Wools and thick cotton threads may be used and a large-eyed blunt-pointed needle for the weaving and darning.
CHAPTER IX
BRAIDS AND DESIGN—FAGGOTING—VEINING—ANTIQUE
SEAMS—KNOT INSERTION AND EDGING
“There’s nothing neere at hand, or fartherest sought,
But with the needle may be shap’d and wrought.”
Braids.—Braids in different widths are invaluable to the embroideress who wishes to execute rapidly a piece of work suitable for daily household use, which may possibly be exposed to the smoky and foggy city atmosphere, and on which she does not wish to expend much time, labour, or money.
Braids of various kinds and qualities—mohair, alpaca, woollen, cotton or silk—can be utilised in many ways, and for different objects, as well as for the finishing and decoration of hems and borders (Plates IX. and XII.).
Those which have an unbroken edge are the best for ornamental purposes. They may form the basis of simple geometrical patterns (Fig. 45); lines may be arranged to go in different ways, running vertically from end to end of a table scarf (Plate VI.), horizontally, as Plate III., or diagonally—the direction is immaterial; all are simple to arrange, with the exception of diagonal lines, which always require care in the placing and stitching, on account of the different stretching qualities of the braid and of the material. Sometimes the bands of braid are placed singly, sometimes in pairs, one braid—usually in a contrasting colour—being superimposed on the other. They may cross each other at right angles, they may entwine or interlace (Plate X.), or they may be formed into circles or spirals (Figs. 45, 51).
The manner in which braids themselves are made, with the twistings and interlacings of strands and groups of threads, is interesting; this renders them peculiarly suitable for the designing of interlacing patterns, both simple and intricate (Figs. 49, 50).
The word “braid” is taken from the verb of the old Anglo-Saxon “bregdan,” or “bredan,” signifying to weave, to entwine, to braid; the latter word bearing, in those days, the meaning “to plait,” a word which came into use at a later date.
The use of braid for decorative purposes has come down to us from very early times—it has always been used by Eastern peoples much more than by those of the Western countries. Some of the elaborately worked pieces of Indian and Persian work, where tinsel braids are freely employed, are things to marvel at.