaf, 9 Ch. (for long bar), join to point of last leaf, work back in Sc. and down the other side of the leaf, 6 Sc. on Ch. Small leaf opposite 1st 6 Sc. on Ch., aud 6 on the main stem. Small open Leaf. — 16 Ch. join into a loop ; work round in Dc, except the first and last stitches, which must be Sc ; finish with slip-stitch. 12 Sc. on Ch. ; repeat star flower : 12 Sc. on Ch. ; repeat small open leaf, 14 Sc. on Ch. ; fasten off. JVo. 2. — Sprig. 22 Ch. (viz. 6 for main stem, 8 for flower stem, 8 for flower); work back on the last 8, 1 Sc, 1 Dc, 3 To., 1 Dc, 1 slip: 8 Ch. ; turn on the wrong side, aud do 9 Ch. ; join to the point of the leaf, and work hack in Sc., then on the 8, as before; and 8 Sc. on stein ; 8 Ch. for stem. Rose Leaf.— 26 Ch., 1 slip, + 2 Ch., Dc, on 3d, + twice, 13 Ch., slip 1, © 2 Ch., Dc. on 3d © twice, -" 8 Ch. slip 1, 2 Ch., Dc in 3d, 2 Ch., Dc. in 3d, -H- ■repeat, Dc. in 6th of 13 Ch., 2 Ch., Dc. in 3d, 2 Ch., Dc. in 3d, 8 Ch., slip 1, 2 Ch., Dc in 3d, 2 Ch., Dc. in 3d., Dc. in the 9th of the 16th ; 2 Ch. Sc. on 6th of Fig. 79. the 16. Slip-stitch on the 5th, leaving 4 for the stem ; five open veinings are thus formed, whieh are worked round as follows : 1st. Work up the side, to the poiut in Dc, working two stitches in one every other time. Down the other side work plainly in Dc, and join to the centre open hem, by taking a slip-stich through the centre of the five chain that are between the two fibres. 2d. Work as the first ; but, before twisting the thread round the needle for the first five stitches, pass the hook through the edge of each of the last five, thus con- necting them together. 3d. All round in Dc, working two stitches in one round the point. 4th. In Dc, working only one stitch in each on the first side, and two in every alternate of the second. 5th. As 4th, joining the first 5 stitches as 1 have already directed for the 2d. 4 Sc on the stem completes this beautiful leaf. ladies' guide to needlework. 103 Stem.— 10 Ch. Large Flower. — 15 Ch., work back, 1 slip, 1 Sc, 2 Dc. in one chain, 8 Tc, 1 Dc, 1 Sc, 1 slip; 1 Ch. Turn the work on the wrong side. 5 Ch. for bar, join to the eighth of opposite side ; turn on the right side ; slip on 5 Ch., 8 Ch. ; turn on the wrong side. 9 Ch., slip-stitch on the 3d of the 5, 9 Ch., join to puint of the opposite side, turn back. Sc. on the 18 Ch., missing tbe slip-stitch in the centre. Work down the 15 chain, as the first 15 were done; but to give the graceful form to tbe flower the 7th and 9th stitches must be contracted ; thus — (Work a Tc. stitch until you have only two loops on the needle, and, without finishing it, work the next stitch, drawing the cotton through three loops at once at last ; thus, whilst you have worked two stitches on the chain, you have worked but one edge. Work the remainder as usual, and finish with a slip-stitch.) 10 Sc. on Ch. Repeat rose leaf, 8 Sc. on Ch. Small Rose Leaf. — 16 Ch., slip 1, + 2 Ch., Dc on 3d, + twice, © 8 Ch. slip 1, 2 Ch., Dc. ou 3d, 2 Ch., Dc. on 3d, © repeat. Dc. in 9th of the 16. 2 Ch., miss 2. Sc. in 6th, slip in 5th, leaving 4 for the stem. Work round these veinings like the first, third, and fourth of the large leaf, and finish the sprig with 6 Sc on the stalk. JVo. 3. — Sprig. You will find, in working this sprig from the directions I am about to give, that you will make one exactly reversing the appearance presented in the engraving ; that is. the stem and flower will lean in the contrary direction, the long leaf will be on the lower, and the three small ones ou the upper, side. Of this 1 must en- deavor to give you an explanation. In order to preserve uniformity in many arti- cles, it is desirable to be able to reverse patterns ; as, for instance, in the opposite comers of collars and Berthas; and nothing can be more simple, when you are once taught how to do it. Having worked a sprig accordiug to the directions, lay it on a piece of colored paper, with the wrong side uppermost, and draw a pattern of it, marking the figures in their proper places. With the help of the written directions in forming the different leaves and flowers, you may reverse every pattern without trouble. To unake it, however, as intelligible as possible, I shall give you the directions for the reverse of this sprig, which I have selected for the experiment on account of its simplicity. The flower is worked the same in both patterns. 30 Ch., 24 Sc. on Ch., leaving 5 Ch. for the stem. On the other side of the chain work 4 Sc, 10 Dc, 7 Tc, 1 Dc, 1 Sc, 1 slip. Turn the work ou the wrong side, + 9 Ch., miss 4, Sc. through 5th, + 3 times, 7 Ch., miss 3, Sc. through 4th ; 5 Ch., slip-stitch through tbe 1st of the leaf. Turn the work on the right side, and work the five loops in Sc, working only the chain-stitches; then slip-stitch along the other edge of the leaf, which completes it. 24 Ch. for stern. Flower. — 28 Ch.; form into a loop and work round in Sc; 9 Ch., fasten with a slip-stitch in the centre of tbe circle (a), slip round to (&), 4 Ch., slip in 5th of 9, 4 Ch., join to the quarter of the round at (c), turn on the wrong side, and slip to stem, + 7 Ch., miss 3, Dc. through 4th, + 6 times ; 7 Ch., miss 3, slip through the stern, and work round in Sc, missing every Dc. stitch. - - -. on stem. <"lose Leaf. — 12 Ch., 11 slip, on each side of which work 1 Sc, 2 Dc, 5 Tc, •J !>'-. ) 8c, with 1 slip at the point. + 8 Sc. .,]) stern, leaf, + repeat, and work 5 Sc on the 5 chain to complete it. 104 ladies' guide to needlework. In reversing this pattern, make 5 Ch. for stom, then throo loaves with 8 Ch. after each, the flower, ami 24 Se. on the three-titnea-eigbt chain-stitches. A little thought will be required for the large leaf, which may be worked thus: Large leaf reversed, 25 Ch., 24 slip on ditto; on the upper edge work Se.; on the lower 1 slip, 1 So., 1 Dc, 7 Tc, 10 Do., 3 So., 1 slip. Turn the work on the wrong aide, 5 Oh., iniss 3, Sc. through 4th, 7 Ch., iniss 3, So. through 4th, 4- 9 Ch., miss 4, Sc. through 5th, + 3 times, taking the last, stitch through the point of tho leaf; turn on the right side, and work in Sc. A little practice will enable you to reverse your patterns without any difficulty. JVo. 4. — Sprig. This sprig is done in three pieces. The two heavy parts, which form nearly the entire edge [marked respectively tweuty and fourteen], are done first, and in working the flower they are to be fastened on in their proper places. I must therefore begin with directions for making these. 1st PlECE.— 20 Ch., miss 1, 1 Dc. and 1 Tc. in the 2d, 3 Tc. in 3d, 2 Tc. iu 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, Tc. the remainder, and draw the thread through tho last loop to fasten off. 2d Piece.— 34 Ch., miss 20, Tc. 2, then + 2 Tc. in 1 Ch. + 8 times. 3 Tc. iu 1, 1 Tc, 1 Dc. in 10 slip; on tho other side of the chain, G ,Ch., 1 Sc, 4 Dc. on chain, 2 Dc, 1 Sc, 2 slip on the 1st chain. 8 chain. 1 Sc, 6 Dc on cbaiu, 2 Dc, 1 Sc. on 1st Ch., slip-stitch to the end, fasten off. Large Flower (beginuiug with tho calyx). — 12 Ch., miss 5, Dc. on 6th, 2 Ch., Dc on 3d, 2 Ch., slip on 3d. Up one side of the calyx, J slip, 2 Sc, 4 Dc, 1 Sc, 1 slip. 30 Ch., join to the calyx, missing 1, and make the cross bars, thus : Bar 3 Ch., join with slip-stitch iu 3d to 30 Ch. 4 slip on 30, bar 7 Ch., join to last but 4 of 30. 4 slip up 30, bar 7 Ch., join at the 4th from the last bar. You have thus three bars iu one direction, which must be crossed by three bars in the contrary direction, catching up the first three where they happen to cross. Work round the 30 thus : 1 slip, 2 Sc, Dc. all the rest but three. 2 Sc, 1 slip. Turn on the wrong side. 16 Ch., miss 3, slip on 4th, + * 4 slip on last of chain, 16 Ch., miss 4, slip on 5th, + 5 times, 4 slip on the last chain, 12 Ch., miss 3, slip on calyx. Turn on the right side, and work two loops in Sc. 3d Loop. — 4 Sc, 2 Dc, 8 Ch. Small close leaf, as in Sprig 1st, but with 8 chain instead of 12. 8 chain for stem. 14 Ch., form into a loop, and work round to the centre, 1 slip, 1 Sc, 3 Dc, 1 Sc, 1 slip. Small close leaf, then the re- mainder of the loop, as befoi - e. 8 slip on chain. Small close leaf opposite the 1st; 8 slip on chain, then finish the loop of the flower with 3 Dc, 3 Sc. 4th Loop. — 3 Sc, 1 Dc, then with the next 3 Dc, join the short pieces of work first done, 2 Dc, 3 Sc. 5th. — 3 Sc, 3 Dc, join the second separate piece, taking care to place it in the proper position, with 3 Dc stitches, 3 Sc. 6th and 7th Loops. — Sc, then the side of the calyx. 1 slip, 1 Sc, 4 Dc, 2 Sc. 1 slip, which completes the flower. 16 Ch., work back. 1 Sc, + 2 Dc. in 1 chain, + 4 times, 1 Dc, 9 chain. 1 Sc. iu chain, 6 Dc. (contracting every alternate, as in Sprig 2), 1 Dc, 1 Tc in the next chain of the 16, 1 Dc. in next, 1 Sc. in next, 1 slip; slip back ou the last 3 stitches ; 6 Ch., work back, 1 slip, 1 Sc, 8 Dc, contracted, the last will come on the 16 chain, 2 Sc, 1 slip, leaving 2 chain for the stem. 8 chain. * In the engraving there are 20 chain marked, i. e. 4 slip on ohain and 16 separate. ladies' guide to needlework. 105 Shamrock. — 21 Ch., joiu in 7th for a loop, and slip back 4 on the last 4; 11 chain, join to the stitch which made the loop, slip back 4 as before ; 11 Ch.; join at the loop, aud work round the trefoil in Sc, 6 Sc. on stem. 14 Ch. for stem ; small close leaf, as in No. 1, 6 Ch. for stem. Double Leaf. — 14 Ch., miss 1, 1 Sc, 3 Dc, slip back on the last 3, and make 6 more chain ; altogether the 20 marked — woik 1 Sc, 4 Dc, 8 Tc, 2 Dc, 2 Sc, 2 slip. 6 Ch. for stem. Small close leaf of 8 Ch. Flower.— 21 Ch., miss 7, Long Tc. in 8th, + 2 Ch., Long Tc. in 3d, + twice; 2 Ch., Dc iu 3d, 2 Ch., slip iu 3d; work round in Sc. with a slip-stitch first aud last ; 17 Ch., Sc. in top Long Tc. bar ; 12 Ch., joiu with Sc. to the other end of the same Tc bar ; 17 Ch., join at the stem ; work two loops, aud 8 stitches of the 3d iu Sc, 8 Ch., 3 small close leaves of 10 chain each, 8 Sc on chain, and complete the loop. Small Close Leaf. — 10 Sc. on the main stem, and a small close leaf of 12 chain ; 10 Sc on the chain, and repeat the Shamrock ; Sc. on the stem, to the flower. Complicated as this may appear, it is really very easy to work, especially if you keep a drawing of it before you whilst doing so. You may easily do this by drawing it on tracing paper, and putting the figures in their proper places, and you will be astonished to find how much it assists you. This sprig forms a beau- tiful edging. With the aid of the two separate pieces it is an edging; without them a sprig, which will serve for any purpose. J&dging. One pattern of this edging consists of the flower which forms the border, with one large leaf and two small open ditto. Begin the stem at the point where it joins the large leaf of the preceding pattern, and make 18 chain, and 20 chain for the Small Open Leaf. — Form these 20 into a loop, and work round 1 Sc, 8 Dc, 3 Dc, in 10th chain ; 8 Dc, 1 Sc, 1 slip on the joining of the loop. 8 chain for the stem. Flower. — 20 chaiu for the centre loop, join, and work round in Sc. 5 chain; miss 3, Tc. in 4th ; + 5 chaiu, miss 2, Tc. on 3d + 4 times; 5 chain, miss 3, slip on the stein ; work round in Sc. Then the outer row of loops + 16 chain, miss 4, Sc through 5th + 6 times ; 16 chain, slip on the stem. Work round in Dc, 12 Sc. on chain. Large Leaf. — 18 chain, miss 5, Dc. on 6th; 2 chaiu, Tc. on 3d; 2 chain, Dc. on 3d ; 2 chain, Sc on 3d ; 2 chain, slip on 3d. Work each of the seven petals 1 Sc, 1 Dc, 2 Tc, 1 Dc, 1 slip, which 6 stitches must be worked into 4 chain at the sides, and round the point at the top, where 3 Tc. must be worked, instead of 2. 8 Sc. on chain. Small open leaf, as before. 6 Sc on chain. This completes one sprig, and a number laid together will form an edging. For making up any article with this edging, the flower is to be laid so as to fall beyond the net to which the inner line of the flower is to be attached ; and when the required number are laid in their proper positions and tacked on the net, con- nect them together by working all the scollops round in Sc This edging would look very well for a collar ; but in order to form the corners, you must .work two flowers, without any leaves, and with only short stems; put them in the proper places, aud arrange the sprigs on each side, so that the pattern 106 ladies' guide to needlework. may appear uniform. The corners of a veil must be managed in the same way, if bordered all round with this edging, but I think that either No. 1 or No. 4 lias a more elegant effect for the lower edge. Every article, when completed, must be trimmed with the best pearl edging, laid on underneath, so that the little points alone are visible. 'Raised Crochet. Raised or ribbed crochet is worked in rows from right to left, according to the ordinary method ; but the side of the work is reversed at every alternate row, as in plaiu crochet ; hence it becomes the same as that description of work, with this exception, that the back or under stitch is always to be taken ; it lias, therefore, a ribbed or raised appearance, and is rendered thicker aud closer, and of a more elastic texture. BIB«IIIIII»lll»liaillIII ■•■■^■■•■■■•■■■■■■■••■■■■■■■■■■■■BlIUlllHIH ■BJLGBBiaBiaBaGLcaaaaaaaBaaaaBaaaBaaBBDrinaUt.'i. ■■■■■■■■■ . nam 'inn ■uijL.aiiiiiiiuLcraiiiJuiiiMiiiMiiiuiij •lliiiiiiiil_cc[)imiitiiii»iii ■ Diar.iuiHiiauLr^nr.incaaLiiiiiiBiaiiiu^aiiiiniauiL.iiiiiiL^LL-iLLC.ruiiH' — Bi1CDBBU«BBBB»tJJL-BGQGDjaL:DBa»aai.BBBBBJJB TJB^LBB ■■•■■•) JlniJX'lUOIIII ^■MijjL»i»inniin[;QciLiD»i»»jj.]»^i»»» - :lihi»i::h:iuui :if)L-iai9 biHHiSL»niii»jr:iinDnirL:irn .:■ :i>imiiii:. jjiij^liuci^^iiiii KBaiBBBaaQCCDB'jnnanBnnBBGaGD^jBaBBBSBBBBaBBBBBBBBn'junBr.nGauBBcaB^B-iaDLiBaaa ■ UGBBBLlUBB«BOUDC3BBBaBa3GLnOGBBaaBBBBBBJJJlJBBBaLBBBBUaCl_tJBBBLlBt:LiaCLCCBaBB iDDCiaiiiiii33aiii3i3i3JJ3jojiM]iMja3njnni latniiL j„iu jaaauc ujnr gbbbb ■ QQUC«BB«BBBanajGZir:BBTGCBB3J-;BBBBBBJjaGGGTr.r!GHOB«»BBUJ-J-IJG:]BBBLaBMGCL.BBai: ■ UCBGUDCUBBBBUaGDJJJBJnBBnGJBBBaBBGGGBBBGGOBnUGCnBBaK |G[ ->l u f IJJUHMI BaBGnGaaQGBBBBBBa33GBBGBGCGGJBBBBBmGinGCBaBGCQGCGDBBBBBaBL'JGai!EBG[JGnGBBBB ■aiuiiiJCQiiigi]nJ3-jniioiiijjziiMi330J33ui3iH[juuiii»LLL3UL:iiciuLnaiii BBGBGGQGDBBBaaUJGGnaBBGBnnGGGCiaUBaBBBaDULIBBGBacnnnBBBBBGLCCGaBGaCCnGGGCaaB ■ L:J»uuui»aaii.-inn>BWKiuiacjLi[»Hi3Tjjunni?n»a-jnHHH[:LLi»i:LLiiuuunaii» BajUa*DUl.BBBUai!GGGDn3n3GaBBBBB«BGnG3GGrBBnnaBBnnCBBBBBBGGUGaGGCGGBBBBBBBB BBUGGGGCGBBBGBBJ.l-.