Andrew Lang, Ed. - "The Green Fairy Book"

Elisabeth Woodbridge - "More Jonathan Papers"

Major A.R. Calhoon - "How to Get on in the World"

Robert Barr - "Jennie Baxter, Journalist"

Annual Bibliography of Commonwealth Literature 2007
This paper argues that discourses of love in Ghanaian market literature for youth offer a view into complex negotiations of agency and empowerment. Drawing on Deborah Durham's notion of youth as "social `shifters'" and Francis Nyamnjoh's conception of the "interconnectedness" of agency, I take Ghanaian market literature as one specific case of how African literature for youth foregrounds questions of continuity and change as African societies enter into increasingly complex global relations. In this literature for youth, received notions of love, often constructed out of impressions from American pop and hip hop music, carry new notions of agency that compete with existing "domesticated" forms. Authors like Ike Tandoh and Evelyn Tay employ discourses of love to offer youth alternative avenues for empowerment in a context of socio-economic disenfranchizement. In a creative process of "straddling", this writing both reveals and reproduces the contradictions that obtain in youth configurations of agency.

Encyclopedia of Needlework

T >> Therese de Dillmont >> Encyclopedia of Needlework




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

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

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

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

BASKET STITCH ON LINEN (fig. 869).--This stitch has some resemblance
with the Greek stitch, fig. 278, and the Montenegrin, fig. 306, only
that it is not crossed like the latter.

[Illustration: FIG. 869. BASKET STITCH ON LINEN.]

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

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

[Illustration: FIG. 870. OLD GERMAN KNOTTED STITCH.]

OLD GERMAN KNOTTED STITCH (fig. 870).--This is a stitch often met with
in old church and house linen embroidery. A beautiful design worked in
this way is given further on.

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

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

[Illustration: FIG. 871. RAISED STEM STITCH.]

[Illustration: FIG. 872. ANOTHER KIND OF RAISED STEM STITCH.]

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

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

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

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

[Illustration: FIG. 873. BORDER IN DIFFERENT KINDS OF STITCHES.
MATERIALS--For the old German knotted stitch: Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C No.
2, ecru--For the basket stitch: Coton a tricoter D.M.C No. 16,
Bleu-Indigo 312--For the Gobelin stitches: Coton a broder D.M.C No. 20,
Rouge-Turc 321--For the lace stitches: Fil a dentelle D.M.C No. 40,
white.]

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

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

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

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

[Illustration: FIG. 874. ROUMANIAN STITCH.]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[Illustration: FIG. 875. BORDER IN ROUMANIAN STITCH. MATERIALS: Coton a
broder D.M.C No. 16, Coton a repriser D.M.C No. 50, or Cordonnet 6 fils
D.M.C No. 20.[A] COLOURS: Rouge-Cardinal 346, Rouge-Grenat 358,
Brun-Caroubier 355, Rouge Maroquin 3327 et 3328, or Rouge-Cerise 3317 et
3318.[A]]

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

[Illustration: FIG. 876. PATTERN FOR PIQUE EMBROIDERY. MATERIALS:
Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C Nos. 1 and 25, Fil d'Alsace D.M.C No. 100, Fil a
pointer D.M.C No. 30 and Fil a dentelle D.M.C No. 30.[A]]

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

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

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

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

[Illustration: FIG. 877. LETTER T OF THE SOUTACHE ALPHABET. MODE OF
INTERLACING THE SOUTACHE.]

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

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

[Illustration: FIG. 878. ALPHABET IN SOUTACHE. LETTERS A TO N.]

[Illustration: FIG. 879. ALPHABET IN SOUTACHE. LETTERS O TO Z.]

For the ears of corn in fig. 883, use either Soutache ecru, or
Jaune-d'Ocre 677 No. 2; for the marguerites, white Soutache No. 21/2 and
for the corn flowers, Soutache Bleu-Indigo 322 No. 2. Nothing could be
simpler than the mode of working these flowers.

[Illustration: FIG. 880. LETTER M OF THE ALPHABET IN SOUTACHE. MODE OF
SEWING ON THE SOUTACHE.]

[Illustration: FIG. 881. LETTER W OF THE ALPHABET IN SOUTACHE. MODE OF
PLACING THE BARS AND EMBROIDERING THE LEAVES.]

[Illustration: FIG. 882. LETTER A OF THE ALPHABET IN SOUTACHE IN ITS
FINISHED STATE.]

