Fig. 197. Madeira-work.
Materials: Coton Madeira D.M.C No. 40, 50 or 60. (Special cotton for Madeira-work).
Swiss embroidery frame (fig. [198]).—Letters, monograms, coronets and the like, require extreme care in the working, and can only be really well done in a frame. The round Swiss frame, or tambour frame, is the one most commonly used. It consists of two wooden hoops, fitting loosely into each other; the inner one, fastened to a support with a wooden screw let into the lower part of it, with which to fasten the frame to the table. The outside hoop is loose.
Place the fabric to be embroidered over the smaller hoop, the pattern in the middle, and press the other down over it so that it is tightly stretched and fixed between the two hoops.
A leathern strap with holes and a buckle, sometimes takes the place of the second hoop.
Fig. 198. Swiss embroidery frame.
Ordinary embroidery frame (fig. [199]).—Tambour frames can only be used for embroidering pocket-handkerchiefs and other small articles; all larger work has to be done in an ordinary frame. Sew a piece of strong stuff into the frame, stretch it as tightly and evenly as possible, and cut out a square in the middle to the size of the pattern. Then tack your work in underneath, straight to the thread, dividing it out carefully with pins first, to ensure its being set in perfectly evenly. Roll or fold up the rest of the stuff over the edges of the frame, and secure it with a few stitches or pins, to keep it out of the way of your hand as you work.