- . T.~ ] ■ lCBBBBaDUGBBBGBna-mmrnBBBGBBBGGr]GGL.L.GBCBBBBBBB BBDLJCaGGaBBDGBBBBBaGGaGBBBCGaBBaGaGGnBBBGBnaGGGGGaBUGBaBBaBGnnGBBSUaBaaaB BBBCHiGannBBBBBDlBBBBBBBBBBBBJGJUBGGCGOBnCJlBHanrr .!■■■■ JBBBBBBBBBBaa»Dl)-n» BLIBOGaGDBBBBBaklBriaBBBBBBBBBCBBaBBllBCjaBBGGCBaGBnnBBBBBCGBUGBBBBBaBBBCBBBBB ■UBUaBBaBBBBJjaBBGBBBBBBBOGCBOaBBBGGBBGCGJBnrBBBBBBBOUCBBGBBBBBBBGaCBBnBl ■aiciaiiiiiiiiiiii^ai^ninniiaiiiiiicuHDciDccaDiiiaaaHHior.icnuniiGHiua BOCJOGBBBBBBBBBGiriCai ■DDOHiaiiilMiaai Fig. 80. The annexed design is well adapted for working in raised crochet. The color forming the pattern should only be introduced when necessary, and should not be carried on through the ground, as in plain double crochet; therefore, the same thread must be taken up and dropped, as the form of the pattern may rerpjire — a process by no means difficult. When necessary, however, the idle wool should be carried through the stitches of that in use, and not left loose at the back. The pattern here given is intended to be worked in stripes ; these are afterwards to be sewn together. It is very handsome for quilts, couvrepieds, &c. The colors may be varied, thus — first stripe, white, with the pattern in scarlet ; the second, scarlet, with the pattern in white. Shaded wools may be used for the pat- tern on a plain ground. Table- Cover in Raised Crochet. Commence with a chain of black. Work one row in two stitches of black and two of scarlet alternately. Then one row of scarlet and one row of black ; the latter forms the ground of the border — the pattern of which is in four shades of gold color, two rows of each, commencing with the darkest. One plain row of black and one of scarlet finish the border. Crochet one plain row of white, then one plain row of blue ; the latter forms the ground of the centre. The colors of the pine pattern are as follows : 1st row — middle scarlet. 2d row — light scarlet. 3d row— three stitches drab, two black, three drab. • 4th row — three stitches white, two black, three white. ladies' guide to needlework. 107 5th row — three stitches gold color, two lilac, three gold color. 6th row — three stitches yellow, two lilac, three yellow. 7th row — three stitches middle scarlet, two black, three middle scarlet. Blin •• ■■■•■■miHiHiniiiiaiH ■■■■BaaaBHBBBiccccaHHaHHBHMannnaHHHHMHa ■ ■■NiiiHiiii:rnci»ii»iiiKiiiiiDnaG«HMiiiiiiii ■BniHaiiiiscnCDaccciNllllllliinnnnnnnjiHiiiiiiiii BiaiBBBaBBBnrnncccDBBBBBaBBBoiBanornrncDBBBaaiBnnaBBBB BBBaBaaBBBBBcacc-cccflBBBaBBBaBBBannrancDBMBBiaBBaaaBB BBB«BlBBBBBBB.-^rrCCDna«BaBBBBBBBBnnnnannnilBBBiBBBBBB BBBiaiBaaBBia^rccanBBaaaaBBBBBBGCGnouurntaBBBaaBBBBB ■ ■»«B«BBBBBBC3J^U r -arBBBBBaBBBBaBacnanGanBBBBIBBBBBBBB "■BBBI ■■■■■■■CGC.IIIIHBBIBIBBIfarGnnillllBIRIBIIBI ibggggbbbi - ;. lannurBBBi ibobb iBBBBBaeaBBaBBeacDDraBBBBBBBBBaaBaBBGU^uaBa BaBCrDCBBBaaaaBBBaBBBaaOCGnBBBBaBBBBBBBBB9BDGan.>BB)B — BBBBBBBBBBlCCG-rnGnBBBBBBBBlBBBBnnnnaDQSBlB DannDGBBJB □oannnaBiB — aonannnai BB»BBBBBBBBaaannnna:iBBiB j»niii»HiiciuGaanrjai BBBBBBBBBBCCDDB9BIB BBBDflBSBD.inCaBBBBB BccBBGDaacraBGaaanDaancaarcBBGaaBDOBBGOBacnBaGGB iBBaaDBGaBBanijanLiB ■DnaDOCCioOBCGaaaacincnaBjcniacacBnoBnarGaoriBasanBGnB BDaBanaaBODBGncniaaBocnGBanBanaaBnaianQDBOnBnDDDBnaB ■□ciGiiiicricHBicniaBBflBDniGBBaaaaaaaBBBaaiDiBBinni GOQQnanrnaGoncacEDDDQDaaanGDannnnnDonncaDB . _ :ii3aiicciinGii:niicrii.iounGHGDiiaaainai ■BaaBBBBaaBBBiaBBBBBBaBBBaBBaBBBBBBBBBBaBBBBB Fig. 81. 8th rote — three stitches light scarlet, two black, three light scarlet. 9th row — drab. 10th row — white. ■■BBBBBOOBBGUIB IBBBBBBG Cn— O OBBI -^□ccnroBBua — DnCGBIBaBBaBBBBB3BajBMGBIDBaDB _'JanaaCBHI ■■■aBflBGflnaaGBGDBBCB □□aQOanBBBBBBBBBBBDBBJDaBSUD'JBSB ■ "□□□DBBBBHBaBBaBDUaaBBGGannBB CGG-lBBBBBBBBBBaBBBIBBauaanaBB IBaDGGGBIIBGLlDaaBfll BBaBBBBBBBUaaDGul -' HBBcaGBBnnaBacnacBBBBBBBHaHBnanancS □BOJcaacraBBaaBBBBBBBnuLiuBB — GGaasaoaaBBBBiBBiaBiBaBBaaaia .. .BnaaDGGnaBBBBBBaBBBBBBBBa — ^aj^GBaaDannnBBBBBBaBBaBBBBBaa BBUBaBBBaaaGGunaaaBGntiBBBaaaaBaaBBBi BBaB3aGnaaGDDnQnBB3aDBBBBBBBBBBBIBBBI_„ BG33DBBBBaa33anoBaaaGnBBBBBBBBaaBBaaa»aB BDaaanuGBaajDaaoBaaaciBBBaBBaBaBan "GG^GaaBBGCJCGDnnaflBBBBBaaaaaB^aBB iGGBGBJGUnGCGGBBBBBBBaaaBaBCIBBB „ 'UgBnagnDDDaaOBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB C-CBBnaBBaGLGGBBBBBBBBBBBBCOQGIBBI BCBBogaagnaBiaaBBaaoBBaaBBBBBBBflBBBBBaaasaGGB BPnacBBannGCBBBaaanGBBi : laaaGaaaal ^"^□DBGBGaOaGBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBajn_;nnB laaadannnanaBBBBBBBBBBBiaaaBaaanantiB BIBBBBBBUD3DCGan33nnrBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBaDnau2S BI.BBMBBBDCL.L. IGBG^GCGOBaaaBBBBBBaaaBBaBBnjnigSB niiaG3niHiniriim i ■■BBBUMBClHBflDfl ■ ■■IIBBIinnHUCBIIHIBIBBMBia "innannananBBGGannaacnaEniaaaaB oaanannaaBRnnnnnnaDmcaacinai ■MBBBBBBIBBgliBBBBBBBBB 82. — BORDER PATTERN FOR SQUARE. 108 ladies' GUIDE to needlework. Border Pattern for a Square in Raised Crochet. This pattern may be employed for a tidy, sofa pillow, mat, carpet, cradle or bed quilt, carriage wrapper, d'oyley, and a variety of other purposes where a border on each side may be required. It maj be worked either in plain douhle crochet or iii raised crochet. A different material, together with a different sized ueedle, are the only requisites to adapt it to auy of the above purposes. Thus, — For a sofa pillow, eight-thread zephyr fleecyj for a tidy, three-thread fleecy ; for a window-mat, eight-thread common fleecyj for a flower-mat, German or English wool; for a cradle-quilt, eight-thread zephyr fleecy ; for a bed-quilt, six- thread fleecy; for a d'oyley, rather fine knitting cottons. The size of tho article, however, must in the first instance be determined, aud the number of stitches counted, so as to bring in the pattern as suited to thatsize. The simplest coloring will be the most effective — a plaiu ground, with tho pattern in any bright color. Work-JJ(isAct in Crochet. Materials : cardboard ; colored silk ; gray and brown knitting cotton ; yellow floss; cord and tassels to match silk. Steel crochet hook. Make a chain of 116 stitches with gray cotton. 1st row. — Put the cotton over the hook, one single into the next stitch ; repeat, keeping all the stitches on the hook; coming back, pull through two loops to- gether. 2d row. — The same as first, working the single by taking np the two perpen- dicular loops of last row. 3d roiv. — The same as last. 4th row. — With brown cotton, work in treble crochet, taking up tho two per- pendicular loops of last row; coming back, draw through each loop. 5th rotv. — With gray cotton, put the hook through the centre of perpendicular loops of last row, draw up a loop ; repeat ; coming back, with brown, pull through each loop. 6th roiv. — The same as last ; coming back, draw through each loop with yellow floss. 7th row. — The same as fifth row, putting the cotton over the hook before work- ing each stitch ; coming back, pull through two loops together. 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, loth, 16th rows.— Like the first, with gray cotton. 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th roivs.— The same as 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th rows. 21st, 22d, 23d rotes. — The same as 1st, 2d, and 3d rows. The border edge is made as follows : Make a chain sufficiently long to go round the top, and lower edges of the work just finished. Work a row of treble crochet with the brown cotton; coming back, pull through each loop with yellow floss, on each side of this work with gray cot- ton; one double in the first, five treble in the next; take out the hook, put it through the top loop of first double, put it again through the loop from which it was withdrawn, one double in the next stitch of brown. Repeat on both sides for the length required. The handle is made in the same way as just described for the trimming, and is then twisted together (see No. 6). It is laid over a strip of cardboard covered with silk. LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 109 An oval piece of cardboard covered with silk forms the bottom of the basket. The sides as far as the crochet require a foundation of cardboard, lined with silk ; and a silk top with slide is sewn to the upper edge of the silk lining. Fig. 83. — WORK-BASKET IN CROCHET. CHAPTER X. NETTING. The age of netting is of great antiquity, haviug been practised from the earliest ages alike by the most refined and the most uncivilized nations. In the fourth chapter of St. Matthew, twenty-first verse, we read of our Saviour's disciples as " mending their nets;" it is, therefore, probable that the art has been known for at least two thousand years. The method of teaching it by explanation is not easy, nor would Dr. Johnson's definition of it induce many young ladies to learn netting. He describes it as " a complicated concatenation of rectangular angles." But I will endeavor to give a more simple explanation. The implements necessary for this branch of elegant needlework are a netting needle and a mesh. The material may be any strong thread, silk, cotton, linen, or wool. The variety of stitches is very great. To make the plain netting stitch, thread a netting needle, taking care to tie the end of the thread or silk firmly through the hole in it, to prevent its slipping ; then take a piece of string or ribbon, rather more than a yard and a half, join the ends and place it over the foot; tie the end of the thread to that part of the ribbon that reaches the hand ; take a round mesh ; pass the thread over the mesh, on to the second finger of left hand under the mesh in front of the ribbon, and hold it back with the thumb of the left hand ; insert the netting needle between the loop on second finger and under the string, catch back the thread with the little finger ; draw the needle through and let off the thread from the middle finger, and then off the little finger; draw the thread close up to the mesh ; this will make a knot. Eepeat this till about forty stitches are done, slip out the mesh, turn the row just done, and net in the same way, only putting the needle into the hole formed by each stitch, instead of under the string ; net a number of rows, until the netting looks quite even, that is, all the stitches of the same length and the knots exactly opposite to each other. Beginners are very apt to make long stitches, and it is very troublesome to un- pick them, but it must be done. Take a pointed needle and gradually loosen the knot; then pass the needle back through the loop; this will undo it. A whole piece of netting would be spoiled by one long stitch. Numbers of very pretty things can be made in netting, such as tidies, curtains, purses and other articles. ladies' guide to needlework. Ill Grecian Netting. This should be worked in fine silk, and with two meshes, one much larger than the other, as Nos. 7 and 14. One plain row is to be netted with the large mesh, the next row with the small one. The silk is twisted round the finger, as in plain netting, and the needle must pass through the finger loop into the first stitch, and then to the second. Then let the secoud be drawn through the first, and the first through the second, finishing the stitch by releasing the fingers and pulling the thread tight. The next stitch is a small loop, that appears to cross the stitches twisted together. This trio of stitches forms the pattern and is repeated alternately until the work is completed. Honeycomb Netting, for a ^Purse. The materials required are four skeins of medium-sized purse-silk, steel mesh, No. 16, and a steel netting-needle. Make a strong foundation of the plain netting- stitch first described, in an even number. 1st row. — Plain netting, passing the silk twice round the mesh. 2d roiv. — With the silk ouce round the mesh half twist the second stitch, and then net it; net the first stitch plain, next the fourth stitch the same as second, and the third stitch the same as first ; repeat in this manner to the end of the row. 3d row. — Plain netting, with the silk twice round the mesh. Ath row. — -Same as second ; repeat these alternately ; wheu a sufficient width is done for the purse, net together one-third of the length at each end, sew up the mouth, and put it on a stretcher. This will make the netting look more even. Crochet round the mouth of the purse, one stitch of double crochet into each loop. Spotted JVetting, for jpurses. Use the same needle and mesh as in the honey-comb netting. Make a founda- tion that will divide by seven. 1st and 2d rows. — Plain netting. 3d row. — Net 7 stitches, pass the silk round the mesh, and the needle through below the knot in the second row, but without netting it. This is between the stitch first netted and the one uext to be done. Repeat to the end of the row. \ih row. — Net six stitches; then the loop-stitch with the seventh; repeat. This spotting can be done in a variety of simple forms. It looks very pretty with one spot in the first place, as just described, then three spots, one beyond each side, then one in the middle of the three. To close a pursn in netting, after picking out the knots from the foundation, fasten the silk with a weaver's kuot to the end of the silk at the beginning, hold the two sides of the purse, net a stitch into the first loop of the side farthest from you, then a stitch into the first loop of the side nearest, and so on alternately until one-third of the length is closed ; then, without cutting off the silk, crochet into each loop of one-third, net the remainder together, and crochet the other side of the mouth. For a clasped purse, the netting must be narrowed by taking up two loops in every third row, till about one-fourth the width commenced, and widened in the same way returning, by doubling one loop on every third row. The two sides must then be closed by netting them together, and the ends sewed to the clasp. 112 ladies' guide to needlework. Diamond Netting. This kind of netting is at once simple and pretty. It is done by making every other stitch a loop-stitch, in order to effect which the silk innst be put twice round the mesh, instead of once, as in plain netting. Treble diamond netting is similar, but the process is rather more difficult. After netting three plain rows to commence the work, the first row is to be composed of one loop-stitch, and three plain stitches, until the row is finished ; then, in work- ing the second row, commence with the plain stitch, follow with a loop, take two plain stitches, and repeat as before. For the third row, begin with two plain stitches, make a loop, a plain stitch, two loops and a p'iaiu stitch alternating to the end of the row. For the fourth row, net three plain stitches, a loop-stitch, and repeat. Diamond Netted Curtain, witti Scalloped Border. Eight dozen reels of netting-cotton, No. 8, will be required, and two steel meshes, Nos. 8 and 11. The number of stitches for the foundation must be calculated according to the length required for the curtains. Net four rows plain, on mesh No. 8. 