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

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

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

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

[Illustration: FIG. 883. FLOWERS EXECUTED IN SOUTACHE AND EMBROIDERY.
MATERIALS: Soutache D.M.C Nos. 1 to 3 and Coton a broder D.M.C No.
35.[A] COLOURS--For the Soutache: White, ecru or Jaune d'Ocre 677, and
Bleu-Indigo 322.--For the Coton a broder: Ecru, Jaune-Orange 444,
Bleu-Indigo 311, Gris-Tilleul 391 and 330, Vert-Pistache 319, 320 and
369, Rouge-Cardinal 348.[A]]

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

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

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

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

[Illustration: FIG. 884. CHINESE SUBJECT. MATERIALS: Coton a repriser
D.M.C No. 50, Or fin D.M.C pour la broderie No. 40 and Chine d'or
D.M.C[A].]

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

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

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

FOOTNOTES:

[A] See at the end of the concluding chapter, the table of numbers and
sizes and the list of colours of the D.M.C threads and cottons.





[Illustration: ORNAMENT AFTER HOLBEIN.]




Practical directions.


Hitherto we have been chiefly occupied with descriptions and
explanations of the different kinds of needlework; to render these
complete, it remains for us to give a few practical directions with
regard to the copying, adjustment and transposition of the patterns, as
well as to the different processes, often so essential to the ultimate
success of a piece of needlework. For this success will soon be found
not to depend on the stitches only but very largely on the proper
adaptation of the design to the space it is intended to fill.

Then, in the case of new lace, it is necessary to know the amount of
dressing it will require to give it the right stiffness and when this
dressing has worn off how to renew it; whilst in the case of applique
work more especially, it is indispensable to know exactly what the
ingredients are, of which the paste should be composed and how to make
and lay it on in the proper manner.

TRACING PATTERNS AGAINST A WINDOW PANE.--In order to copy a pattern in
this way, the first step is to tack or pin the piece of stuff or paper
on which the copy is to be made upon the pattern. In the case of a small
pattern, the tacking or pinning may be dispensed with and the two
sheets held firmly pressed against the window pane with the left hand,
whilst the right hand does the tracing, but even then it is safer to pin
or gum the four corners of the two sheets together, in case of
interruption, as it is difficult to fit them together again exactly.

The tracing may be done with a pencil, or better still, with a brush
dipped in Indian ink or water-colour paint.

The process of tracing is easy enough, so long as the hand does not get
tired but as this generally comes to pass very soon it is best, if the
pattern be a large and complicated one, to stick the sheets to the pane
with strong gum or suspend them on a string, fastened across the pane by
pins stuck into the window frame on either side.

TO TAKE OFF A PATTERN BY RUBBING.--If you want to take a pattern of a
piece of embroidery direct from the work itself, lay it, the right side
up, flat upon a board or table and cover it with letter or tissue paper.

The paper should be of a good medium thickness, if it be too thick it
will not take a clear impression of the pattern, and if very thin it is
apt to tear.

Fasten the paper down upon the embroidery with drawing-pins and rub off
the pattern with drawing-wax. In default of the right kind of wax, the
bowl or handle of a spoon, or a large silver coin will serve the purpose
equally well, as will also some powdered graphite or charcoal. The
outlines will not of course, in any case, be very clearly defined upon
the paper and will have to be gone over and carefully supplemented
afterwards with a pencil.

Taking off the pattern with charcoal or graphite is less injurious to
the embroidery than rubbing it off with wax or metal, as the pressure
required in the latter case flattens the needle-work very considerably.
As soon as you have fixed the lines of the pattern by drawing them over
with ink, it is ready for use.

TO TRANSFER A PATTERN DIRECT ON TO THE STUFF.--Patterns cannot be
copied by either of the above methods direct on to the stuff and can
only be used when the stuff on which the embroidery is to be executed
is transparent; in the case of thick close fabrics the drawing must be
made on the stuff itself. The following is the simplest way of
transferring a pattern on to a transparent stuff; begin by going over
all the lines of the drawing with Indian ink so as to make them quite
thick and distinct, and tacking the paper with large stitches on to the
back of the stuff. Then, mix some very dark powdered indigo diluted with
water, in a glass with a small pinch of sugar and powdered gum arabic,
and using this as ink and a fine pen very slightly split, trace the
pattern that shines through on the stuff.

The tracing must be very slight, for if the embroidery be not done till
some time afterwards the lines get so firmly fixed in the stuff that one
washing will not obliterate them; the tracing ink moreover makes the
work unpleasantly sticky.

