[EMBROIDERY FOR GIRLS.]
BY SUSAN HAYES WARD.
No. III.
Fig. 10.
The Pilgrim women who sailed in the Mayflower brought with them the very old stitch, a magnified view of which is given in Fig. 11. I have seen a picture wrought by one of these same Pilgrim Mothers—rows of houses and trees something like this (you could any of you draw better), with a meeting-house in the middle; but the houses and trees were a marvel of crewel-work, the background of silk, all in this ancient stitch, which is also found in old Persian and Turkish embroidery. I know an old lady who has used it from her childhood, who calls it "pocket-book" stitch; it is really a kind of "fagotting," and there are remnants of old petticoats and curtains still to be found in out-of-the-way country towns of New England, exquisitely worked in this most economical of stitches, which, for convenience, I shall call the New England stitch. Turn the work over and you will see how economical the stitch is: all the wool, except just enough at the outline to catch in the stuff, shows on the upper side. By pushing your needle first toward you and then from you, as seen in Fig. 10, you get that pretty twisted look which you see very much enlarged in Fig. 11. The Janina stitch, as given in Harper's Bazar, November 6, seems to be an imitation of this, though much inferior in effect and ease of working.
Fig. 11.
