Many a Happy Hour is Spent Embroidering
To work the knot, fasten the thread securely on the wrong side and bring the needle through to the right side. Now hold the thread down with your left thumb. With the right hand put the needle over and under the thread until there are three or four coils of the thread around the point of the needle. Now hold these coils down with the left thumb. Turn the needle so that its point will go down through the material as close as possible to the place through which it came ([Figure 147]).
Fig. 147. French knots
A pretty idea for making knots for dress trimmings is to thread the needle with two strands of silk, each of a different colour.
Bullion stitch is an elongated French knot. It is used considerably in Mountmellick embroidery, to represent grains of wheat. Small leaves and daisies are oftentimes carried out in bullion stitch.
To make the stitch we will say that we are working on the conventional daisy. Bring the thread up to the base of the petal. Insert the needle so that the length of the petal lies on top of it. (See [Figure 148].) Twine the thread around the needle point until there are as many coils as the length of the petal. The left thumb should hold the coils in place while you are twisting them. The needle is now drawn through the material. It is put through the same hole, or as near as possible to the one from which it came. Keep the left thumb holding down the coils until the stitch has been fastened.
