AN EMBROIDERY BOOK
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY
“Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.”
Needlework, as an artistic and practical craft, is highly interesting from a decorative point of view, and well within the scope of any intelligent worker. It has distinct advantages over most crafts—it neither requires great initial outlay for apparatus or materials, nor does it demand a special workshop; thus, as a domestic art, it commends itself to many of us on account of its adaptability to the conditions of life, as well as for its decorative value—as a means of adding grace and beauty to our daily surroundings.
During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries England was famed for the beauty and magnificence of its ecclesiastical embroideries. These wonderful works found their way into many countries and were eagerly sought after by patrons of the beautiful; many pieces still exist, preserved in our museums, churches, or in private collections, to show us what extraordinary ability and invention these ancient embroiderers must have had. After the Reformation, when there was no longer the great demand for ecclesiastical work—embroiderers turned their attention to the decoration of garments to be worn by the wealthier classes. In the “Golden Days of Good Queen Bess,” and for some time later, all the ingenuity and skill formerly applied solely to church work was bestowed on the decoration and beautifying of personal clothing—dresses, cloaks, coats, waistcoats, caps, gloves, etc.; neither time, labour, nor expense was spared, the worker’s ideal evidently being to obtain the highest result of which he or she was capable. Some of the quaint pattern books of those days still exist, and they consist mostly of elements—dainty flower sprays, sprigs, fruits, birds, animals, fishes, border patterns and geometrical forms—all intended to assist the workers in the composition and building up of their designs and patterns.
In the busy world of nowadays, we cannot hope ever to attain to such perfection, nor to regain for embroidery the high position it once held in this country; but we still have many clever needlewomen who could produce beautiful work provided they had a better knowledge of how to set about it.
This book has been planned with the hope that it may be of use to many, and that it may create in both girls and women the desire to construct and decorate for themselves those simple articles of daily use which cost so much to buy and which can be made and embroidered, in simple patterns, with a little knowledge of construction and stitchery, at a moderate expenditure of time and money.
Perhaps the reason why so many workers buy their materials already stamped with a design, which often proves unsuitable to the purpose for which it is intended, and which gives small satisfaction when embroidered, is because of a certain distrust of themselves, a want of knowledge of their own powers of invention and ingenuity; or it may be a lack of energy and initiative, a reluctance to plan and create for themselves, due to the fact that they have never been taught to express their own ideas, but rather to depend on those of others. Nevertheless, the sense of beauty is, in a greater or less degree, common to us all. Why, therefore, should a needleworker not develop her own ideas rather than those of other workers? The designer, for example, who may have as little knowledge of stitchery as the needlewoman has of design, and who, therefore, cannot realise the labour involved in its execution, may lose much of his effect and may waste the time of the embroiderer. It is generally agreed that no two people have the same ideas; it is surely, then, of considerable importance that each one should at least make some attempt to express his or her own. If scope is given to the creative and inventive powers they, like other faculties, will grow in a most inspiriting manner; new ideas, inherent instincts, perhaps dormant hitherto, will spring up like flowers to encourage the beginner on the upward path, and as interest becomes keener and confidence grows, difficulties which at first appeared insurmountable will quietly disappear as the worker plans and thinks out a piece of embroidery from the foundation. How interesting and attractive it will be to execute such a piece of work, which will express the personality of the worker in all parts, design, colour and stitchery. Greater technical excellence, as well as charm, must accrue; the embroideress will work with more judgment and understanding, and because it has gained so much in interest to her, she will be able to express herself more freely, and her work will convey and suggest more to others.