CHAPTER III
CONSTRUCTION AND DESIGN
“A cunning workman, an embroiderer in blue and in purple and in fine linen.”
We shall now discuss the decorative points.
The construction and the building up of the pattern may be taken together.
A Simple Pattern in Needle-weaving.—The simplest design for an initial effort should be one which could be executed in needle-weaving such as is illustrated in Plate I. Here the spaces for the decoration are marked off on the material, there being no necessity to put any design on to paper—the weaving may be done in any simple primitive pattern, or from some of the more interesting darning pattern samplers, or it may follow some idea or fanciful invention of the worker. It should be more or less symmetrical in colour and form, and provided that sufficient thought is taken in arranging the colour scheme and that the technique is good, the result should be both pleasing and decorative. (See [Chapter V]. on needle-weaving.) Supposing the material and the colour scheme to have been already decided, and that a loosely woven texture—which demands a simple conventional pattern with bold stitchery and bright colour effects—has been chosen (let it be a runner, table cover or any article suitable for household use). It would be best, as simplicity must be the keynote, to have a marginal or border design, built up entirely on straight lines and geometrical forms. First plan out the material and arrange for the decoration; decide whether the pattern is to be placed on to a wide hem, or inside a narrow one, or whether it is to be applied as wide bars at the ends and edges of the runner. The limited space at the disposal of the designer will often aid and suggest the pattern.
The decoration should, when possible, strengthen the construction. Be careful at all times to place it where it will not interfere with the usefulness of the object. A cushion, for example, ornamented with raised embroidery or with large beads, conveys the idea of discomfort rather than of comfort, which is, after all, the raison d’être of a cushion, the addition to a room, by means of colour and decoration, being a secondary point.
In the early days, when decoration was so freely applied by primitive peoples to seams, hems, shoulder-straps, indeed to all objects, it was their aim to increase the usefulness of the article rather than to decorate it.
A Border Pattern.—When the above-mentioned points have been decided, take squared paper, ruler, and pencil, and draw a few nicely spaced lines; duplicate the outer ones to give weight to the edges. All these lines crossing at the corners will form the framework of the design. Regularity and order are as essential in needlework as in most crafts, therefore the care and precision taken in the earlier stages will aid in the working of the later.
The Construction.—Plan carefully and arrange for the decoration, which should never interfere with the usefulness of the finished work.
The Corners.—The treatment of the corners presents the greatest difficulty. In a frame they are structurally the weakest parts; for this reason the ornamentation is placed at these parts to bind and strengthen, as well as to decorate them. In a piece of needlework with a simple border design they are again the most important. One expects to find unity, enrichment and massiveness there where the lines cross; we add, therefore, a few extra lines or chequers to the corners. By this means we enlarge them, and by so doing append dignity and importance. Still greater emphasis and the necessary note of interest will be given by the colour and the stitchery—the treatment of which should always be in the foreground of the mind of the designer.
Principle of Repetition.—Do not aim at great variety of form; repetition is one of the first principles of design. The beginner will save herself much worry and labour if she keeps this principle before her, instead of striving—as she invariably does—after variety. She should make her form—a square, an oblong, or whatever simple element she may have chosen—recur at regular intervals, and all corners should be alike.
Masses connected by Lines.—Masses should be joined by connecting lines and the spacing so arranged as to give value to the rest of the work.
Value of Spaces.—A form or element should never be cramped into a space nor stretched out unduly in order to fill one; it should be planned and balanced to look as if it just belonged to it. A design is well balanced when the elements are so adjusted that they are neither too monotonous by over repetition nor confused by too much variation.
Diagonal Lines.—It is safer at the earlier stages to avoid diagonal lines, or forms made up of such lines, for several reasons: they give a restless effect which should be avoided if possible, they present to the embroideress considerable difficulty of manipulation—coming, as they must, on the bias of the material, which may easily be tightened, puckered or pulled out of shape in the working by the inexperienced hand.
The Game of Design.—There is really no limit to the possible patterns which may be built up on straight lines and geometrical forms. The needlewoman has only to try with a ruler, pencil and squared paper in order to discover that she may, after some little practice, make most elaborate designs with interesting results. There are, of course, certain fundamental principles which will help her, but they are not many, and with the suggestions already given she should be able to arrange many simple designs suitable for her own use. It might be quite a pleasant occupation for the younger members of a household, on a winter’s evening, to start and play at design. A time limit, perhaps a quarter of an hour for the first effort, and a longer period as the patterns became more elaborate, might be given; afterwards all the designs could be exchanged, compared, criticised, and then judged by an older member. In this way a “habit” of pattern making might be cultivated. Many of the designs should prove valuable to the craft worker as well as interesting to the youngsters.
