Fig. VIII
CONCLUSION
On bringing this little book to an end the author feels sadly aware of its many deficiencies. Time does not allow for either very strict revision or much elaboration of the papers which formed the foundation of it.
There are many points of interest connected with the subject of Church needlework which have been purposely touched upon as briefly as possible, that the student may not be obliged to wade through a quantity of extraneous matter in order to find the practical information required.
There are others omitted for want of time and space (such, for instance, as illustration and explanation of the various symbols, &c., used in Church embroidery from the earliest times to the present day: special characteristics of different styles, periods, and countries, &c. &c.)
But there is one point I find I have not mentioned in its proper place (Chapter VII), which I am unwilling to pass over altogether because it involves a matter of principle. It is concerning the practice of painting the faces instead of working them in figure-embroidery.
It seems to me no more legitimate than it would be actually to embroider the robes of a painted portrait!
If figure-embroidery is beyond the ability of any individual worker, let her get someone else to do the faces while she contents herself with the robes and background, or apply her powers to other work. There is plenty of beautiful embroidery to be done without employing figure-work at all.