5th row. — On mesh No. 11, net one stitch ; net the second, passing the cotton round the mesh ; repeat. 6th row. — Plain netting, drawing up the short stitch half way, so as to make it even with the other. Repeat the fifth and sixth rows until twenty-four are done, then net four plain rows on the No. 8 mesh. 29th roiv.— Plain netting on mesh No. 8. 30th row. — Net fifteen stitches, pass the cotton twice round the mesh; repeat. 3lst row. — Net till you come to the loop-stitch, pass the needle under it, then net it, pass the cotton round the mesh, under the last netted stitch, and net the next. S2d row. — Net thirteen stitches, make a loop by passing the cotton twice round, net two stitches, make a loop, and repeat. 33d row. — Net thirteen, pass the needle under the loop, then net it? pass the cotton over the mesh, under the last loop, net two stitches, pass the cotton under the loop, net it, pass the cotton over the mesh, under the loop, net the next stitch, and repeat. 34th and 35th rows. — The same, making three loops instead of two. 35th row. — Same as 32d. Repeat from 29th row twice. The diamond of holes must be made to come in centre of plain stitches in 29th row. ladies' guide to needlewoek. 113 Repeat from 1st row uutil the curtain is wide enough. For the scalloped edging, make a foundation of a yard at a time, as it is easily joined, and a long foundation is trouhlesome for so few rows. Three different sized meshes will be required — an ivory one, three-quarters of an inch wide, and a steel mesh each of Nos. 13 and 17. 1st row. — On the wide mesh knit sixteen stitches into each loop. 2d row. — Net one plain stitch into each loop with mesh No. 13. 3c/ row. — With the smallest mesh pass the thread twice round the mesh, net two plain stitches in the next loop ; repeat to the end of the row. 4f/< row. — With mesh No. 13 net the long stitches only, leaving the increased stitches without netting; net two plain rows on No. 13 mesh ; this completes the scallop. In netting with beads, the beads must be fastened with the knot. Patterns can easily be made by following the plan of the knotting as if it were a square of canvas. String all the beads required upon the silk before commencing to net. A. J\"ovel JVet for t?ie JTair. The materials in this net would puzzle mauy of those who have admired its effect, being simply cucumber seeds mixed with beads. The one from which this description is taken was made of dark blue crochet silk, blue and gold beads, and cucumber seeds that were similar to carved wood iu appearance. But any color may be used to suit the wearer. In mauy dresses for fancy balls, tableaux, or private theatricals, a net over the hair is very effective, although they are now but little worn. Yet hair-nets, like many other fashions, appear and disappear, and are always likely to be worn, being becoming to most faces, and covering many deficiencies iu the quantity or arrangement of the hair. The beads used must match the seeds in size. Three strings of gold beads, ten of blue, and four ounces of cucumber seeds, are required. The beads must be threaded, with the thin end first pierced by the needle, which must pass through the inside of the seed to the thick end. Seleet a needle which will pass easily through the beads, and use either silk oi- lmen thread, as strong as the needle will hold. Silk to match the beads in color is the best. Make a knot in the silk, and thread on twenty-four seeds at the thin end, and as near the point as possible without splitting. Join these into a ring by tying the thread, and run your needle through the thick end of the first seed, ready to begin the second row. Be careful to use needlesful of thread about a yard long, and 1o fasten off only when you have to take a fresh one, as the thread passing from one point to the other of the seed is sufficiently invisible. 2d row. — The thread being run through the thick part of one of the twenty- four seeds, thread on two new seeds, then another of the twenty-four, then two more, and so on, making forty-eight seeds on the second row. Bring the thread through the thick part of one for the next row. This direction must be followed for the beginning of every new row. Sd row. — Two new seeds, then through one of the last row, three blue beads, and through another of the last row; repeat. The next eight rows may be done in the same way, putting two more blue beads on in each place every new row, bo that the fourth row will have five, the fifth row seven, the sixth row nine, and the eleventh nineteen beads on each division, while 8 114 ladies' guide to needlework. the seeds, being arranged with the thin points of two new seeds between the thick points of two of the last row, present the appearance of heads of corn. The twelfth row is to be worked like the preceding ; but thread on two seeds in the centre of each line of beads, of which you will add one only. You will thus have two lines of ten beads each, instead of a single line of twenty-one. Y3th row. — The thread being brought through the thick part of the seed, as usual, put on one bead, then the other seed, four beads, one gold, four blue, three seeds, four blue beads, one gold, four blue, and through the thick part of the next to the last row ; repeat. \Ath row. — Like the last, thread a blue bead between each two of the three seeds, and adding a blue bead on one side of the gold, if you find it is necessary to fit the head. In the next row you may increase on each side of the gold ; and so you may go on, gradually increasing the size by adding blue beads, until it is large enough for the head, which must, of course, principally depend upon whether it is designed to cover the bach hair only, or to come forward. By the exercise of a little ingenuity, tassels may be made to correspond, which, with the aid of hairpins, will keep the net in place. If ouly iuteuded to cover the coil at the back, an elastic baud may he ruu in. CHAPTER XL TRAN SFERRING. Transferring, a few years ago, applied only to one kind of work, that of taking the embroidery from old and wornout muslin or lace, and putting it on new material. But new transfer work has been introduced into the fancy stores, which will be described later in this chapter. The origiual transfer work will probably be done as long as muslin or lace em- broidery exists, as the fiue beautiful work done in France and Ireland will bear cutting agaiu aud again, never wearing out when the material upon which it is embroidered is long past service. To transfer embroidery, all the work had better not be cut at once, as the tiny sprigs, leaves or Mowers are apt to be lost if many are looseued from their foun- dation at ouce. The muslin or net upon which they are to be placed should be first cut into the shape required, and pinned with fine pins to a stiff paper. Theu the work should be cut out aud basted to the muslin, with one stitch only for each piece, the stitch not passing through the paper. When the pattern is com- pleted, very fine thread must be threaded in a fine cambric needle, and the work sewed down in firm, but close, fiue stitches on the wrong side, first removing the musliu from the paper. When this is done, the edges of the work must be fastened down with tiny invisible stitches on the right side. The muslin edge must be carefully cut away with fine embroidery scissors, after the embroidered edge is sewed down. No edge but buttonhole stitch will look well. When there are tendrils and fine lines in the transferred work, it is better to cut them off and embroider the spaces they were intended to fill, as they are so fine that the neatest sewing will not prevent their appearing clumsy. Large pieces of French embroidery or India muslin can be used again for smaller articles, such as haudkerchief corners or neckties, when utterly useless on the original foundation. Transfer work is extensively used for fine lace neckties and scarfs, exquisite little sprigs, leaves, flowers, stars and other designs being carefully and neatly sewed to the broad end of the lace, and giving it a beautiful finish. Japanese Transfer Work can be obtained in all the fancy stores, and is very popular for every kind of cloth embroidery, table-cloth bordering, corners, slippers, chair-covers, and lambrequins. 116 ladies' guide to needlework. It is always made in grotesque figures when any attempt at imitating animals or human figures is made, but some of the birds and flowers are very beautiful. It comes in colored and black clotb, ornamented with cmbmidc ry in viviil colors, and gummed down upon a thin paper. The work of transferring is very easy. The pattern is basted down upon the cloth to be ornamented, and then fastened to it with a long but close buttonhole or satin-stitch in Bilk, gold color being usually the most effective. The stitches arc taken through the paper to which the patterns are gummed, and loosen it so that it tears oil easily after the work is done. Slippers done in Japanese transfer work have largely superseded the old- fashioned ones in canvas work, and the taste inclines to the most grotesque designs, demons and distorted animals being in great demand. Another kind of transfer work, somewhat resembling cretonne work, consists of cutting the large groups of flowers or birds from the old-fashioned hrocaded silk, and transferring them to cloth, silk, or velvet, for such articles as would otherwise be embroidered. I have seen an apron of black silk with a border cut from an old-fashioned brocade, that appeared like the heaviest silk embroidery. The bro- cade was a rich wine color, and the pattern was sewed to the black silk by satin stitch of the exact shade in tiny, even Stitches. The same hands had made a portfolio on black velvet, with the figures cut limn variegated damask, every stitch of the transferring — close satin-stitch — matching exactly the edge of the damask. The designs, a wreath of flowers oh one side and a group on the other, were of great beauty, and appeared to be embroidered on the velvet. A pretty kind of transfer work, very saleable at a fancy fair, is made by par- chasing the bright-colored French and German ] ictures now so extensively sold, ami gumming them upon perforated card, to be made into fancy articles. When the card is lined, bound, and made up, these little bright-colored pictures are quite as effective as the work usually wrought upon this material, and the amount of time and labor bestowed is materially lessened. A pretty patchwork can be made in transfer work, by cutting out the bright- colored figures in calico anil sewing them down upon a white ground, or on plain cambric in any neutral lint. Small pieces left from larger work can be made available in this way, and are very effective. The figures must be carefully cut with very sharp scissors, care being taken to leave a narrow margin all round ; this margin must be turned down on the wrong side; the figure must then be basted upon the plain cambric and hemmed down. If the figures are all taken from one piece of goods, the effect is merely the same as if they were printed upon the plain material, but when they are varied in shape and color, a very odd and brilliant quilt can be made. A high-colored palm leaf in one block, a bird in a second, a group of flowers in a third, a star in a fourth, and so on, without any attempt at regularity, makes ihe prettiest combination, and the variety of color now procurable in plain French cambric will give great variety in the groundwork. As there is a great deal of work in this, it is best to procure the French calico, the colors being more brilliant and durable than in other manufactures. A work-basket has been shown me in this work that was very handsome. The groundwork was of soft grey French cambric, and upon each piece was sewed a pattern cut from French chintz, every piece having a different figure. The foun- dation of the basket was of stiff pasteboard. The bottom piece was a perfect octagon, and the sides matching each division of the octagon at the base, widened one-third at the top to make the basket. Each piece of pasteboard was covered with the chintz, and two pieces were sewed together at the edge to make the inside ladies' guide to nedelework. 