An embroidery book

by Anne Knox Arthur

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.