Fig. 139. A letter in Van Dyke stitch
Fig. 139A. Seeding
The beauty of a monogram is to have something original. Perhaps you want to work your bag. Take a tea cup and place on the material in the position you desire the monogram. Run a faint pencil line around the cup. Draw a block letter in the centre so that it touches the upper and lower edges of the circle. Your two Christian initials are then placed one on each side of the centre letter. Try to fit the letters so as to keep the circle perfect. It may be you will not really draw block letters, but so much the better, as the monogram will be more original. If it is impossible to make a complete circle with the letters, embroider the sections of the circle between the letters in stem-stitch. Stem-stitch, you will remember, is an outline-stitch covered with the over-and-over or small satin-stitch.
A monogram of this sort is especially appropriate for a man's handkerchief. A twenty-five-cent piece, or a fifty-cent piece if it is a very large handkerchief, should be used for the circle. Seeding ([Figure 139A]) may be combined with satin-stitch in working monograms. Seeding is nothing more than a series of little back-stitches. A good effect is obtained by working one letter in satin-stitch and the other in seeding. It will be necessary to outline the outer edges of the seeded letter.
You have probably noticed the gold emblems and lettering on the sleeves of army officers' regimentals. They are generally worked in bullion, though sometimes gold thread is used. Bullion comes in gold and silver and at the first glance looks like the Oriental gold or silver threads. The difference is, however, that bullion is tubular, while the threads are usually composed of two or three strands twisted together or over and over a thread of red cotton. The red cotton makes a strong foundation for the gold threads and, by the way, do you know that all silk that comes on spools has a fine thread of cotton running through the centre? The purer the silk the less cotton is used, but the latter is very necessary, as the threads will not stand very much strain if they are all silk.
Now let us get back to emblems in bullion. It is necessary in bullion work to have a fine cardboard foundation which is called "the cartoon." Trace your design on the cardboard and then cut the design out. Baste the cartoon to the background, which may be of any material you desire. Broadcloths, silks, satins, and velvets are the materials usually selected for the work. Thread a fine needle with a piece of silk. Fasten the thread on the wrong side of the material and bring the needle up through the right side. Let us suppose that you are working the block letter A. Start from the apex of the letter. Cut a piece of the bullion just the size of a very small bead. Slip the needle through the cut piece of bullion and span the point of the letter. Continue in this manner till the cardboard is closely covered with the bullion. Each piece of bullion is cut to fit the space it is to cover.
In working a five pointed star, start and pad each section lengthwise, if it is to be embroidered in silk or cotton. For bullion work the cartoon is always necessary.