Fig. 875. Border in roumanian stitch.
Materials: Coton à broder D.M.C No. 16, Coton à repriser D.M.C No. 50, or Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C No. 20.[A]
Colours: Rouge-Cardinal 346, Rouge-Grenat 358, Brun-Caroubier 355, Rouge Maroquin 3327 et 3328, or Rouge-Cerise 3317 et 3318.[A]
The original, still very well preserved, notwithstanding its age, is worked in silk of a brilliant red on a stiff stuff which has been coloured by time and use.
Willems satin, Rhodes linen No. 2 and Algerian linen, make very suitable foundations for this kind of embroidery and have that soft tint which is almost indispensable to a satisfactory imitation of old needlework.
Any one of the shades of red named at the foot of the illustration, will be found to be a good match for the original colours.
Roumanian stitch is used wherever the lines of the pattern are widest; there where they narrow, in the indentures of the leaves and the twists of the stalks, flat stitch is used instead.
By the repetition of the detached subject, this pattern may be made to serve either for a stripe or for a grounding; if you use it for a stripe, the centre flower of the principal subject with the stalks lengthened, will look very well worked as a separate subject between the large bouquets. Worked in a double row, base to base, on any stuff and in any material, these large figures form a very handsome border which makes an effective trimming for furniture and curtains.
Pattern for piqué embroidery (fig. [876]).—The stuff, called piqué, such as it is now manufactured, is simply an imitation of an old kind of needlework, almost unknown in these days, but very popular in the fifteenth and sixteenth century in Italy, for making coverlets and more especially curtains and blinds; the latter being highly esteemed, because without intercepting the light altogether, they tempered it agreeably.
Fig. 876. Pattern for piqué embroidery.
Materials: Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C Nos. 1 and 25, Fil d’Alsace D.M.C No. 100, Fil à pointer D.M.C No. 30 and Fil à dentelle D.M.C No. 30.[A]