There are however certain old kinds of embroidered netting made in soft loose silk, for imitating which it is best to use, Coton à repriser D.M.C[A] that being quite the best substitute for the original material.
The stitches used for embroidered netting.—These are so multifarious and admit of so many different combinations, that not a few of them seeing that be quite new to our readers, willsome we have never yet come across in any book on the subject that has come under our notice.
Ordinary darning stitch (fig. [637]).—The simplest stitch of all for covering a netted ground is the ordinary darning stitch; drawing the thread, that is to say, in and out of the number of squares, prescribed by the pattern, and backwards and forwards as many times as is necessary to fill them up.
Fig. 637. Ordinary darning stitch.
The number of stitches depends, to a certain extent, on the material employed; with Coton à broder D.M.C for example, you will have to make more stitches than with one of the coarser numbers of Coton à repriser D.M.C.
This is the stitch generally used for reproducing a cross stitch pattern on a netted ground and is especially to be recommended for covering large surfaces, curtains, counterpanes and so forth, as it is quickly done and shows up the pattern well.
Linen stitch (figs. [638] and [639]).—This is the stitch most often met with in the old embroideries, it being the one the solid parts of the leaves and flowers, and the borders are generally worked in.