Embroidery and Tapestry Weaving

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_"Flowers, Plants and Fishes, Birds, Beasts, Flyes, and Bees,
Hils, Dales, Plaines, Pastures, Skies, Seas, Rivers, Trees,
There's nothing neere at hand, or farthest sought,
But with the needle may be shap'd and wrought."_

--JOHN TAYLOR ("The Praise of the Needle").

The Artistic Crafts Series of Technical Handbooks
Edited by W. R. Lethaby

EMBROIDERY AND TAPESTRY WEAVING

A Practical Text-Book of
Design and Workmanship

by

MRS. ARCHIBALD H. CHRISTIE

With Drawings by the Author and Other Illustrations

Second Edition Revised
(A reprint of the First Edition, with various slight alterations in
text)

Third Edition Revised
(A reprint of the Second Edition)

Published by John Hogg
13 Paternoster Row
London 1912

[Illustration: _Frontispiece See page 249._]

Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co.
at the Ballantyne Press, Edinburgh

EDITOR'S PREFACE

Needlework, which is still practised traditionally in every house, was
once a splendid art, an art in which English workers were especially
famous, so that, early in the XIIIth century, vestments embroidered in
England were eagerly accepted in Rome, and the kind of work wrought here
was known over Europe as "English Work." Embroideries _facon
d'Angleterre_ often occupy the first place in foreign inventories.

At Durham are preserved some beautiful fragments of embroidery worked in
the Xth century, and many examples, belonging to the great period of the
XIIIth and XIVth centuries, are preserved at the South Kensington
Museum, which is particularly rich in specimens of this art. In order to
judge of what were then its possibilities it is worth while to go and
see there three notable copes, the blue cope, the Sion cope, and the
rose-colour Jesse-tree cope, the last two of which are certainly
English, and the former probably so. The Sion cope bears a remnant of an
inscription which has unfortunately been cut down and otherwise injured,
so that all that I have been able to read is as follows: DAVN PERS : DE
: V ...; probably the name of the donor.

In the XIIIth century the craft of embroidery was practised both by men
and women.

That great art patron, Henry the Third, chiefly employed for his
embroideries, says Mr. Hudson Turner, "a certain Mabel of Bury St.
Edmund's, whose skill as an embroideress seems to have been remarkable,
and many interesting records of her curious performances might be
collected." And I have found a record of an embroidered chasuble made
for the king by "Mabilia" of St. Edmund's in 1242. The most splendid
piece of embroidery produced for this king must have been the altar
frontal of Westminster Abbey, completed about 1269. It was silk,
garnished with pearls, jewels, and translucent enamels. Four
embroideresses worked on it for three years and three-quarters, and it
seems to have cost a sum equal to about L3000 of our money.

"The London Broderers" did not receive a formal charter of incorporation
until 1561, but they must have been a properly organised craft centuries
before. In 2 Henry IV. it was reported to Parliament that divers persons
of the "Craft of Brauderie" made unfit work of inferior materials,
evading the search of "the Wardens of Brauderie" in the said City of
London.

In Paris, in the year 1295, there were ninety-three embroiderers and
embroideresses registered as belonging to the trade. The term of
apprenticeship to the craft was for eight years, and no employer might
take more than one apprentice at a time. In the XVIth century the Guild
was at the height of its power, and embroideries were so much in demand
that the Jardin des Plantes in Paris was established to furnish
flower-subjects for embroidery design. It was founded by the gardener,
Jean Robin, and by Pierre Vallet, "brodeur" to Henry IV. In the XVIIIth
century the company numbered 250 past-masters.

To this craft the present volume forms, I believe, an admirable
introduction and text-book, not only on the side of workmanship, but
also on that difficult subject, "design"--difficult, that is, from its
having been so much discussed in books, yet entirely simple when
approached, as here, as a necessary part of workmanship. It is fortunate
that we have not as yet learned to bother our cooks as to which part of
their work is designing and which is merely mechanical. Of course the
highest things of design, as well as of workmanship, come only after
long practice and to the specially gifted, but none the less every human
creature must in some sort be a designer, and it has caused immense harm
to raise a cloud of what Morris called "sham technical twaddle" between
the worker and what should be the spontaneous inspiration of his work.
What such combination has produced in past times, may perhaps best be
understood by some reading in old church inventories of the simply
infinite store of magnificent embroidered vestments which once adorned
our churches. In an inventory of Westminster Abbey I find mentioned
such patterns as roses and birds, fleur-de-luces and lybardes, angels on
branches of gold, roses and ships, eagles and angels of gold, castles
and lions, white harts, swans, dogs, and antelopes.