117 and outside of the basket. All were then sewed together and tiny bows of scarlet ribbon put at the top of each seam. It was inexpensive, easily made, and very pretty, each design being distinct upon the soft groundwork. But few articles that have the wrong side exposed are pretty for transfer work. as it is scarcely possible to make the reverse side neat. Collars, caps, and any lined articles are more effective than handkerchiefs or curtains on this account. The last style of transfer work borders some what on the applique, and yet varies from that in the design, being always laid over the material, while in applique the upper material is as often the design stamped out. To do this work when the design is prepared and the section attached, is simply a matter of care and patience ; but if ladies wish to work profitably for fancy fairs or gift-making at a moderate price, they will do well to prepare their own work, and in no work can they make more saving than in transfer work. A bold design in illumination, the beautiful patterns constantly published in leading periodicals, and other patterns procurable at fancy stores, offer numerous designs for private use. Saving selected a design it is easy to procure scraps of colored cloth from a tailor's, and to cut out the forms to be placed upon the surface of the material for the article to be made. Dark or light drab, the shades of mode, gray, stone-color, invisible green and brown will any of them wear better than black or blue, and are quite as effective. But if the article contemplated is for a room, it is best to select the color best suited to the other furniture. Carefully mark the middle of the cloth, and make other marks at regular dis- tances, two, three, or four inches apart, according to the form of the design. Then attach the pieces of cloth cut with strong paste (starch is the cleanest kind of p iste). Cover with a clean linen cloth, and press with a moderately hot iron until perfectly dry. It must be pressed over a soft surface, face downward. Work round the design in buttonhole or satin stitch with split Berlin wool, the exact color of the groundwork, thus throwing the pattern into strong relief. A w o >1 just one shade darker than the groundwork gives the pattern a raised appear- that is very rich, but if this is attempted great care must be taken to have stitch perfectly even, or the work will have a jagged appearance that will ruin the effect. A very handsome piano cover, in this work, was made of soft drab lady's cloth, with a b irder of large ivy leaves in dark green, sewed down with split Berlin wool one shade darker than the drab groundwork. In each corner were three ivy leaves in a graceful group. In the centre was a wreath of the ivy leaves, and the whole was fiuUheJ by an embroidered monogram in green Berlin wool in the centre of the wreath. It was very handsome and every leaf was cut by the worker from the cloth, from sin exact pattern made from an actual leaf. Each leaf was veined by long stitches in Berlin wool, one shade darker than the green cloth. Another piece of work by the same hand, may be here described ; but will be almost too henvy and clumsy to tempt many imitators. It was made of a gentleman's shawl, .such as were worn years ago, and which had been long lying useless. It was a inixel gray, and was very heavy. Upon this ground was put a border of flowers cut from the centre of a drugget, the border of which was entirely faded and worn riiese flowers were arranged at regular intervals, grouped at the corners, and firmly pasted and pressed down. The edges were then worked over in coarse gray yarn, and tbe edge of the shawl bound with Turkey red carpet binding. From two useless articles a very handsome floor cloth was thus obtained to replace the 118 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLKWoKK. wornout drugget, and the worker was constantly asked by visitors where she had purchased that beautiful drugget. Very pretty white aprons are made of Swiss muslin with embroidery out from India muslin or wornout pieces of embroidered work, transferred neatly in the corners or on the border, and if neatly and Btrongly sewed they will wash as well and wear as long as if the embroidery was originally done on the muslin. It is also a beautiful finish for the Normandy caps of lace or muslin so much in fashion for little girls. Indeed, many of the costly imported ones, made of real lace, have the embroidery that finishes them transferred, and they are much easier to do up, as the embroi- dery can be ripped off and sewed on again when the lace is washed, in a straight piece, whereas the embroidery upon the lace holds it in folds or puckers, often ililli- cult to iron smoothly after the cap is wet. We have seen a very pretty cap in this style, where the transferred sprigs npou the lace were also used for the ends of the ribbon, trimming it with good effect. Medallions of lace with sprigs of embroidery transferred in the centre, make a beau- tiful finish for neckties, scarfs and bows of ribbon, and are very popular. But there is no branch of needlework where great neatness is more essential than in transferring, since any slovenly work will he so immediately apparent, both in the want of beauty in the article made and in its wear, Tig. 85. — HANDKERCHIEF CORNER. Handkerchief Come?* in Transfer Work. The work is in satin and spot stitch, carefully cut out and sewed down to a hand- kerchief corner, or upon the end of a necktie. LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 119 Tobacco-Sag in Japanese Transfer Work. The material is glove kid, and the pattern in the Japanese work already de- scribed in this chapter. Liue with oil-silk, and bind with kid of a color to match the pattern. Fig. 86. Border in Transfer Work. In cloth, with the pattern in a differen- color, worked on the edge in buttonhole stitch in two shades of crochet silk. The spots are embroidered in the same silk< Fig. 87. CHAPTER XII. PERFORATED CARD WORK. Never in the history of fancy work lias there heen a fashion more marked and popular than the present rage for every description of work uvon perforated card. The varieties of articles are constantly increasing, and for the time, at least, this material and work has largely superseded all others. The material is still' card, pierced with minute holes at regular intervals, some of it being fine enough to require the finest cambric needle for working, while others are coarse enough t>> require double Berlin wool or chenille to till the space. It can be obtained in large sheets or in cards cut for any purpose required, with ornamented borders. It is made in many colors, and in gold-faced and silver-faced sheets. The stitch for working is usually the cross-stitch of cauva3 work, but straight or diagonal lines are often used to fill up spaces where the cross-stitch would nar- row or widen the pattern too much. It is useful, for a great variety of fancy articles can be made to look as hand- some as canvas work, and has the advantage of keeping in place without a frame, being stiff enough to hold easily, and not in danger of stretching. In working, care must be taken that the needle, when threaded, does not stretch the hole in the card. Many wool needles that will slip very easily through un- threaded, will stretch the hole perceptibly -when carryiug the silk or wool required. Always test this before beginning any piece of work. The small-sized patterns may be worked in silk or in split Berlin wool, both of which come in shaded as well as solid colors for this special work. The coarser patterns can be worked in single or double Berlin wool or chenille. Both fine and coarse card can be worked in beads, as these come in many sizes. They should exactly fit the spaces between the holes, but if this can not be done, at is better to have them a little too small than too large. Gold, silver, steel and colored beads all look well. Crystal beads worked in very bright colored silk, with a grounding of silk one shade lighter, are very effective. All bead work ~upon perforated card is greatly improved if the remainder of the card is covered : by grounding, as in canvas work ; but when silk or wool are used, the grounding can be used or not, as desired. For any purpose wdiere canvas work requires to be strained over a flat, stiff ladies' guide to needlework. 121 surface, perforated cardboard can bo worked in perfect imitation, but must always be grounded. Any of the Berlin wool patterns can bo worked in perforated card, but the fancy stores are now amply supplied with card already marked for every use to which it can be put. Illuminated tests to bind and hang against the wall come already stamped in every size. Lettering fur these is usually worked in shaded silk or wool, but the texts are varied with pictures, flowers and other designs requiring some skill and taste to embroider in the appropriate colors. The u Old Oaken Bucket," em- broidered, as the writer has actually seen it, with a bright blue well and a purple bucket, was not effective, although the surrounding grass was very green, and the rope a fine shade of brown. Book-markers are worked usually in silk or beads, and are sewn upon ribbons a little wider than the card, and more than double the length. All embroidery upon perforated card consists of a pattern worked upon a plain surface. It is of such combinations of color as will form wreaths, sprays and flowers, as well as lettering and set patterns, and any Berlin pattern will do for a model, stitch for stitch being taken. When a great number of colors are used, and but little of each one, it is ad- visable to wind each shade and color upon a separate piece of card, that is notched to keep it from unwinding. Or a long piece of narrow card may be taken for one color, the shades being wound in order, one after another, along the length, and the card notched between. Shaded wools are very effective, but when used care must bo taken to match each fresh needleful exactly to the last stitch, or the work will look confused. If grounded, do not have the colors inharmonious. Shaded greens will look well upon a dark maroon ground, but not well upon a black ground, as the darker shades of the green are then lost. Designs worked upon perforated card can often be advantageously grounded when the card has become soiled. In such a case, it is best to use a dull neutral Color, or the embroidery may appear faded. Very often the colors in the em- broidery will be rpiite fresh when the card is soiled and the trimming faded. If the card is then grounded in yrey or brown, and fresh trimming added, aa old, shabby article will appear quite fresh and bright. Scratch Jffy Sack. This is a simple little gift that a child may make of perforated card. A pretty wreath or border is first embroidered, and the words, " Scratch My Back," worked in the centre. It is then lined with bright colored silk, neatly bound, and has a ribbon loop to ham; by. • On the back is pasted neatly a large square piece of sandpaper, for scratching matches; or, the whole back may be made of sand- paper, bound in with the front with ribbon. J?1y- Traps. These are made of perforated cards, small squares being cut, each one em- broidercd and bonnd, and six sewed together to form a block. Eight or ten are then fastened upon wires in some pretty form, each dangling loosely from the wire by a loop of ribbon. The wire must be covered with chenille. The whole is then suspended from a chandelier in the centre of the room, by a long ribbou, and its constant motion will drive away the flies from persons sitting near. 122 LADIES GUIDE To NEEDLEWORK. Card- 'Baskets. The pieces for these- can be obtained at any fancy store, with ornamented edges. They are to be embroidered, Iinnd either with another piece of embroidered card or with silk , and tied together with hows of bright colored ribbon* Latnp-J^fats or Cologne- Stands. These are embroidered in floss silk, upon finely perforated cards, in a handsome Berlin pattern. They arc lined with Bilk, hound with ribbon, and then trimmed with quilled satin ribbon on the edges. Very handsome ones can ho purchased with the pattern already stamped. . 1 eedle-Sooks. These arc made of two squares of perforated card, embroidered in silk or wool in a Berlin pattern, lined with silk, and hound with ribbon. Pieces of flannel a little smaller are worked in buttonhole-stitch scallops with silk < r split wool, and neatly bound together at one side with ribbon. The cards are then sewed together, with the flannel between, at one side, and ribbons sewed at the other side to tie them together. Very pretty needle-books, with but little work, are made by pasting French glaced pictures of birds or flowers upon the pieces of card, instead of embroidering them. Illuminated Texts. These may be purchased already stamped, or may he worked in German letter- ing from the Berlin letter patterns. When worked they should be lined with silk, bound with ribbon, and have a Long ribbon, by which to lie suspended to the wall, attached to each end at the top. Some of them are very elaborate and handsome, and they are generally worked in shaded wool or silk. JP XKHHMMHMHHHHHMHBHRaEMMaMaHEiaBaBa;? 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BgBBBBEBBEBBBBBBBaEJtEEiF^HHBBBBBBifrsiar—BE^T:""- \BBBBBBB EaBHBBBBBBHBHBa-:3 = HXaB-aKHgBBBBB = S= = a r J,3BBi:.-:--B^i. -BBBBBBB JJOeaBBBBBBBBBaB SX33B 38MPJBB-B B £ rrilBaBJ-plBBBBBfljKanBBnBBBjBBj i£XBBBBBBBBBB^W= ZBHBBB^IbB: BBBB z:rBZBB3BBBB^=BB3BBBBaiBBBSd SSBBBBBBBflaaraiBjaBBBBBSBBa S BBB ?B3feBMaa3BBBF BBSE BBBBBBHBajM l2]»BBaBBBBBBBBBB3BBBBBBBBHB . BBB~aaBBaQBB£KBBBBBBBBBX ^ ■KSBsemmsm Fig. 88. Cigar Case, embroidered upon perforated card, in beads. A monogram or initial should be worked upon the other side. Both lined with silk, and bound with ribbon. To be sewed together at the sides and bottom, the top left open. LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWOEK. Shoe Bags. 123 These are made in perforated card of very coarse perforation, worked in double Berlin wool in a large pattern. The card is cut in a long slope at the sides, like a letter V. These are worked and lined with glazed cambric, and then bound with ribbon. When bound they are sewed together at the sloped edges to make a long cornucopia-shaped bag. The edges are trimmed with quilled ribbon. Four of these bags are then sewed together at the points and about half way up, and hang on the closet door to hold slippers. These are very handsome mounted in walnut wood, to stand beside a bureau, or in a wardrobe. Fig. 89. Cologne Stand. Worked in. Berlin wool and chenille upon perforated card-board, and trimmed with satin ribbon, put on the edge in box-pleats. 124 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEW<>UK. Sook . 