Besides canvas, other fabrics bearing a close resemblance to it, are often used, especially Java linen, the close texture of which renders grounding unnecessary.
Cloth, velvet or plush can also be overlaid with canvas, the threads of which are pulled away after the pattern is finished. For work of this kind, we however prefer a material with less dressing, such as a twisted tammy, or Colbert linen, because the pulling out of the harsh rough threads of the canvas is very apt to injure the material beneath.
Stitches, worked upon two stuffs, must be drawn very tight, or they will look loose and untidy when the auxiliary fabric is taken away.
Tapestry can be done either in a frame, or in the hand; in the latter case, the ends of the piece of canvas should be weighted with stones or lead, to prevent its puckering.
The stitches, which ought completely to hide the canvas, should all lean one way and the underneath ones always from left to right, as the letters in writing.
Marking out the embroidery ground (fig. [252]).—Before beginning a piece of canvas work and tacking on the auxiliary fabric, count how many stitches it will contain, and mark them out in tens, with a coloured thread, as shown in fig. [252], along two sides at least, in the length and breadth. Having ascertained the number of stitches both ways, divide them in two, and starting each time from the middle stitch, trace two lines, one horizontal, the other vertical, right across the canvas. The point of intersection will be the centre. This sort of ground-plan will be found most useful, and should not be pulled out until, at least, half the work be finished. If moreover, you have corners to work, or a pattern to reverse, in the angle of a piece of embroidery, trace a diagonal line besides, from the corner to the centre.
Fig. 252. Marking out the embroidery ground.
Materials suitable for tapestry.—Hitherto, wool and silk, were the materials chiefly used for canvas work; a very thick wool for carpets, as being warmer and more durable. Silk is too delicate a fibre to resist much wear and tear, and cannot therefore be recommended for articles that are intended for constant use, and wool, though stronger, is subject to the destructive agency of moths; whereas cotton, which is cheaper than both, and quite as brilliant, is free from all these disadvantages and is extremely easy to clean.