For finer linens: Fil a dentelle D.M.C Nos. 25 to 30, or Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C Nos. 25 to 40 for the bars and Coton a repriser D.M.C No. 50 for darning or drawing in the pattern.]

CUT OPEN-WORK PATTERN (figs. 110 and 111).--This pattern, more of the nature of lace than any of the former, is well adapted for tr.i.m.m.i.n.g, not only household articles but also church furniture, altar-cloths and the like, which are required to wash, as it can be worked in any width.

Fig. 110, a magnified representation of the work in process of execution, shows alternately, ten threads withdrawn each way and six left, with open s.p.a.ces between. The arcs are worked over three carefully laid threads, carried across from the middle of one bar to the middle of the bar at right angles to it, the wheels on the other hand are begun and finished at the same corner. Overcast the cut edges, and hem-st.i.tch the outside layer of stuff (figs. 61 and 62).

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 110. CUT OPEN-WORK PATTERN. Fig. 111 in process of execution.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 111. CUT OPEN-WORK PATTERN. MATERIALS: Fil a pointer D.M.C No. 20 or 30, Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C Nos. 15 to 50 or Fil a dentelle D.M.C Nos. 25 to 50.]

GREEK CUT OPEN-WORK PATTERN (fig. 112).--After the foregoing explanations, no difficulty will be found in copying the beautiful Greek cut open-work pattern, ill.u.s.trated in fig. 112. Here, we have in the original, 48 threads drawn out in the middle, both ways, from one straight bar to another, (these bars being darned) with open s.p.a.ces between; and in the lower and narrower division, 21 threads drawn out each way. The cut edges, from bar to bar, are hem-st.i.tched on both sides, leaving four threads of the stuff between.

The long bars, in the second figure, are b.u.t.ton holed on both sides, those with the picots, on one side only.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 112. GREEK CUT OPEN-WORK PATTERN. MATERIALS: Cordonnet 6 fils D.M.C Nos. 25 to 50, Fil d'Alsace D.M.C Nos. 20 to 100 or Fil a dentelle D.M.C Nos. 25 to 50.]

FOOTNOTES:

[A] See, at the end of the concluding chapter, the table of numbers and sizes and the list of colours of the D.M.C threads and cottons.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NET STRIPE, IN IMITATION OF BRUSSELS LACE.]

Net and damask st.i.tches.

Many net embroidery patterns and damask st.i.tches consist of a combination of ordinary running and darning, others of chain, stem and cross st.i.tch.

NET EMBROIDERY.--All these kinds of st.i.tches can be worked on the coa.r.s.e Greek net, as it is called, as well as on the finest quality of real Brussels net.

Stripes of net, finished off with b.u.t.ton-hole edging, and ornamented with one or other of the following patterns, make very pretty washing laces and the like; net laid upon Irish point and converted by needlework into a lace ground, makes an excellent subst.i.tute for a hand-made ground, which demands much labour and time.

MATERIALS SUITABLE FOR NET EMBROIDERY.--The choice of material must be determined by the quality of the net and the effect to be produced. For a coa.r.s.e make of net and a very marked pattern, the lowest numbers of D.M.C cottons, or the narrowest braids, such as Soutache D.M.C Nos. 1, 2, 3 should be used; if the net be fine and the pattern a delicate one, then the higher numbers of the following are preferable: Coton a tricoter D.M.C Nos. 8 to 20, Coton a repriser D.M.C Nos. 25 to 70, Coton a broder D.M.C Nos. 16 to 50, Fil a dentelle D.M.C Nos. 25 to 50, Coton a broder surfin D.M.C Nos. 100, 120, 150. The latter must be adjusted to the required size before being used, that is to say as many strands of it removed, as is necessary in order to reduce it to the proper thickness.

TRACING WITH RUNNING St.i.tCHES (fig. 113).--Have your pattern traced on linen or paper; tack the net upon it, and copy it carefully on the net with running st.i.tches. As in darning, the st.i.tches must run first above and then beneath, alternating in each succeeding row. At the turn of the lines, the st.i.tches cross each other, as shown in the ill.u.s.tration.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 113. TRACING WITH RUNNING St.i.tCHES.]

NET PATTERN (fig. 114).--Here too the pattern is traced with running st.i.tches, which are run in on both sides of each row of meshes. The thread is carried first to the right, and then to the left, under every alternate bar of the net and out again. Between the first and second rows, one thread of the foundation must be left uncovered. In the next row, the thread is carried back again, so that it encircles each mesh.

In the third row, the thread pa.s.ses under the same bar of net as in the second, the threads touching each other. The fourth row is a repet.i.tion of the first.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 114. NET PATTERN.]