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Buaan-sn noses-., aa • IBIKBBfl ar^insaa i aaazaaaj I IBIIBBBB BBBLt-BBB ' BFRabBBB ■T-: BBES3BBB BBBBEBBBB EBBIiaS:i]| BBBBI I I I I I I BBBB! I I I I I I BBBOaaBSBBBBBBBeBBBiiBBBBBaaBaaHgBBBlaBHadB IIBBBBBBBBBBBBBB BIBIIIIBVIIIiBIIIBBfl IBBBflBIBBIBIIBBIHIIIIIIIFBIIKIIIiailBB BaSaBIBIBBBBKBBaBaaBBCBEC^aaaaflBaBBBBaBBBai Fis.90. Needle Case of 'Perforated Card. The cover of this needle-case consists of slanted squares of perforated card, fastened with ribbon bows, and measuring five inches in length and three and one- half in width. This is of silver-faced perforated card, worked in long lines of colored silk, fastened with one- white bead at each crossing, and with three white beads in each diamond. LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 125 It is trimmed with ribbon to match the silk, drawn down in puffs with a string of five white beads on each side. Two or three leaves of fine flannel, cut out in scallops around the edge, are fastened in. Fig. 91. CHAPTER XIII. PERSIAN RUG WORK. This work, coming properly under the head of knitting, is of sufficient import- ance, at the present date, to merit a chapter hy itself. It is the latest caprice of fashion, in fancy work, and while requiring taste, and a great deal of patience, is of such beauty as to amply repay the time and labor expended upon it. The rugs, when completed, are a perfect imitation of Persian carpet, are thick, soft, and beautiful, aud at the same time very durable. They are made of the ravelled worsted of tapestry Brussels carpet, which is crimped by weaving into wavy threads, that are a most delightful mat under the foot. These are knit together with a very firm, strong back of crochet cotton. The first process is to ravel the worsted, aud while a child, properly taught, can do this perfectly well, carelessly done by any fingers, it will have a straggling, uueveu end, that will not look well when finished. Some knit with very long pieces of worsted, some with very short ones; some on largo needles, some on fine. If the worsted is too long, it falls over and mats under the foot ; if too short, it shows the cotton back. If the needles are too large, the rug is straggling and uneven ; if too fine, the colors are crowded. The great beauty lies in a soft surface, long enough to half bury the foot, firm and even. To secure this, the directions below are given. Longer or shorter threads depend upon the width of the strips of carpet cut. Eemnants of new tapestry Brussels can be purchased in any carpet or uphol- sterer's store. The carpet will be found to have a back of evenly-woven linen threads. Cut between these threads in a perfectly straight line, from selvedge to selvedge, the best length being when fifteen threads are between the cuts. When the carpet is in long strips, so cut, trim off the selvedge and carefully ravel out the long linen threads upon each side. And here the care is required to keep the worsted ends firm, as they will soon split if the long thread is drawn down in quick jerks. Take the long threads from each side till ouly three are left in the middle. Now remove the short linen threads, and the worsted will draw out in short crimped lengths of every shade and color. Cut the remaining long threads often, to keep the worsted firm and even. When the worsted is ravelled it should be kept in a wide, shallow pasteboard box, without any pressure, as the beauty of the rug depends very much upon these threads being kept light and springy. It. ladies' guide to needlework. 127 is well to divide them into boxes of dark and light color, without other regard to color, unless a border is knit, when it is well to keep the color intended for that iu a separate box. No. 8 crochet cotton, and No. 12 steel knitting-needles, make a firm back. Set up thirty stitches of cotton, and knit three rows of the cotton alone. Then knit iu this manner : 4th row. — Slip one stitch, knit one, put one of the worsted threads over the right- hand needle, being very careful to have it doubled over the needle exactly in the middle, with the two ends the same length : knit the third stitch, put on another thread of worsted, repeat until the last two stitches ; knit these plain. 5th row. — Slip one, knit one, take up the worsted and third stitch together, and knit as one stitch ; knit in this way, taking up the worsted and cotton together in every stitch to the end of the row. 6th row. — Same as 4th. 7th row. — Same as 5th. Alternate in this way till your strip is about four feet long, when knit three plain rows of the cotton and cast off. No regularity need be observed in taking up the threads of worsted excepting to mix light aud dark colors together well, as the more variegated the colors the better the effect. Three strips make a good sized rug, when the border is added. Fifteeu stitches are sufficient for the border, and when knit it must be" left suffi- ciently long to allow for the ends. When all the strips are done, crochet them together on the back with chain stitch, in the same cotton used for the knitting. An expert knitter can knit the border in with the middle, but it requires more attention to keep the colors separate. There are a great variety of ways of bordering the Persian rugs, and all are handsome. One we have seen is of variegated colors in the centre, the dark and light well mingled, and has a border of vivid scarlet predominating, though the carpet threads are never a solid color, being tipped, or mixed always with other colors than the leading one. A second one has the centre of dark worsted, the border of light. A third has a light centre, and border of rich green predominating. When the knitting is done, the strips fastened together, the whole must be lined with strong heavy canvas to keep it in place. No handsomer rug for drawing- room, ball, or library has ever been made, and it can suit any carpet or furniture by haviug a border to match the predominating color of its surroundings. CHAPTER XIV. PATCHWORK. Although tli is work scorns to come more under the head of plain thai) fancy needlework, this little hook would scarcely bo complete were all reference to it omitted. It is generally our first work and our last — the schoolgirl's little fingers setting their first crowded or straggling stitches of appalling length in patchwork squares, while the old woman, who can no longer conquer the intricacies of line work, will still make patchwork quilts, for coining generations. Fig. 92. But the calico squares whose combinations and varieties would fill a volume are not the only patchwork that is made. Silk is also used in variously shaped blocks and patterns, for the covers of chairs and bed-quilts, although we have known many pieces, started in tiny pieces to make an enormous bed-quilt, end iguouiin - iously in a very small pincushion. The taste is one that has nearly died out, although some beautiful specimens are still seen at fancy fairs, the work of tasteful brains and industrious fiugers. Where any scope is given to fancy in patchwork, the pieces should be basted over stiff card, or, still better, pieces of tin, and sewed over and over, the card being then removed. Some run the pieces together, some sew them on the sew- ing-machine, but the old-fashioned overstitch will ever be the best for patchwork. It is a great improvement upon the huge and unwieldy quilting-frames of the days of our grandmothers, to make the patchwork for a quilt in bound squares. Each one is lined, first with wadding, then'with calico quilted neatly, and bound with strips of calico. These squares being then sewed together, the quilt is com- plete. Album quilts made in this way, with the name of the giver neatly written upon a small square of white in the centre of each piece, are much more acceptable than when they must all be quilted together in a huge frame. CHAPTER XV. TAMBOUR WORK Although somewhat out of date, this style of fancy work is beautiful enough to be revived, and the taste and ingenuity of the present day applied to making new combinations in the stitch. The design for the work is stamped or drawn on the material, which is then stretched evenly in an embroidery frame. The tambour needle is hooked at the end precisely like a crochet needle, and is of steel screwed firmly into an ivory handle. The stitch is a single chain stitch in crochet, taken through the material in colored silk. The needle is held under the work, and pushed through and drawn back for each stitch. Follow the outline of the pattern carefully in fine crochet chain stitches drawn through, and afterwards fill up the pattern thus outlined with close lines of the 6ame stitch, in the same color. This work may be done on any material from heavy cloth to finest net, but is so little in use, that no more space will be devoted to it in this book. 9 CHAPTER XVI. WI R E WORK. Wire work is, strictly speaking, simply a foundation for other materials, and is in use as a framework tor many pretty fancy articles where it is entirely concealed. It should be selected at once Btrong and pliable, and always covered either with thread closely twisted over it, or with ribbon wound round very closely and firmly. When thus prepared it can be used as a foundation fur bead work, chenille work, hanging baskets of any material, vases, stands, indeed, any articles requir- ing a stiff skeleton frame. It makes a very pretty cover for window llower pots s when twisted into the proper shape after being covered with double Berlin wool crochet work in a double stitch. Before covering wire for any fancy work, every spot of rust should be carefully rubbed off with fine emery paper. Wire and 'Bead Basket for Worsted. To make this basket double a piece of covered wire eighteen inches and a half long so as to form a ring nine inches and a quarter in circumference. In a similar manner form a ring ten inches in circumference of a piece of wire twenty inches long, and cover both rings closely with blue floss silk. Then take two pieces of wire each seventy-six inches long, lay them on each other in such a manner that one end of each piece of wire projects from the end of the other piece half an inch, wind blue silk on both pieces at the same time, and bend the double wire thus formed into ten loops, each three inches and three-quarters long, which meet as shown in the illustration. Fasten the projecting ends of the wire together. Wind crystal beads that have been strung on blue silk closely on every piece of wire, fasten the wire loops together with blue silk, and overhand them on both rings with blue silk. The smaller ring forms the bottom and the larger ring the upper edge of the basket. For the bottom cut, besides, a circular piece of card- board two inches and three-quarters in diameter, and cover it on both sides with blue silk ; on that side which afterward comes on the inside of the basket cover the cardboard with a piece of wire covered with silk and beads, which is sewed on in coils. For the lining of the basket cut a straight strip of blue silk twenty inches long and four inches and three-quarters wide ; hem the sides and join the ladies' guide to needlewoek. 131 ends ; then gather the silk on one side, and overhand ' it together with the outer edge of the bottom. Fasten the bottom and lining inside of the basket, sewing the former to the lower bead ring Avith double blue silk. Sew the upper edge of the lining, which is also gathered, to the upper bead ring. The handle, which is formed of double wire fourteen inches long and covered with beads, is set on as shown by the illustration. Fig. 93. — WIEE AND BEAD BASKET FOR WORSTED. CHATER XVII. DOLL-DRESSING. Most girls wno line work at all are very fund of dressing dolls; not so much, perhaps, at the age when they play with them themselves, but when they grow older, and they dress them for their younger .sisters, or, if they have none, for little girls of their acq u a i n tan ce. A doll is a nice present for a child at any time, but how much the pleasure is enhanced if it i.s dressed ! Not dressed as they dress them in some shops, with only a few clothes, and made so that they will not take off and on; but with every article of clothing, as if it were a real child; and, above all things, a nightgown! Some children are quite content with putting their dolls to bed in their clothes, or, what is even worse undressing them and leaving them so, having no nightgown to put them in ! "We will begin with the Nightgown. Get some fine calico to commence with ; always use fine stuff of every sort, for the dolls being so small, the clothes set very badly if made of thick material. Cut out the front and back, as at ^^^-i Nos. 1 and 2 ; then the shoulder- piece, No. 3 ; then run the front and back together under the arm, gathering the back into the shoulder-pieces ; then join them over the shoulder; then putting on them a small narrow band, slightly gathering the fronts into it, putting the pieces at the back in plain, and then the sleeves, No. 4. The trimming is, of course, according to fancy — some insertion up the front, with very narrow goffered frills up each side, looks very nice ; also tatting or cochet; indeed, anything of the sort; but it certainly looks better trimmed. A great improvement to the nightgown is to cut the fronts too broad across for the doll, and run narrow tucks down to the waist ; but this is, of course, more difficult, as the tucks want to be run very evenly. 8 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 133 Chemise. A doll's chemise is a very easy tiling to make. Cut out in calico two pieces in the shape of Fig. 95 ; run them neatly together, and down the sides and over the shoulders ; then cut the front open a little way down. Hem the neck and sleeves all round with a very narrow hem, and make a hroad one round the hottom of the chemise. If trimming is required, a little lace round the neck and sleeves makes a pretty finish. r Fig. 95. — chemise. Fig. 9G. — DRAWEES. tDi'awers. Next the drawers. Cut out two legs similar to the pattern given ; run them up; then join the legs together just at the top in front, only running it a very short way down. Then make a very narrow hem round each leg, and a nice hroad one at the hottom; gather it into a hand, putting a hutton or strings to it. A little lace- edging round the legs, or two or three narrow tucks, look very nice. Bodice for the ^Petticoat. A flannel petticoat is, of course, a very easy thing to make. A piece of white or red fine flannel, herringboned round the hottom, and gathered into a hand at the waist, with huttons or strings. For most of the underclothes I should recom- mend very small linen huttons ; strings are so untidy. The white or upper petti- coat should he made of white calico or twill, rather full, with a hroad hem at the hottom, an 1 I should recommend a good deep tuck ; it makes the frock stand out so welL The hody can he made in two ways : either off the skirt or on ; hut I Fig. 97. think that it is decidedly the hest to sew it on. Cut it in three pieces, as in Fig. 97, join them together under the arm, make a hem at the top of each of the pieces and the hottom ; then sew the skirt (which must be gathered) on to it, and run draw-strings in it. Now that we have finished the under-linen, we must begin about the dresses. Never make them of a thick stuff, and always be sure to choose a small pattern, 134. LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. or, "better still, no pattern at all. Unless the doll is very large, it is always best to make a low body, as it is so difficult to in ike the neck sot well. V_X v/ Pig. 93. 