Basket or Stroke Stitch (Fig. 16).—This figure gives another good line in rather high relief stitchery. It is sometimes called plaited stitch, sometimes fishbone, but it is really a stroke stitch; it is most effective and useful for a solid line, whether worked on coarse material with a thick twisted thread, or on fine material with a correspondingly fine twisted silk thread. It has a strong resemblance to some of the plaited Slav or Algerian stitches. It may be easily worked on most materials, especially if a couple of guiding lines are traced before setting to work. Quite a broad border may be attempted which will look well if worked in a coarse thread.
To work Basket Stitch.—Bring out the needle at the top of the line on the left; make a slanting stitch downwards to the right line; pass the needle under the material and bring it out on the left opposite; take a slanting stitch upwards over the first stitch to the right and insert the needle a little lower than the level of the first stitch; then pass under the material to the left side again and bring it out just under the first stitch; take a slanting stitch downwards again and continue by taking a cross and a slanting stitch alternately.
Fig. 17.
Net stitch can also be used as a surface stitch or as a filling for an open space. It is a method of interlacing which one frequently finds on the seats of small chairs, in the construction of baskets and other wicker articles. It may be worked with the lines set further apart than those in the figure. The horizontal lines are stretched first, not too tightly; these are followed by oblique lines which start from the left lower corner. The final row, also in oblique lines, starts at the right; each row is interlaced with two others. It is useful and most effective when used as a surface stitch, as a filling for geometrical forms; when used as a lace stitch worked in a linen thread the lines may be duplicated. This net is generally the foundation on which the design is made.
Openwork Hems (Fig. 12).—Openworked hems may usually be applied to all types of woven materials, to drawn thread work, and to household linen. They are more decorative than the ordinary hem.
Method:—Draw out the number of threads required—this will always depend on the quality of the material, and varies from two to six; lay the folds for the hem and tack them just above the open space; fasten the thread on the left and insert the needle from right to left under four, five, or six threads; pull through the needle and re-insert, taking a vertical stitch under three or four threads of the folded material. Plate V. shows a border of green galoon fixed with hemstitching on the inner side; as the material is very loosely woven, no threads have been withdrawn. The same stitch is used for a heading for a fringe (Fig. 34); it prevents the material from fraying and collects the strands into groups.
Ladder Hemstitch.—A more open appearance may be given by withdrawing a few more threads and hemstitching the lower edges also; this makes a narrow insertion, for by grouping the same threads together, as in the upper row, little perpendicular strips are formed which gives wider spacing—the bars suggest the rungs of a ladder, and on this account it is generally known as ladder hemstitching.
Vandyke Insertion.—A vandyke form is also effective; it is worked by grouping the stitches of the second or lower row, after hemstitching the upper row, in the following method:—Take up half the threads of the first cluster and half of the second on the needle, then proceed as in upper row; by dividing the groups of the upper row in this way a series of slanting stitches is formed when the lower row is complete.
Antique Hemstitch.—There are several other ways of hemstitching which only vary slightly; perhaps the most decorative form is that usually seen on old embroideries, where the thread is carried round a narrow rolled hem, not a folded one.