W. R. LETHABY.

_September 1906._

AUTHOR'S PREFACE

In the following pages the practical sides of Embroidery and Tapestry
Weaving are discussed, their historical development being only
incidentally touched upon.

The drawings illustrating design and the practical application of
stitches have been taken almost without exception from actual Embroidery
or Tapestry; the exceptions, where it has been impossible to consult
originals, from photographic representations obtained from various
sources, among which the collection of M. Louis de Farcy should be
mentioned.

I have to thank Miss May Morris and Mrs. W. R. Lethaby for permission to
reproduce pieces of their work, and Miss Killick, Colonel J. E.
Butler-Bowdon, the Viscount Falkland, and the Reverend F. J. Brown of
Steeple Aston for permission to reproduce work in their possession. Also
I must thank the authorities of the Victoria and Albert Museum for help
in various ways, and Mr. J. H. Taylor, M.A. Oxf. and Cam., for his
kindness in reading the proofs.

GRACE CHRISTIE.

_Ewell,
September 1906._

CONTENTS

PAGE
EDITOR'S PREFACE xi

AUTHOR'S PREFACE xvii

PART I

EMBROIDERY

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION 27

CHAPTER II

TOOLS, APPLIANCES, AND MATERIALS

Needles--Scissors--Thimbles--Frames--Stand and Frame combined--Tambour
Frame--Cord-making Appliance--Requisites for Transferring
Patterns--Pricker--Knife--Spindle--Piercer--Materials suitable for
Embroidering upon--Threads of all Kinds--Stones, Beads, &c. 34

CHAPTER III

PATTERN DESIGNING

The Difficulties of Pattern Making--A Stock-in-Trade--Some Principles
upon which Patterns are Built Up--Spacing-Out--Nature and
Convention--Shading--Figure Work--Limitations--Colour 51

CHAPTER IV

STITCHES

Introduction--Chain Stitch--Zigzag Chain--Chequered Chain--Twisted
Chain--Open Chain--Braid Stitch--Cable Chain--Knotted Chain--Split
Stitch 75

CHAPTER V

STITCHES--(_continued_)

Satin Stitch--Long and Short Stitch--Stem Stitch--Overcast Stitch--Back
Stitch--Buttonhole Stitch--Tailor's Buttonhole--Fancy Buttonhole
Edgings--Flower in Open Buttonhole Stitch--Leaf in Close Buttonhole
Stitches--Petal in Solid Buttonholing 95

CHAPTER VI

STITCHES--(_continued_)

Knots and Knot Stitches--Herring-bone Stitch--Feather Stitch--Basket
Stitch--Fishbone Stitch--Cretan Stitch--Roumanian Stitch--Various
Insertion Stitches--Picots 118

CHAPTER VII

CANVAS WORK AND STITCHES

Introduction--Samplers--Petit Point Pictures--Cross Stitch--Tent
Stitch--Gobelin Stitch--Irish Stitch--Plait Stitch--Two-sided Italian
Stitch--Holbein Stitch--Rococo Stitch 147

CHAPTER VIII

METHODS OF WORK

Couching--Braid Work--Laid Work--Applied Work--Inlaid Work--Patch Work
164

CHAPTER IX

METHODS OF WORK--(_continued_)

Quilting--Raised Work--Darning--Open Fillings--Darned Netting 189

CHAPTER X

Methods of work--(_continued_)

Drawn Thread Work--Hem Stitching--Simple Border Patterns--Darned Thread
Patterns--Corners--Cut or Open Work--Various Methods of Refilling the
Open Spaces 213

CHAPTER XI

EMBROIDERY WITH GOLD AND SILVER THREADS

Introduction--Materials--Precautions for the Prevention of
Tarnish--Ancient Method of Couching--Its various Good
Points--Description of Working Diagram--Working a Raised Bar--Examples
of Patterns Employed in Old Work--Illustrations upon Draped
Figures--Usual Method of Couching--Couching Patterns--Outline
Work--Raised Work--The Use of Purls, Bullions, &c. 229