'Bodice for J)rcss. Tao skirt is, of course, as easy as possible to make ; simply to run the seams and make a broad hem. Alow-necked bodice should be made in this way : A long, narrow piece, with a place cut out for the sleeves (see Fig. 98) ; hem up the backs. Then cut out the sleeves, as in No. 2; run the scams of the sleeves, and then sew them into the arm- holes, placing the seam of the sleeve even with that of tho body; gather the other end of the sleeve into a little narrowband; gather the body at the top and the bottom into narrow bauds. Some white lace in the sleeves and neck finishes it off very nicely, and a sash always looks pretty. The best way of making a high body is to cut it out similar to the patterns I give in Nos. 3 and 4 j stitch them together under and over the arm ; cut out the sleeves, as at No. 5, and sew them in the arm-hole, keeping the seam well round to the hack. Then put a very narrow band on the neck ; hem up the backs and put some tiny hooks on, and make the loops. 'Pinafore. The prettiest kind of pinafore is, I think, at No. 1. This must be cut in four pieces — the front, No. 2; the backs, as at No. 3; and the apron, No. 4. Then join the front and backs over the arms, also the apron and bib ; then hem the backs and all round the apron and the arm-holes and neck, making these hems narrower. Stitch a piece of tape along the front and along both of the backs, through which run the string, and also run one round the neck. A lace edging all round the apron and round the arm- holes looks very -nice. This sort of pin- afore is best made in diaper or Holland ; if the latter, substitute white braid for lace edging. Fig. 100. — PINAFOBE. Fig. 101. — another. LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 135 sinotlier 'Pinafore. Another sort of pinafore is to cut out a plain long front, as at No. 5, and back as at No. 6 ; join them under and over the arm, and hem it all round, running a string round the neck. It may be left plain or gathered in at the front, putting a small ornamental piece on in front, trimmed with narrow lace. Jackets. Jackets are almost the hardest thing to make for dolls — especially if they are made of velvet or a thick cloth. The best material to make then of is, of course, black silk. Cut the fronts out, as at No. 1, and the back as in No. 2; the sleeves, No. 3. Then it is better to bind it all round with braid, which sets better and is less clumsy than a hem. Presses for C7ii?ia 3)olls. The best way to make little china dolls' dresses is all in one ; a long straight piece joined at the back, and hemmed round the bottom ; two holes cut for the arms, and then turned down at the neck and gathered, drawing it up not tight round the neck, but just on to the shoulder, so that you can fasten it off, and yet leave room to pass it over the head ; tie a sash round the waist, and the doll is dressed. A petticoat made in the same way is all that is required ; anything else does not set — the dolls being so small, it makes them look simply like a bundle of clothes. A cloak is the best thing f r these sort of dolls for an out-door gar- ment. Cut this in the shape of a half-moon, and in the middle of the straight side cut out a small piece fur the neck. Make this in red llama, or some soft thin material, and bind it round with narrow black ribbon without an edge. Hats can be made on a shape made with cap wire, and then trimmed ; but a very good plan is to get the lid of a pill-box — of course it must fit the doll's head — and cover it with black velvet, and it makes a charming little turban hat. I have not as yet said a word about boy dolls. There is but one way in which they can be made to look nice — I mean big dolls. jBoj's' Knickerbockers. A dark blue serge, black velvet, or, if in summer, holland, are the best stuffs to make them of. I give a pattern of the knickerbockers at No. 1, Fig. 103. Each leg must be run up and then joined together, making a hem round the bottom, in which run some elastic ; and it is a very good way to sew them on to a broad elastic band, which will, of course, stretch, so that the knickerbockers can be t kken off and on. 136 LADIES' GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. funic n two bot- A tunic is tho 'host thing to make for hoy dolls, and it is host to ovt it in pieces, as in No. 2, Fig. 10.'}; join the Bides together, and hem it round tho _ torn. Put in the sleeves, and cut an opening down the front, so that it may he put over the doll's head. It is best to hind it with narrow braid round tho neck and down the front, which must he buttoned with tiny buttons, and then a hand round the waist. The men in the dolls' house are very hard to dress, and it is, T think, almost impossible to make their things to come off and on. The shirt must, of course, bethought of first j hut there is no necessity to make a whole shirt — merely a 1 A Fig. 104. front with two pieces to pass over the hack. A small collar must he attached to this, under which must he passed a narrow piece of ribbon to form a tie. The trousers must he cut in two pieces (Fig. 104), and joined together. The waist- coat is simply two pieces crossed over from the hack, with two or three buttons, which are easily made with hits of black silk, sewed up into little rounds to imitate them. The coat is made in the same way exactly as the one I described for the hig doll— of course, altered as to size. It does not do to make either the shirt or the waistcoat entirely, as it makes the coat set so badly. Costume Dolls. NORMANDY PEASANT. The underclothing for this costume should he full, and reaching just below the knees ; the dress petticoat of red merino or delaine, trimmed with three rows of narrow black velvet at equal distances, and just a little longer than the under petticoat; black velvet bodice with long points hehind and hefore, cut square and laced up the front ; white muslin sleeves coming just below the elbow, left loose and rather full ; white muslin half-handkerchief crossed upon the chest and over "the bodice; muslin apron with pockets; gold heads round the neck, and gold cross; long gold ear-rings ; a rosary hung from the left side; thick shoes and white stockings, or, if it is a china doll, the feet can he painted to imitate them. If you are dressing a small china doll, take for the cap a piece of stiff white LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 137 writing-paper, about one and one-half to one and three-quarter inches in depth ; for the length measure round the doll's head, allowing a little piece on each side to admit of the paper being bent up the back, as in Fig. 105. Cover the paper with muslin, and trim round the forehead and up the ends with very narrow lace ; sew up the cap at the bend in the paper ; fill up the top to form the crown with muslin gathered in ; press out the flaps "behind until they present this ap- pearance (Fig 106) — / TOP OF CAP \ f •\ (»» t*\ ,'* *• 1 1 1 Fig. 105. This completes the costume. If the doll is larger, of course the height of the cap must be increased, as it is the chief characteristic of the dress. ITALIAN PEASANT. The underclothing is the same as for the Normandy peasant, except being a little longer. Dress skirt of blue or any bright-colored merino, trimmed with three or four rows of different-colored braids, either vandyked or straight round the skirt; bodice of black velvet, with small basque behind, cut low in the neck ; and open stomacher laced across, with braids to match the skirt ; the neck of the bodice to be trimmed with a muslin tucker; white muslin sleeves to the wrist, either open or closed ; black velvet ribbon round the neck, with a cross hanging on the chest ; a rosary hung from the left side; thin black shoes and white stockings. If the doll is the same size as the Normandy peasant, take for the cap a piece of white writing-paper, about two inches in length and one and one-half inches in width ; place ifc on the doll's head lengthways ; then bend the paper so as to make it fill close to the back of the head. Cover the paper with muslin, and trim round with lace. The cap may be kept in shape by drawing your thread tight from the crown to the top of the flap behind — of course, from underneath. The costume is now complete. If you are dressing china dolls, the best thing to fasten the caps on to the head is liquid glue. SPANISH DANCER. The underskirts are very short, and several of them made of tarlatan, pinked out ; muslin drawers, wide and very full. The dress may be made of any bright- colored silk or satin, trimmed with black lace flounces, and short. The bodice should be a low square, and sleeves to the elbow, trimmed with lace to match the skirt. On the hands there should be long mittens, and in the hair a high comb and red rose, with black lace mantilla thrown over the comb, and fastened on the side with the rose. Either boots or shoes may bo worn, bronze or gold-color. 138 ladies' guide to needlework. MARQUISE DRESS. To show off this dross tho doll should ho of good size. Make the underclothing — consisting of chemise, flannel petticoat, white petticoats — all very nice, and very much trimmed. For tho dress petticoat have a piece of white or rose-colored satin, trimmed across the front with lace. For tho train, a handsome piece of brocaded satin, trimmed up the sides and round tho train with lace. Tho bodice is cut square behind, and sleeves to tho elbow, trimmed with lace. Thoro should ho a stomacher made of tho Same material as the skirt petticoat, all made of tho same brocade as the train. Shoes, vi ith high heels, rosettes, and silk stockings. To make tho doll complete sho should have long straight hair, which must be rolled hack from the forehead on a cushion, and tho hair from the hack of head must bo rolled up on another cushion, with along curl hanging from the left .side, with a Hat bow in tho hair to match the skirt. Tho hair must he powdered, and on tho face two or three black patches ; one on the forehead towards tho left side, one on tho chin to tho right, and ono on each cheek. This completes the dress. CHAPTER XVIII. MISCELLANEOUS. Ca?*d Basket in 'Panama Canvas. This pretty trifle is a combination of Panama canvas and straw work, finished with wheat heads. The straws are placed in three bars fastened at the toj) by a ribbon and widening at the bottom like the frame for a gipsy camp-kettle. At the top is a cluster of wheat beads. About an inch from the bottom is sewed to the straw sticks a piece of stiff card cut in a triangular shape. Over this is laid a square of Panama canvas fringed upon each edge and em- broidered in the centre and corners in a small Berlin pattern. It is secured with tiny stitches here and there to the card, but must appear to lie loosely there. ^Picture Frames in Crochet. These frames are- made of curtain rings. Over each one is a line of crochet work in Berlin wool of perfect wood color. When a sufficient number are worked, a frame must be made of wood covered with moss-green velvet. Upon this the rings are sewn, the wood being the exact width of one ring. But two are sewn, one on each edge, meeting in the middle in a slope and fastened so together. In the corners four meet in the same way. The effect is very pretty, and the colors may be changed by covering the frame with brown velvet and the rings with green chenille or Berlin wool. Travelling Case. The material is fine French kid, lined throughout with oil silk of the best quality. The embroidery, which can be simple or elaborate, according to the worker's time or fancy, is in fine worsted braid. The case is about eleven inches in length. Cut the ends and sides according to the design Fig. 107, and bind round with ribbon ; a strap of the same is placed aetfMfl the centre. Two short straps are sewn on the inside lining to hold the nail and tooth brush. This case can either be folded up or hung on the wall. Fig. 108 shows it folded and tied for travelling. In ocean travelling it can hang upon the stateroom door, and if fastened with loops at all, the corners will keep its contents undisturbed by any motion of the steamer. 140 ladies' guide to needlework. be ladies' guide to needlework. 141 Fig. 108.— TRAVELLING CASE— CLOSED. ;'.■./. 2^t r tmntnrr :ai| ■ : ,i!?I"''- ■ ...:::::=i2" Fig. 109.— RUG PATTERN FOR A TRAVELLING BAG. 142 ladies' guide to needlework. 'liny (Pattern for a Travelling IBag. To bring "before our readers largo rug patterns in the pages of our small volume would bo impossible} iu order therefore to give them an oversight of a very un- common pattern fur travelling bag, wo have chosen this, seen only in a small size, which, however, to our nailers will bo a sufficient guide on account of the clear plate and little complication of color. The desired size of the bag is made from the coarseness of the canvas ; our model, worked in Berlin wool, is thirteen inches deep and sixteen and a quarter inches wide ; black being the darkest shade, three others follow in gray ana milk white for the lighter colors: in this Bhading the upper part of the railway truck is worked, the luggage and the shades between the wheels; the latter itself is for the most part black, steel, a little light gray and white, the axletrees and so-called ''puffer" on the railway carriage are of steel and gold beads, the latter being of the lightest color; the letters and edge marked out light, are on the front side of the carriage to bo of gold beads. The pointed scroll frame bordered with yellow silk enclosing the scarlet ground of the centre part, is tilled up with white silk, and matches the light points in the largo scroll shapes of a blue green shading in four colors, with a light silk edge; for the plain edge, on the contrary, between the black ground, pea green in one color and again in silk, is to be chosen; for the ground part dark blue gives a nice effect. Hairpin Baskets. These very pretty additions to the toilet table or dressing bureau are easily made, ornamental and convenient. The baskets can be purchased at any fancy store, if desired, filled with horse hair and covered with a very coarse white net tacked over neatly on the top. The top is then knit in the following manner : Set up thirty stitches on steel needles, rather coarse; kuit one line across, the sec aid line, place the thread for every stitch over the forefinger of the left hand to form a loop, and knit this loop as a 6titch, knit the third row plain, the fourth like the second, and so alternate the rows till you have a perfect square. Put this over the basket top and sew the edges down firmly, letting the loops stand up. If the basket is round, crochet a circle for the top, as described for the knitting. If a basket is inconvenient to procure, cut four pieces of perforated card exactly alike, about four inches long and three wide, and a fifth piece three inches each way. Upon the four pieces embroider some pretty Berlin wool pattern — a mon- ogram or initial is pretty upon one piece. Bind all five pieces with bright colored ribbon, but they need not be lined. Sew the edges of the four pieces together, lengthwise, to form a square, and sew the fifth piece on for the bottom. Fill with coarse horse hair, and cover with lace and the knitted top already described. Finish at the comers with little bows of the same ribbon as the binding, or tassels of the Berlin wool. A pincushion to match, covered with embroidered canvas, and filled with saw- dust, makes an extremely pretty set for a toilet table. A pair made upon silver-faced perforated card, embroidered in moss roses and leaves, bound with pale blue, covered with pale blue knitting, and finished with blue satin ribbon, quilled on the edges, will make a pretty Christmas gift. Scrap Sags. These are pretty combinations of perforated card and crochet work, very useful and popular. Cut a piece of card, coarsely perforated, about four inches wide and eighteen inches long. Work it in an arabesque pattern, key border, or border ladies' guide to needlework. 