Again let me impress upon you not to embroider white washable material in silk, thinking that because silks are more expensive they are better. Silks are apt to discolour in laundering. Cottons are now manufactured that have a high gloss like silk and yet they never discolour.
Fig. 140. A handkerchief corner in satin-stitch
Fig. 141. A simple letter for towels
Another pretty and new way to mark letters on lawn or fine linen handkerchiefs is one that gives the effect of Bermuda fagotting and yet it is only hemming with a large needle ([Figure 140]). Draw the letter in pencil on the handkerchief. Thread a large tapestry or chenille needle with a piece of No. 200 linen thread. Cotton thread may be used but it is very apt to break. Tie one end of the thread to the eye of the needle so that it does not slip out. Thread another needle with a strand of No. 8 marking cotton and pass it to the back at the beginning of the letter. Unthread the needle, allowing a half inch to extend out of the back. Let the No. 8 cotton follow the lines of the letter and take a stitch into the material with the large needle. Work from right to left, holding the No. 8 cotton from you. Pull the fine thread tight around the stitch you have taken. Now pass your needle around the same group of threads of the material, holding the stitch over the heavy cotton. Work around the entire outside of the letter, then turn and work the inner line. Stitch again through the hole already made, taking up the same group of threads. Sometimes this style is called ladder-stitch, as the heavy cotton gives the effect of the side of the ladder and the groups of threads represent the rungs. Any design that is uniformly narrow can be carried out in ladder-stitch.