CHAPTER XII

LETTERING, HERALDRY, AND EMBLEMS

The Uses of Lettering--Marking--Monograms--Heraldry--Emblems 259

CHAPTER XIII

THE GARNITURE OF WORK

Finishing off--Making up--Edges--Use of Cord-making Appliance--Cord
Twisted by Hand--Knotted Cord--Fringes--Tassels--Knots 271

CHAPTER XIV

PRACTICAL DIRECTIONS

Transferring Patterns--Paste for Embroidery Purposes--Protection and
Preservation of Work--Washing Embroidery--Prevention and Cure of
Puckered Work--Points about the Thread--Dressing the Frame 292

PART II

TAPESTRY WEAVING

CHAPTER XV

INTRODUCTION 307

CHAPTER XVI

NECESSARY APPLIANCES AND MATERIALS

The Loom--Mirror--Bobbins and Needles--The Comb--Embroidery Frame
treated as a Loom--Warp--Wools--Silk--Gold and Silver Thread 315

CHAPTER XVII

PREPARATIONS FOR WORK

Warping the Loom--Dressing the Coat-Stave--Tracing the Pattern upon the
Threads 328

CHAPTER XVIII

THE TECHNIQUE OF WEAVING

Weaving--Commencing and Fastening Off--The Interlocking Stitch--Fine
Drawing--Shading--Added After-stitches 339

NOTES ON THE COLLOTYPE PLATES 355

THE COLLOTYPE PLATES 369

INDEX 402

PART I--EMBROIDERY

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

In the practice of embroidery the needlewoman has an advantage not now
shared by workers in any other craft, in that the technical processes
are almost a matter of inherited skill. Every woman can sew, and it is
with little more than the needle and thread, which she habitually
employs, that the greatest masterpieces of the art have been stitched.
The art of embroidery, however, is not merely an affair of stitches;
they are but the means by which ideas can be expressed in intelligible
form, and memories of all kinds of things be pictured on stuffs.

To laboriously train the hand is scarcely worth while unless it is
capable of expressing something that is at least pretty. Nowadays much
embroidery is done with the evident intent of putting into it the
minimum expenditure of both thought and labour, and such work furnishes
but a poor ideal to fire the enthusiasm of the novice; happily, there
still exist many fine examples showing what splendid results may be
achieved; without some knowledge of this work we cannot obtain a just
idea of the possibilities of the art.

It is obvious that much advantage can be gained from studying the
accumulated experience of the past in addition to that current in our
own day. To do this intelligently, the history of embroidery must be
followed in order that the periods richest in the various kinds of work
may be ascertained. Museums afford useful hunting-grounds for the study
of past work; other sources are private collections, churches, costume
in pictures or on engraved brasses, and manuscript inventories such as
those of cathedral treasuries, which sometimes contain interesting
detailed descriptions of their embroidered vestments and hangings.

Blind copying of old work is not of much value; it is not possible or
desirable to imitate XIIIth century work now, but much can be learned
by examining fine examples in an appreciative and analytical spirit. In
what way the design has been built up can be discovered; the most
complicated result may often be resolved into quite elementary lines.
The student must find out wherein lie the attraction and interest, note
good schemes of colour, and learn about stitches and methods of work by
close examination of the embroidery, both front and back.

Every one knows what embroidery is, and a formal definition seems
unnecessary. As a matter of fact, it would be a difficult task to give
one, since weaving, lace-making, and embroidery are but subtle
variations of the same art.

This art may be of the highest or the most homely character, and the
latter is by no means to be despised. Simple unaffected work decorating
the things of every-day use can give a great deal of pleasure in its
way. This should surely be the accomplishment of every woman, for though
she may not have the skill to attain to the highest branches, it would
at least enable her to decorate her home with such things as the
counterpanes, curtains, and other objects that set such a personal
stamp upon the English domestic work of several centuries, and which
nowadays can hardly be found except stored up in museums.

It is advisable as a general rule that the design be both made and
carried out by the same person. From the worker's own point of view the
interest must be much greater when working out her own ideas than when
merely acting as amanuensis to another. The idea is more likely to be
expressed with spirit; further there is the possibility of adding to or
altering, and thereby improving, the work as it progresses. The designer
must in any case be well acquainted with stitches and materials, for
they play an important part in achieving good results. The individuality
of the worker should be evident in her work; indeed it generally is, for
even plain hems by two people bear quite different characters; the
degree of individuality present, varies with each one, but in any case
it will be much more marked if the design and stitching bear the stamp
of the same personality.