NET PATTERN (fig. 115).--This consists of two rows of st.i.tches. In the first, the single st.i.tches run diagonally from left to right, over and under a mesh; in the second row the triple st.i.tches, also carried diagonally across a mesh, lie from right to left.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 115. NET PATTERN.]

NET PATTERN (fig. 116).--Begin with a double row, as in fig. 114; this is followed by a row of cross-st.i.tch, touching the others, for which the thread has to be carried, first under one of the straight bars of the mesh and then diagonally, across it. A second, similar row of st.i.tches backwards, completes the crosses. This can be further varied by the introduction of a row of triple st.i.tches, after the double row, as in fig. 115, and the repet.i.tion of the two first only.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 116. NET PATTERN.]

These rows can also be worked in two colours, or in white thread and washing gold.

NET PATTERN (fig. 117).--Begin at the top, carrying the thread, first under and then over two bars and a mesh, and then underneath as before.

In the second as in the first row, the threads must be drawn in, so that 4 threads always meet in one mesh, and two run parallel to each other through the same mesh.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 117. NET PATTERN.]

NET PATTERN (fig. 118).--This pattern, which resembles fig. 117 in the execution, is thickened by triple st.i.tches. Above, where in the preceding row three threads were laid, the thread should be single.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 118. NET PATTERN.]

Very pretty varieties are to be obtained by the introduction of several colours. Take white, for instance, for the first row, and different shades of the same colour for the second, third, fourth and fifth rows; such as, Bleu-Lapis 345, 344, 343, 333, 342, ([A]) or Rouge-Cardinal 348, 305, 304, 347, 346, ([A]) or Rouge-Geranium, Brun-Caroubier or any other colour that is absolutely fast.

NET PATTERN (fig. 119).--After one row of cross-st.i.tch, such as was described in fig. 116, add a second, carrying the thread under the bar that lies between the first st.i.tches, so that the two rows only cover three threads of the net. The close bands of cross-st.i.tch must be divided from each other by one row of net bars.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 119. NET PATTERN.]

NET PATTERN (fig. 120).--Draw the thread twice backwards and forwards, as in darning, through one row of meshes. In the next, make four st.i.tches over one mesh and two bars. After the fourth st.i.tch, the thread is carried forward under two bars to the next group. The meshes filled in thus are divided from each other by two double rows of darning st.i.tches. Here you may introduce a variety in the colour, using either white and unbleached, or unbleached and pale blue, or some other combination of the kind.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 120. NET PATTERN.]

NET PATTERN (fig. 121).--Make three diagonal st.i.tches over three bars and two meshes, then returning to the mesh out of which the first st.i.tches come, make three more in the opposite direction. In the second row, the st.i.tches meet in the same mesh as those of the first.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 121. NET PATTERN.]

NET PATTERN (fig. 122).--Carry the thread upwards from below, over a bar of the net, then pa.s.s it horizontally under another bar and carrying it downwards, pa.s.s it under a diagonal bar and cover the other three. In the second row, your loops must be turned the opposite way. When the whole foundation is finished, run a thread over the whole surface and overcast it. A good effect is produced by using white and unbleached cottons, in alternate rows.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 122. NET PATTERN.]

NET PATTERN (fig. 123).--This pattern consists of one row of overcasting, one of st.i.tches like those described in fig. 114, and one of cross-st.i.tch, as in fig. 39, running diagonally across the stuff.

Besides the cottons already mentioned, washing gold thread (Or fin D.M.C pour la broderie), may be used for the overcasting. Dead gold introduced into simple needlework of this kind enlivens it extremely.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 123. NET PATTERN.]

NET PATTERN (fig. 124).--Three kinds of st.i.tches are required for this pattern. In the first row the st.i.tch lies crossed underneath the net; in the second, 3 st.i.tches are made over one mesh, the first and the last of which are carried across three meshes. In the third row, b.u.t.ton-hole st.i.tches are carried from right to left over two diagonal bars, in such a manner that the thread is drawn through the mesh facing the loops, and the next st.i.tch comes out under the loop of the preceding one.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 124. NET PATTERN.]

NET PATTERN (fig. 125).--Fill in every other diagonal row of meshes with chain st.i.tch, inserting the needle into the same mesh it came out of, so that the thread lies in front of the needle, in a loop. The rows of chain st.i.tch may be made with two or three rows of meshes between them. Even the diagonal lines by themselves, make a very pretty foundation for other st.i.tches.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 125. NET PATTERN.]

NET PATTERN (fig. 126).--The first row worked from left to right, consists of three loop st.i.tches upwards and three downwards, each over one bar. In the second row, divided from the first by one row of st.i.tches, the inner loops must be turned towards each other; in the third, the outer ones. Any of the st.i.tches, already described, can be introduced into this pattern to enliven it.