XVI
LONG AND SHORT, KENSINGTON EMBROIDERY, AND RIBBON WORK FOR SIMPLE FLOWERS
It is the ambition of every one who starts to embroider to make a piece of flower work and though the floral designs are most fascinating to embroider they are by no means as artistic as the conventional.
The way to embroider a piece of flower work and obtain an original colouring is to get a natural flower and place it in a vase in a position that you can clearly see the light and shadow. The best flower to start with is a daisy. Note that the petals are not a dead white, but there is a suggestion of green toward the centre of the flower. Get mercerized cotton to work with at first until you become accustomed to the stitch.
There is no cut and dried rule in regard to the colouring, but the art of shading a piece naturally is a lesson that is very essential for the embroiderer.
To many people the term embroidery means flower work and only after a course of instruction they discover for themselves how much more artistic and in keeping with most rooms is a conventional design.
Flower work, however, is not to be despised as you will learn more about colour combination and Kensington stitch in one piece of this style than any kind of embroidery.
Fig. 151. Long and short stitch