The difference between good and unsatisfactory results should be
carefully thought out, for it is often but a small matter. The best
kind of work is that which appeals to the intelligence as well as to the
eye, which is another way of saying there should be evidence of mind
upon the material. Work must be interesting in some way if it is to be
attractive; it had better almost be faulty and interesting than dull,
dry, and correct. It can interest by reminding us of pleasant things,
such as familiar flowers, shady woods, or green lawns; birds, beasts,
and so forth can be depicted in their characteristic attitudes, or a
story can be told; in fact, work can be made attractive in a hundred
different ways. It must not show signs of having wearied the worker in
the doing; variety and evidence of thought lavishly expended upon it
will prevent this, and enthusiasm will quicken it with life.

The selection of the object to work comes at an early stage, and is a
matter to be well considered, for it is a pity to spend time and labour
upon unsuitable objects when there are many excellent ones to choose
from. In thinking over what to work it should be realised that it takes
no longer to execute one rather important piece than several of a less
ambitious character, and that the former is generally more worth the
doing. Whether the subject is a suitable one for embroidery or not
sometimes depends upon the method chosen for carrying it out; for
instance, anything that has to endure hard wear must be treated in such
a way as to stand it well.

Dress is a fine subject for embroidery; but, for the decoration to be
satisfactory, the art of designing dress must be understood, and the
dress must also be well cut, or the embroidery will be quite wasted upon
it. What is termed "art dress," proverbially bad, well deserves its
reputation. There is a great difference in the quantity of work that may
be put into dress decoration; this may be simply an embroidered vest,
collar, and cuffs, or it may be actually an integral part of the
costume, which as a much bigger and more difficult undertaking is
correspondingly finer in effect when successfully carried out.

Amongst larger objects that well repay the labour of embroidery,
hangings of various kinds, quilts, screens, furniture coverings, altar
frontals, church vestments, may be mentioned; amongst smaller, are bags,
boxes, book-covers, gloves or mittens, bell-pulls, cushions, mirror
frames, all kinds of household linen, infants' robes, and so on, and for
church use such things as alms-bags, book-markers, stoles, pulpit and
lectern frontals. Then a panel may be worked with the deliberate
intention of framing it to hang on a wall. There is no reason why the
painter should have the monopoly of all the available wall space, for
decorative work is undoubtedly in place there; a piece of embroidered
work might well fill a panel over a mantel-piece. There is no need to
discuss what not to do, but, if the attraction to embroider a tea-cosy
is too strong to resist, it should surely be of washable materials.

Embroidery has distinct practical advantages over some other crafts
practised nowadays--no special studio need be devoted to its use, for
most work can be done in any well-lighted room, which indeed will be
rendered more attractive by the presence of an embroidery frame, for
this is in itself a characteristic and dainty piece of furniture. It
need but seldom interfere with one of our pleasant traditions, genial
converse with, and about, our neighbours, for it is a distinctly
sociable occupation. Work of this kind can be put down and taken up at
leisure; the necessary outlay in materials need not be extravagant, and
so on. Many other points might be thought of, but the claims of the art
do not demand any special pleading, for it is pleasant in the actual
working, and can produce an infinite variety of most interesting
results.

CHAPTER II

TOOLS, APPLIANCES, AND MATERIALS

Needles--Scissors--Thimbles--Frames--Stand and Frame
combined--Tambour Frame--Cord-making Appliance--Requisites for
Transferring Patterns--Pricker--Knife--Spindle--Piercer--Suitable
Materials for Embroidering upon--Threads of all Kinds--Stones,
Beads, &c.

Good workmanship takes a prominent, though not the first, place.
Technical excellence in needlework, as in all other artistic crafts, is
a question of the worker's perseverance and her ability in the use of
tools. In embroidery these are few and simple, and are as follows:--

_Needles._--For most purposes needles known as long-eyed sharps are
used. Tapestry needles, similar to these, but with blunt points, are
useful for canvas work and darned netting. For gold work a special
needle can be procured with sharp point and long wide eye. A bent needle
makes a crooked stitch; but needles if made of good steel should not
bend; they break if used unfairly. The eye should be cleanly cut, or it
roughens the thread. The needle must be just stout enough to prepare for
the thread an easy passage through the material.

