BERLIN WORK
BERLIN WORK INSTRUCTIONS
Berlin Work includes every kind of stitch which is made upon canvas with wool, silk, or beads. The principal stitches used are common cross stitch, Gobelin stitch, leviathan stitch, raised or velvet stitch, tent stitch, and others. The materials and needle must always be carefully chosen of a corresponding size. For common cross stitch and raised stitch Penelope canvas must be used; for small articles, such as slippers, bags, or borders, single Berlin wool is preferable; for larger ones fleecy wool or double Berlin wool (the latter, however, is much more expensive). For Gobelin stitch and tent stitch undivided canvas (not Penelope) is required. Purse silk is often used for the latter; it is more brilliant than floss silk or filoselle. Floss silk is generally used for other stitches because it covers the thread of the canvas better than purse silk; it is, however, often replaced by filoselle, which is a much cheaper material. Moss wool is hardly ever used. Before beginning to work upon a piece of canvas the raw edges must be hemmed or [560] sewn over with wool. Care must be taken not to crumple the canvas in the course of the work. It is best to roll one end of the canvas upon a round piece of deal while the other end is kept down upon the table with a lead cushion. Handsome artistic patterns should always be worked in a frame. When you undertake to work a large pattern begin in the centre, and complete one half before you commence the other. Always work the stitches in the same direction, from the top downwards--this is very essential to the beauty and regularity of the pattern.
Always begin with the colour which is used the oftenest; those colours that lose their dye in working must be put in last. When the pattern is finished begin the grounding. The wool must not be drawn too tightly, otherwise the threads of the canvas appear. If the wool is too coarse for the canvas, one long stitch is to be made from left to right as far as the particular colour is to be worked, and over this long stitch, cross back in the usual way.
The plainest stitch in Berlin wool work is the common cross stitch; illustrations 577 to 584 show varieties of the same.
We now proceed in the following pages to show, by description in writing and by most careful illustration, all the stitches which are used in Berlin Work. These are numerous, but neither too great in number nor too simple or too elaborate in execution for those who aspire to become Berlin workers.