143 of leaves and flowers, in gay colored Berlin wools. Make an edge of "buttonhole stitch, one stitch to each square perforated with double Berlin wool. Then sew the edges together at the ends to make a circle. Crochet an edge at the top in shell pattern. At the "bottom continue the shells, row after row, to make the bag, narrowing when near the end by knitting the shells in three stitches instead of four, then in two, then one, and omitting these last alternately till only one stitch is left on the crochet hook. Make two heavy tassels of the Berlin wool for the end of the hag. Crochet a handle in double stitch from one side to the other of the top edge, to hang the hag by. Finish by covering the seam in the perforated card, with a large bow of ribbon, or crochet rosette, with a corresponding one on the other side. Vivid scarlet will wear better than any other color. The bag may be lined. T/ppets and Shoes. To learn to find a use for everything, so that nothing is wasted, should form a part of a woman's education. Not only is it applicable in cooking, where such a knowledge is eminently useful, but in everything, a ready wit, an energetic mind, and busy fingers will find that " no fragment need be lost." Beautifully does Nature sot U3 this example ; all that seems waste and refuse she turns to account j and in like manner shall we find, if so disposed, what seems to us rubbish can be converted into use fur others, if not for ourselves. For instance, the edges of now flannel, which are torn off, make excellent warm capes for poor little children, laid in rows one a little over the edge of the other, and run together, and bouud with scarlet braid. The same material makes capital baby-shoes, run together in the same manner, lined with scarlet or blue flannel, and bound with the same colored ribbon. Balls can be also made with this list, which would be a great delight to children in an asylum ; and few charitable actions are more appreciated than the giving toys to these little creatures, who have no possessions of their own, not even the clothes they wear, and whose faces light with wondrous pleasure at these small gifts. A pill-box must first be procured, and in it some shot or peas placed ; then the list must be rolled over and over until it becomes round ; over this must be wound some Berlin wool, of any color, closely over the list, so as to en- tirely conceal it ; then, in a different color, which will harmonize with it, a chain- stitch must be worked all over it, like net-work. Evening dresses, white or colored tarletan, old flannels, washed out muslins, or indeed any old material, torn in long narrow strips, and knitted upon large wooden needles in plain knitting stitch, form very warm and really pretty quilts, which would delight the heart of some poor old woman, and fully carry out the injunction to let "nothing be lost." The pieces must be very narrow. Join them together by lapping the ends over each other and running each edge with very strong cotton, and roll into balls before commencing to knit. Ten or twelve stitches will be enough for each strip, and each should be about two yards long. Sew the strips together, as many as will make the required width. For people with poor eyesight, or those who are desirous of improving the half fight of long summer evenings, this is very nice work, rapidly done, and useful when completed, while requiring no skill or eyesight. Colored 7i.ugs and Afattresses. These are two very useful presents to our poor neighbors, which would advan- tageously fill time. A piece of coarse packing-cloth must be procured, and cut to 144 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. the size and width <>f an ordinary hearth rug, and on this must 1)0 sewn, in rows, pieces of colored cloth, which can bo got at tlio tailors' from their old pattern- books — they will give them to their customers. Each row of cloth must bo put over the other, to hide where they are sewn on. A common black worsted fringo sewn round the edge finishes the work nicely, and they wear for years. Mattresses stuffed with paper — that is, old newspapers and letters torn to pieces — andcovered with a bright patchwork, are invaluable presents to poor mothers with young baliies. Whilst they are washing and ironing or cooking, "baby "may be put down to crawl on the mattress, and the bright colors will so engage its attention that it will " coo " long stories to it, and try to scratch the colors up in its hands, and bo so happy and busy that "mother" will bless the mattress and the kind young lady who made it. The tearing of the paper for the stulling may bo en- trusted to the younger members of a family, who will greatly enjoy this variety in their employments, which might be given them to do in that Lour between the light and the dark, when, weary of play, the littlo ones grow sleepy and, it must bo owned, somewhat cross ; the curious Love of destruction which appears really a natural sin will bo turned to good account in this manner, and the tearing up any amount of paper into tiny pieces will be enormous fun. Frames for 'Photographs. Theso are now made very prettily in card; silk, wool, or cotton being all used for the thread to cover them. Take two pieces of quite square card, according to the sized frame you require. Put them over each other, as shown in the en graving. Take a skein of gold-colored floss silk and commence to wind from corner to corner, as in the engraving. Have three skeins of dark brown crochet silk, fine ; take an end of each, and begin winding as before, until the cards are entirely cov- ered, with the exception of the centre, which will be left for the portrait. Large white-headed pins must be put at each corner, to prevent the cotton slipping, which adds also to the prettiness of the frame. ladies' guide to needlework. 145 Tapestry 'Rug. This is a warm and excessively pretty rug to put down either before a dressing- table or tinder a library table, and would, I think, be a better present to some clergyman friend than the slippers, sermon-cases, and book-markers, which are showered often too liberally on the "new minister." I know one who was em- barrassed with twenty pairs of slippers not made up ! The material required is fleecy wool — black, white, and a few bright colors. These are made into a fringe on a wooden mesh with a groove on one side ; the wool is fastened to the mesh with coarse crochet cotton in a loop-stitch, and is cut off by running a pair of sharp scissors along the groove. This fringe is sewn on to a piece of coarse Hessian cut to the size you wish your rug to be. Black wool must be sewn all round, as a border, first, then the colors tastefully arranged in the centre, in imitation of carpet. All sorts of short pieces joiued in one make a very good fringe, and thus use up the bits left, over from embroidery, knitting, or canvas work, and save the expense of new material. Churc/i decorating. Needlework is a way in which even quite young girls may materially help in the decoration of a church, though they should bo careful not to attempt any deli- cate or difficult kinds, such as silk embroidery for altar cloths, or satin-work for chalice-veils and burses, without really learning of some professed worker to do it. But there are many easier pieces of work which almost any one with a little patience can do, such as markers for the books at the prayer-desk and on the altar. These may be embroidered in silk on ribbon. Or crosses or monograms may be cut out in cardboard, and either covered with gold or white beads, or made of a number of pieces of perforated cardboard, each one, one row of holes smaller than the last, so that the top one is the very narrowest strip possible. These, fastened together with gum, have the appearance of carving. Or, again, patterns may be cut in the cardboard so as to look almost as fine as lace. In each case, when finished, the crosses must be fastened on ribbon ; it is best, if possible, to sew them on, as in a damp church gum or glue are so apt to give way. Kneeling- cushions in either cloth embroidery or worsted work, altar-carpets, pieces of velvet to hang from the pulpit-desk embroidered in gold silk, sermon-cases, etc., are other pieces of work quite easy to be done. Case /or Holding 'Poi?^ Z,ace, Embroidered on ^Panama Canvas. Materials. — Light brown Panama canvas, 79 inches dark brown sarcenet rib- bon, 3-4 inch wide, brown silk, light and dark brown, red, green, corn, blue and black purse silk, fine gold cord, G black buttons, etc. This pretty and useful case, shown (Figs. Ill and 112) open and closed, requires for the foundation a straight piece of Panama canvas, thirteen and one-half inches long, and five and one-half inches wide ; the middle of the can- vas i.3 then covered in the length with a row of cross-stitch in black purse silk; this ia again covered with rows of the same, in a reversed order, of corn blue, green an 1 red silk. The single stitches across, marking themselves in the pattern, are to be worked with gold. The border edging, the middle design of loose 10 146 LADIKS GUIDE TO NKKDLKVVOKK. stitches, in two shades of brown, shows the darkest shado as the outer edge. The inner arrangement of the case is of two pockets, two and three-quarter inches deep, of brown silk, taken double with a calico foundation, which are intended to hold the lace, tape, scissors, needles, etc., these pockets being put on the canvas ground lined with calico and silk, and joined to this by a brown silk binding, Fig. 111. — OPEN. stitched on twice. At the edge of one pocket, underneath the string of the case, of silk ribbon twelve and one-half inches long, to be sewn on at the outside and finished with bows, a piece of brown cord fastened at one of the ends, makes the holder for the different reels of thread. The loose end of this cord is then made with a loop, and buttoned to a button put on to correspond. A piece of wax Fig. 112. — CLOSED. cloth, four and one-quarter inches wide, bound all round with sarcenet ribbon, the length being as desired, and having a silk loop at each corner, is as a practical foundation for the point lace, fastened fiat on the bottom of the case by a button sewn on without being creased in any way. The case is closed as seen when rolled up, by a button and brown silk loop. LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 147 Scrap ^Basket, for Work Table. This basket is intended to catch, hits of material, thread, or any odds and ends of sewing that make a work table or carpet untidy. It is opened for use, and the top folded back protects the embroidery. Materials — Sarcenet; ribbon to match, one inch broad; small pieces of black velvet ; fine gold cord ; gold thread ; gold and chalk beads, etc. Our model is made of yellow and black cane bars, about ten inches in diameter and eight and one-half inches high. The bottom has a plain silk lining; the rest has a full lining to set in puffs between the bars. The full-puffed lining is drawn together in the middle by a ribbon rosette. The ruche round the basket must correspond with this. A plain lining is also required of cardboard and silk. Straps and pockets are placed inside. A second lining of full muslin in the cover with a running and cord forms a closed bag. The embroidered drapes on the outside must be arranged according to the size of the basket. Both the appliques of black velvet must be fastened upon sarcenet of the same color as the lining, with gold cord. The remaining ornamentation is in gold and chalk beads, and long tufted stitches worked with gold cord and gold thread. The scallops are edged with gold cord, and orna- mented with bows like the cover. 