_Scissors._--Three pairs may be necessary; for ordinary work a small
pair with fine sharp points, for gold work small ones with strong points
similar to nail scissors, and for cutting-out purposes a large pair with
one rounded and one sharp point.

_Thimbles._--Steel ones are said to be most serviceable, silver are most
usual; but whatever the material they must be neatly made in order not
to wear the thread.

_Frames._--A common type of frame is shown at fig. 1. It is made in
various sizes; the one here represented measures 18 inches across. It
consists of four pieces of wood, two rollers for the top and base and
two side pieces. Each of the rollers has a piece of webbing securely
nailed along it, and its extremities are pierced with holes to receive
the side pieces. These are formed of two long wooden screws, fitted with
movable nuts, which adjust the width of the frame and the tautness of
the stretched work. The piece of material that is stretched between is
the link that keeps the frame together, for the screw ends fit just
loosely in the holes of the rollers. The side pieces are sometimes made
of flat laths of wood pierced with holes at regular intervals; in these
are inserted metal pins, by means of which the work is kept stretched.
Fig. 9 represents a frame of this type. If the frame is a very large one
it can have a strengthening bar fixed across the centre from roller to
roller.

[Illustration: Fig. 1.]

The frame is most convenient for work when fixed in a stand, although it
can be used leaning against a table or the back of a chair. A very large
frame would be supported upon trestles, but for ordinary purposes, a
stand, such as the one shown in fig. 2, is practical. It consists of two
upright wooden posts, a little over 2 feet in height, which are
connected near the base by a strengthening cross piece. Both this and
the uprights are adjustable; the centre part of the posts is arranged to
slide up and down, and can be fixed at any convenient height by the
insertion of a long metal pin; the width of the cross piece is regulated
in similar fashion, being made firm, by a screw, at the required width,
thus allowing various sized frames to be used in the same stand. The
frame is fixed in place by metal clamps, and a wooden pivot is arranged
so as to permit the stretched work to be inclined at any angle
convenient. Both stand and frame should be well made and of good wood,
for they must be able to stand strain and be perfectly firm and true
when fixed for work.

[Illustration: Fig. 2.]

A small circular frame, such as is shown in fig. 3, is useful for
marking linen or for any small work. This, formed of two hoops fitting
closely one within the other, can be procured in wood, ivory, or bone,
of various sizes, the one illustrated being about 6 inches in diameter.
The material to be worked upon is stretched between these hoops like the
parchment on a drum. These tambour frames, as they are called, are
sometimes fixed into a small stand or fitted with a wooden clamp for
fastening to a table; this frees both hands for work. These tambours
cannot well be recommended; the material is apt to stretch unevenly, and
a worked part, if flattened between the hoops, is liable to be damaged.

[Illustration: Fig. 3.]

The illustration at fig. 4 shows a simple little instrument for making
a twisted cord. It is interesting to note that Etienne Binet, who wrote
on embroidery about 1620, when discussing some necessary equipment for
an embroideress mentions "_un rouet pour faire les cordons_."

There is sometimes a difficulty in procuring the cord just right to suit
the finished work; the texture may be too coarse to put beside fine
embroidery, it may not be a good match, and, even if so at first, it may
fade quite differently from the worked silks. For these and other
reasons it is a safe method to make the cord one's self, possibly with
some materials of the kind already used in the embroidery.

[Illustration: Fig. 4.]

This appliance enables the worker to make any kind of twisted cord; it
is as simple as a toy to handle, and gives excellent results. It is a
metal instrument about 8 inches in height. The three small discs are
wheels, supported on the arms of an upright cross which has a heavy
circular base. These three wheels are connected by a cord with a larger
wheel below that has a handle attached to it. The cord runs in a groove
round the circumference of each wheel, and must be held taut in
position. By turning the handle of the large wheel the three small ones
are set in motion. Three hooks, attached to the axles of the small
wheels, are therefore rotated with them. One end of each ply of the cord
in making is looped on to one of these hooks, the other ends are
attached to three similar hooks fixed into a block of wood which, when
in use, is firmly clamped to the table. Further instruction in the
making of cords is given in Chapter XIII.

[Illustration: Fig. 5.]

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