Circles.—From the making of patterns with straight lines we go on to circular forms, with radiating lines. This opens up a wide field to the embroideress, allowing her to extend and vary her simple designs indefinitely.
With this new element, the circle, she can formulate some of the more definite floral shapes, and arranging them in an orderly manner, symmetrically, can make a geometrical pattern suitable to her purpose; she can make use of compasses, or if these instruments are not at hand, any circular form, such as a plate or a coin, will suit admirably. Should these prove too small, there is always the simple device of the fixed pin encircled by a thread, with the pencil at the opposite end, which, when the pin is held firmly in the centre of the space—as the thread must remain taut—will form a circle, the size being fixed by the length of the thread.
Circles at once suggest natural forms and growth, but to begin with the young designer must keep to the geometrical side of Nature; natural floral forms will come later. If she examines carefully a number of the flowers of the field or hedgerow she will find that many of these beautiful forms are built up on a geometrical basis—she will note the radiating lines of the flowers, the sepals, petals and stamens, the venation of leaves, the manner in which the mid-rib gives off, gradually, the beautiful curving lines which flow into the outer edges, and the wonderful orderliness of the little seeds clinging to the sides or centre of the seed vessel, and thus she will realise that all curving lines are but segments, or parts of circles of various sizes.
To aid the designer in her first efforts let her turn to an elementary text-book on botany—she will probably find there a number of diagrams of horizontal sections of the commoner wild flowers. These give the plan of each flower typical of the family to which it belongs—all the parts are arranged symmetrically in circles or whorls, and show how the flower is built up. The embroideress should find these sections full of suggestions; she might take the simpler forms to begin with and elaborate them, adding fresh details where necessary for the development of her design. By comparing the sections of one flower with another—of the wild rose with the poppy, the purple loosestrife with the forget-me-not, the primrose with the daffodil—she will be able to obtain variety with simplicity and balance; then she will connect and join all the masses with straight or curved lines, and thus give completeness to her design.
With increased knowledge of the structure of flowers the embroideress will gain a keener sense of observation which will be of great value when she studies the natural forms.
Setting forth once more on the high adventure of making her own design, she will bring to her aid the principles already learnt in the making of straight lines while she was building up her patterns and designs.
The Fifth Point: The Stitchery.
We express ourselves and our ideas in embroidery by means of stitches and colour.
To have pleasure in the craft, the needlewoman must have a fairly accurate knowledge of the technique. Stitchery should at all times be as simple as possible, and carefully adapted to the material and the design.
Simpler Types of Stitchery.—The commoner types, those which by experience and long use have been proved to be the most beautiful or the most practical, are the best. All the more complicated forms are merely modifications or combinations of these simple types, many of which are used in “plain” needlework. There are, in fact, few stitches which a careful worker cannot master in a very short time.
Stitchery not the Most Important.—It is wise to remember that stitchery is not the most important factor, but only one of the many which go to the making of good and artistic work. Beauty, in needlework, consists, not in the variation and elaboration of stitch, but in the harmony of material and technique, as well as of form and colour.
Unity of Stitch.—Where coloured threads are used it will often be found advantageous to adopt one stitch only. Many of the charming pieces of embroidery stored up in our museums give us an idea of what can be done in this way, and though we lack, perhaps, both time and patience nowadays, there is no reason why we should not, by cultivation of our tastes, raise the level of the art considerably above its present standard and prove that we can still produce embroidery—of the modest, reticent type—adapted to our own conditions of life, which will reveal both refinement and artistic delight.