TO COPY WITH OILED PAPER.--Another rather expeditious mode of
transferring patterns on to thin and more especially smooth glossy
stuffs, is by means of a special kind of tinted paper, called
autographic paper, which is impregnated with a coloured oily substance
and is to be had at any stationer's shop. This you place between the
pattern and the stuff, having previously fastened the stuff, perfectly
straight by the line of the thread, to a board, with drawing-pins. When
you have fitted the two papers likewise exactly together, you go over
all the lines of the pattern with a blunt pencil, or with, what is
better still, the point of a bone crochet needle or the edge of a
folder. You must be careful not to press so heavily upon the pattern
paper as to tear it; by the pressure exercised on the two sheets of
paper, the oily substance of the blue paper discharges itself on to the
stuff, so that when it is removed all the lines you have traced are
imprinted upon the stuff.

This blue tracing paper is however only available for the reproduction
of patterns on washing stuffs, as satin and all other silky textures are
discoloured by it.

TO POUNCE PATTERNS UPON STUFFS.--The modes of copying, hitherto
described, cannot be indiscriminately used for all kinds of stuff; for
cloth, velvet and plush, for instance, they are not available and
pouncing is the only way that answers.

The patterns, after having been transferred to straw or parchment paper,
have to be pricked through. To do this you lay the paper upon cloth or
felt and prick out all the lines of the drawing, making the holes, which
should be clear and round, all exactly the same distance apart.

The closer and more complicated the pattern is, the finer and closer the
holes should be. Every line of the outline must be carefully pricked
out.

If the paper be sufficiently thin, several pouncings can be pricked at
the same time, and a symmetrical design can be folded together into four
and all pricked at once.

The pricked pattern has next to be tacked upon the material, the side
from which the pricking was done next to the stuff and the little
funnel-shaped holes uppermost. Paper and stuff must be firmly fastened
down and kept in position by drawing pins, so that neither of them may
move during the process, otherwise you will have double lines on the
stuff which you will find very confusing afterwards.

For the pouncing, use either powdered chalk or charcoal, according to
whether the stuff be dark or light in colour. Dip the pouncing
implement, a thing like a small drum-stick, stuffed and covered with
cloth, into the powder and rub it lightly over the whole surface of the
pricked pattern, so that the powder penetrates through the pin-holes to
the stuff. In default of a proper pouncing implement take a small stripe
of cloth, roll it up round a stick and wind a string round, and dip this
into the powder.

When the powder has penetrated to the stuff, remove the paper and if the
pattern is to be repeated, lay it on again further on, taking care to
make the lines meet exactly so that the join may not be seen.

When you have finished the pouncing and taken off the paper, you proceed
to draw or rather paint in the pattern with water-colour paints:
Ackermann's are the best for the purpose; no others, as far as our
experience has proved, adhere so well to even the roughest fabrics or so
little affect the brilliancy of the embroidery thread. Four paints,
blue, black, yellow and white are sufficient for all purposes, whatever
the colour of the stuff may be.

On a smooth surface the tracing may be done with a pen but a small
sable-hair brush is preferable under all circumstances.

The rougher and more hairy the surface, the finer the brush ought to be,
in order that the colour may sink well in between the fibres.

Before beginning to paint in the pattern, gently blow away all the
superfluous powder from the surface. This process may be objected to as
being an old one which has been superseded by new inventions; a resinous
powder for instance, by the use of which patterns can be fixed, as soon
as they have been pounced, by passing a hot iron over the stuff, a sheet
of paper having first been laid upon it to protect it; or else a mixture
of gum and powder which can be dissolved on the stuff itself by the
steam of spirits-of-wine, and various other processes needless to
mention here, as some are only useful in tracing patterns on a large
scale, whilst others require a variety of appliances, not as a rule,
within the reach of those to whom needle-work is a simple recreation.

THE PREPARATION OF THE STUFFS AND THE SUBDIVISION OF THE
PATTERNS.--Long years of experience and practice have brought us in
contact with a good many designers, many of them artists in their way,
so long as it was only a question of putting their own compositions on
paper but who yet found themselves confronted by real difficulties the
moment they were called upon to transfer them to stuff.

We shall, as far as possible, point out to our readers the precautions
to be taken in tracing patterns and must for that purpose go back to one
of the first operations, namely that of pricking.

To begin with, the paper on which the pattern is should always be large
enough for there to be a clear margin of from 4 to 5 c/m. all round the
pattern, so that the pouncing instrument may never come in contact with
the stuff beneath.

In transferring patterns to stuff, no lines of division should ever be
made directly upon it either with lead, chalk or charcoal, as it is
hardly ever possible entirely to obliterate them and they often become
very confusing afterwards.

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