148 ladies' guide to needlework. Wall /bcfccls. To be really handsome these should he finished in walnut or satin wood at an upholsterer's, but if that is not practicable, may be made in the following way: Embroider upon cloth, or canvas a large and handsome pattern for the front, and one for the top of the back piece. When finished, stretch over a very thin board, cut in tho desired shape, and fasten by long stitches across and across the back. Cover a corresponding piece of pasteboard with the lining silk, and sew tho edges of the embroidery and silk together, leaving the embroidered top of the back longer than the front piece. About halfway down the bach piece begin to stitch a piece of silk about a quar- ter of a yard wide. Fasten this upon each side edge, both of the front and back pieces. At the bottom draw tho silk together in small plaits till the front an. I back pieces meet, and sew them strongly together across the bottom, leaving tho top to hangout loosely from the hack. A much more elegant pocket has the embroidery set into carved walnut or satin wood and joined by an upholsterer. These make very handsome presents for a gentleman's library, and answer that oft-repeated complaint : 11 If it were for a lady, I could make a thousand things, but one never knows what to make to please a gentleman." A handsome wall-pocket, with a monogram embroidered in the centre of a handsome wreath, will bo sure to please any gentleman of taste. Shoe Sags. These are made of furnituro chintz, bound with gay cotton braid, with com- partments run for each pair of shoes or boots. They are very convenient where closet room is limited. Scrap-23ooks and Screens. The picture newspapers must be collected, and some nursery books pressed into the service, which the children will be proud to give, with the joy of being allowed to cut the pictures out. Anything will do — a head, a hand or foot, a portion of a dress, a bunch of flowers, trees, birds, butterflies — all carefully cut out — will work in beautifully. The screen is somewhat expensive to have made, but a second- hand one can be bought, and covered with white paper well strained over it. On this the pictures must be carefully stuck with strong well made paste, sufficiently close to cover all the paper ; or if a colored paper — green, blue, or black — is pre- ferred, the pictures might be grouped only on it, taking care to make some kind of connection between them ; for instance, at an open attic window a bird might be placed as though it had just flown in, and the figure of a little girl placed near it would appear to be watching it. The figures out of the toy-books make capital subjects. One side of the screen plain and one colored form a pleasant variety ; and when well done, it would be a great amusement in some invalid's room ; they might be, when weary of reading, finding out the different pictures, and weaving fanciful tales for them, which would while away the long hours, mads so much longer by pain and suffering. Scrap-books made in the same way are most acceptable presents either to bttle children before they can read, or still more to hospitals for sick children or the aged and bedridden. One containing sacred pictures and illuminated texts for LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 149 Sunday amusement •would be very acceptable, and one full of bright-colored funny pictures amusingly grouped together, which the poor old folks, unable to read or too weak to do so, might turn over in the long days, during which they pass so many monotonous hours, and for wbich they will bless the clever busy fingers and kindly hearts, who in the midst of their own bright existence have remembered the poor and suffering. Another mode of arranging pictures, which is a very good one for young chil- dren, is to paste them on a broad strip of holland, backed with coarse cloth, and bound with ribbon, which will roll up and tie with ribbon strings ; it is strong, and not requiring to be turned over, cannot be torn, a great advantage for the tiny babies whose chubby fingers so eagerly and impatiently turn the leaves, eager to see "more." Shawl or Wrap Case, for 2ravellinff. The case is of holland. It is bound all round with worsted braid. The border in embroidery may be in Andalusian wool or purse-silk. The roses and foliage are cut out of cretonne, and fastened upon the holland with cording-stitch. The outlines of the pattern are in chain-stitch, or machine embroidery may be sub- stituted. The straps are of holland, lined and embroidered with a simple design. ^Pattern Embroidered o?i Z/eather, FOR CIGAR-CASES, BOXES, PORTFOLIOS, ETC. This pretty medallion design, when worked on leather, merino, or ribbed silk foundation, and with silk, curl cord, and gold, either in the same shade as the ground, or with the violet wreath in the centre, shaded after nature, makes an ex- 150 ladies' guide to needlework. tremely tasteful finish for the inside of different small articles, such as mentioned, but when worked with a border aud corners it can be used as an outer covering Fig. 115. for note-books, cigar-cases, etc., indeed, also as a centre for larger ones, such as glove-boxes, etc., etc. JFan, with JVet ISfribroidery. The illustration shows an imitation lace intended to freshen up a much-used fan, when put over as a cover, or a plain silk one can be made more elegant by Fig. 116. applique lace flowers sewn on ; the lace pattern can be worked without any great difficulty, and at small cost; round the outer edge of the fan is a pretty wreath of leaves and flowers. Flowers dispersed at short distances over the foundation can also be added if desired. When made on somewhat fine Brussels net, a paper foundation traced out with the pattern, is required j inside the outline parts the LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 151 leaves of the sloping hole rows for the foundation are darned backwards and for- wards with thread No. 300 taken double, and the flower parts worked in the round are to be filled up with chain-stitch ; the outer sharp outlines, the veins and stalks, are made afterwards with fine glazed thread ; in cutting away the net an edge of the same must be left, in order to be able to secure better the outer thread of the darned pattern. Very fine drilled silk for the leaves, and coarse, untwisted silk for the flowers, in place of the thread, give the effect of rich blond lace. White Embroidered Tidy. The charming little tidy shown in miniature in our illustration is exceedingly beautiful, as will be imagined from this sample. It is not made, as might be supposed, by applying a border of interlaced pieces around an embroidered centre, but by marking out an interlaced design, working the edges with buttonhole stitching, and cutting out the spaces between. To do this, take a half yard of white linen or pique, mark out a circular scal- loped centre, with sprigs of leaves or sprays of small flowers in the centre of each scallop. These embroider in satin stitch, as also the border around the edge, buttonhole stitching the scallops. Then arrange the crossed-bar border as previ- ously described. The tidy is extremely delicate, and when freshly laundrxed is peculiarly dainty and elegant looking Corner of ^Design for Tidy, Etc. Another exquisite piece of work of this kind is shown in the little corner-piece of Fig. 118, which is of tulle and fine Swiss muslin. 152 LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. The design must Ijo enlarged, of course, and consists of a foundation of tho Swiss, upon which the lace is basted (on the parts required) in the centre and four corners. The design is then worked in chain stitching, and tho Swiss cut away as usual from the lace, leaving the design upon the lace. Fig. 118. Such tidies arc very much more artistic and refined in appearance than any woolen crocheted or Berlin work on canvas, as they may always he washed, and thus kept clean and fresh. Fig. 119. Fig. 120. ^Borders for Square Tidies and jPoint for an J^ig hi- Sided One. Figs 119' and 120 show pretty borders for square tidies, and Fig. 121 a point LADIES GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. 153 for an eight-sided one. These are full-size, and will show the styles of work to the uninitiated. This work is extremely beautiful worked in colored silks or split zephyr. T'idy of Serpentine 2Jraid and Crochet Work. Those of our readers who understand crocheting will at once see the method of applying the work in making the accompanying illustration (Fig. 122), which is one of the most beautiful tidies that can be made, and it will be found equally applicable for table-covers. The central square may be of different stitch entirely if desired; or a piece of embroidered Swiss or bobinet makes a lovely centre. "We would also suggest the application of " tape-trimming," as it is called, made with fine linen tape as a substitute for the serpentine braid. The border, which is clearly shown in the illustration, is put on around the centre, but will be better understood by examination than by any description we can offer. As these antimacassars are easily washed and ironed, they present many recommendations for ordinary use, and as maybe imagined from the engrav- ing (which is but a meagre representation of the model), is unusually beautiful in form and general appearance. A pretty change is made by lining the centre and 154 LADIKS GUIDE TO NEEDLEWORK. catching the material around the inner edge of the border — the pink, blue or other bright color, surrounded by the white ornamented scallops, appearing exceedingly tasteful. Fig. 122. — ANTIMACASSAR. TABLE OF CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. NEEDLEWORK. PAGE .. 3 CHAPTER I.— EMBROIDERY. Embroidery 5 Cotton Embroidery 5 Button-hole Stitch 5 Eyelet-hole Stitch 6 Satin Stitch G Fpot Stitch 6 Minute Stitch 6 Wheel Stitch 7 Herring-bone Stitch 7 Chain Stitch 7 Necktie End in Embroidery 7 Handkerchief Corner in Embroidery 8 Silk and Wool Embroidery 8 Knotted Embroidery 9 Raised Embroidery 9 Turkish Embroidery 9 Crash Embroidery. 10 Case for Book in Embroidery 10 Ticking Embroidery lO Roman Embroidery 12 Mediaeval Embroidery 13 Embroidery after Nature 13 Chinesg Embroidery 14 Feather Embroidery 15- Lamp Mat in Feather Embroidery 15 Embroidery In Ribbon 16 Table or Hantelniece Border 16 Rug worked on Sackcloth 17 Needlo-Cane 19 Invalid's Pocket 20 Purse in Embroidery 22 Embroidered Lamp.Screen 23 CHAPTER II.— BRAIDING. Braiding 24 Cotton and Linen Braiding 24 French Plait Braid 24 Russia Braid 24 Waved Braid 24 Alliance Braid 24 Dresses 25 Wraps 25 Trimming 25 Worsted and Silk Braid 25 Plain Russian Braid 25 Alliance Braid 25 Star Braid 26 Braiding in Cord 26 CheniUo Braiding '. 20 Raised Braiding. 26 Gold and Silver Braiding 26 Bead Braiding 2G Toilet Setin Braiding 27 ToiletMatin Braiding 29 CHAPTER IIL— APPLIQUE WORK. Applique Work 30 Patent Applique 30 Applique in Cretonne 31 Table Border in Applique 34 Design for Oigar-Case in Applique 35 Lamp-Matin Applique 36 156 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV.— CANVAS WORK. PAGE Canvas Work 37 Cross Stitch 37 Tent Stitch 3rt Tapestry Stitch 3H German Stitch ;w Irish s ti t cii 38 Cotton Canvas 38 German Canvas 38 Penelope Canvas 8d Silk canvas 39 Rug Canvas 39 Burlap Canvas 39 Java Canvas 39 Panama Canvas 39 PAOE Net Canvas 39 Berlin Wool 40 English Wool 40 Fleecy Wool 40 (ieniiantown Wool 40 silk 40 Chenille 40 N> ' dies 40 ."election of Pattern.-. 41 Grounding 41 Ooloro ing Bag in Canvas 44 CHAPTER Y.-BEA D WORK. Bead Work 4G | Pocket Embroidered in Beads. Purso Embroidered in Beads 49 49 CHAPTER VI.— LACE WORK. Lace Work CO Brussels Lace 61 Mechlin Laco 61 Valenciennes Laco 51 Lisle Lace 51 Chantilly Lace 51 Point d'Alencon 51 Spanish and. Venice Point 51 Honiton Lace 51 Guipure Lace 53 Point Lace 6-1 Point Lace Butterflv 54 Point Lace Edging 55 Spider's Web Stitch 66 Borghese Point Stitch 66 Point de Louvaine Stitch 66 NetLaco Work Point do Colbert Stitch 58 Deli oarlian Stitch 67 I'nint, ile Unixi-lles Stitch 58 Point de Veiiise stitch 58 I (en t ello de Bruxelles Stitch 58 Dentellodi Venise stitch 58 Twisted Tliread 59 Point d'Alencon 69 Point d'Anglelerre 59 Rosette Of Point d'Angleterro 59 Barsof Pointde Venise 59 Barsof Point d Aleneon 00 Edged Bars of Pointde Venise CI Dotted Barsof Point do Veuiso 01 Infant's Press in .foint Lace 01 Handkerchief Borders in Point Laco 61 63 CHAPTER VIL— TATTING. Tatting 65 English Stitch 67 French Stitch 67 PearlEdging 67 Shamrock Stitch 67 Hen and Chickens Pattern 68 Weaver's Knot 6g Child's Press 68 Case for Tatting Implements 70 End for Necktie 71 Wall Pin-Cushion 72 CHAPTER VLTI.— KNITTING. Knitting 73 Knitting by Touch 74 To hold the Needles 74 Tocaston 75 To cast off 75 To increase •. 75 To decrease 75 To fasten on 75 To pick up a stitch 75 A row 75 Around 75 To slip a stitch 75 To seam a stitch 75 To knit a plain stitch 75 Toknitinribs 76 TqjjutI 76 Tojoinaround 77 Toioin two edges 77 To knitthree stitches to make a rib of centre one 77 To knit two stitches together 77 To knit three or moro stitches together 77 To purl two stitches together 77 Plain Knitting 77 Gentleman's Sock 78 Knit Opera Hood 78 Baby's Shoe 79 Knitted Counterpane 80 Knitted Cloud 82 Blanketfor Infant's Carriage 84 Border for Knit Sacque 88 Sofa Cushion in Knitted Embroidery 91 Satchel in Knitted Embroidery 91 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 157 CHAPTER IX.— CROCHET WORK. PAGE Crochet Work 92 Chain Stitch 93 Slip Stitch 93 Sinffle Crochet 95 Double Crochet 95 Treble Crochet P5 Sofa Pillow 96 Work Basket in Crochet PAGE Gentleman's Purse 97 Very Elegant Pattern 98 Sprigs and Edring f «*■ E oniton Lace 1 00 Raised Crochet 106 Table Cover 106 Border Pattern 108 .108 CHAPTER X.— NETTING. Netting 110 i Spotted Netting Ill Grecian Netting Ill Diamond Netting 112 Honeycomb Netting Ill | Diamond Netted Curtain 112 Novel Net for the Hair 113 CHAPTER XI.— TRANSFERRING. Transferring 115 I Handkerchief Corner in Transfer Work 118 Transfer Embroidery 115 Tobacco-Bag in Japanese Transfer Work 119 Japanese Transfer Work 115 I Border in Transfer Work 119 CHAPTER XII.— PERFORATED CARD WORK. Perforated Card Work 120 Scratch-my-back 121 Fly-Traps 121 Card-Baskets 122 Lamp-Mats 12.; Needle-Books 122 Illuminated Texts 122 Cigar-Case 122 Shoe-Bag^ 123 Cologne-Stand 123 Book-Mark 124 Needle-Case 124 CHAPTER XIII. PERSIAN RUG WORK 126 CHAPTER XIV. PATCHWORK 128 CHAPTER XV. TAMBOER WORK 129 Wire Work. CHAPTER XVI.— WIRE WORK. 130 | Wire and Bead Basket for Worsted 130 CHAPTER XVII.— DOLL DRESSING. Doll Dressing 132 Nightgown 132 CheiuieA 133 Drawers 133 Bodice lor Petticoats 133 Bodice tor Dress 1 34 Pinafore 1 34 Jackets 135 Dresses for China Dolls 135 Hoy's Knickerbockers 135 Boy's Tunic 136 Costume Dolls 136 Normandy Peasant , 136 Italian Peasant 137 Spanish Lancer 137 Marquiso Dress 138 158 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVIII.— MISCELLANEOUS. PAOL Card-Basket in Panama Canvas 139 Picture Frames Id crochet 139 Travelling-Case 139 Hug Pattern iui Travelling-Bag 142 Halr-Pln Basket 142 Scrap-Bags 142 Tippets and Shoes 143 Colored Bugs and Mattresses 143 Frames for Photographs 144 Tapestry Bugs 14. r > Church Decorating 11"> Case for Point Lace 145 PAQE Scrap- Basket 147 Wall-Pookets 148 Shoe- Bags 148 Borap-fiooksand screens - 148 Slum 1 or W'rap-Caso 149 1 'attorn Embroidered on .Leather 149 Fan with Net Embroidery 150 White E ibroldered Tidv ir,i I niMirof Design for Tidv 151 Borders for Square Tidies and Point for an Eight-aided one 152 Tidy of serpentine Braid and Crochet Work. .153 STERLING & FRANCINE CLARK ART INSTITUTE NK9100 .S45 Stack Frost, S. Annie/The ladies' guide to nee 3 1962 00079 0349