To execute a piece of work in one stitch would be excellent practice for the young embroideress, whereby she would learn to know and use a stitch in all its varied aspects. She need not fear monotony—the coloured threads will give sufficient variety. Let her take the simplest of all stitches to begin with—the tacking or basting stitch—and keeping it and its many varieties in her mind when planning out the pattern, she will find that she has many delightful ways of executing it. Tacking or basting stitch, worked in rows, becomes simple darning, a background stitch with which she may make charming patterns and fillings, ad libitum. (Plates II. and XII.) Worked closer, it is a running stitch, wherewith braids may be tacked in place (Plate IV.), frills gathered up, seams of frocks connected, or smocking prepared. Finally, when worked with the same quantity of thread on the under and upper surfaces of the material, it attains a new dignity, and becomes satin stitch—the stitch beloved of the young modern needlewoman, who is generally inspired and stimulated by the wonderful skill and precision of the Eastern needleworkers.
White Backgrounds.—White backgrounds, when embroidered in white or with only a little colour, may have much greater variation in stitchery; it is a relief to the worker and an improvement to the work—indeed, should the embroideress feel so disposed, she has here the opportunity of displaying her knowledge of stitchery to a considerable extent, always keeping, of course, within the limits of good taste.
She should endeavour to suit the stitchery to the work, to produce the desired effect without too much labour—not that work should ever be done in a hasty or untidy manner—but, as said before, she should adapt it to its purpose. It is well to remember that large pieces of embroidery, generally seen from a distance, demand bold, effective treatment; detail is lost, so can be omitted; smaller pieces, seen at closer range, should bear inspection, therefore more delicate treatment may be applied; detail and finer stitches can be seen to advantage. (See [Chapter XII]. for stitches and the method of working.)
The Sixth Point: The Finishings.
The aim of the embroideress is to make her work beautiful, as well as suitable for her purpose. If she has the gift of originality she will also make it distinctive, possibly unconsciously, by adding here and there those little touches of individuality which will mark the work as characteristic of herself.
It is in the finishings that she has most scope for these dainty devices; for by their means she may add interest and artistic detail to the simple garment or article of domestic use and render them charming things to look at. She may attain this end, not by obtaining expensive fitments, rich cords and silk tassels, such as are sometimes applied, most unsuitably, to embroidered cushions, table squares, and other objects that require frequent washing, but by the use of braids (Plate VI.), and bindings (Plate VIII.), and bands (Plate IV.), hand-made cords and tassels, linings, edges, fringes, beads and buttons, raffia and plaited straw.
Thus, the amateur will find it well worth while giving some thought to the making-up and finishing off of her embroidery. She will soon realise, too, the possibilities of making many of these ingenious devices herself wherewith to adorn her work, and she will feel well repaid in the end when she has contrived some simple embellishment at little extra cost.
Hand-made cords and tassels (Figs. 38A and 41), fringes and edgings (Figs. 34 and 42), may soon be made by skilful fingers; bright-coloured skirt braids and carpet bindings and hand-made cords of dyed string or wool give a decorative effect to hems and borders—a wide hem looks well with a heading of brush braid or a piping of coloured galoon or narrow Russian braid oversewn with wool, or a narrow band of needle-weaving. Material and edges may be joined, chair backs and runners may be brightened, dress fitments may be completed simply, artistically and economically, by means of these braids, connected with dainty joining stitches (Figs. 26 and 29).
Wools of various qualities may be brought into service to make fringes and cords for cushions, etc.; seams may be decorated and joined with insertion stitches, worked by hand (Fig. 25), or by the crochet needle (Fig. 63); fastenings may be secured by latchets of wool, thread, or silk, or cord, all of which are easy of manipulation and much prettier than machine-made articles.
By referring to Plate XIII., it may be seen that much may be achieved by means of braid in the decoration of a useful bag; for description, [see page 153].
Charming hand-made braids which may be used for many purposes, such as waist cords, latchets, ties, belts, hat bands (Fig. 40), may be made by means of an embroidery frame, a lace cushion or a small hand loom.
For the handles and joinings of bags, see chapter on needle-weaving.
Beads and buttons are useful for ornamentation—they give richness and weight wherever they may be placed; and as an addition to fringes (Fig. 35), tassels and ties, they are most effective. Flat beads and buttons may be applied to embroidery provided they do not interfere with the use of the object; this they would do if it were in such constant use as to require frequent washing.
Small beads may often take the place of French knots, giving much the same appearance to a border or hem.
Washing galoons and gimps, bindings and trimmings, may be effectively applied to dainty little tea and luncheon sets, as well as to children’s dresses and overalls, they may be further embellished with narrow borders of needle-weaving worked in coloured cottons or in flax threads.
For method of making fringes, tassels and braids, etc., [see Chapter XI].