Art in Needlework: A Book about Embroidery. Lewis F. Day

She has primed me with technical information, and been always at hand to keep me from technical error. With reference to design and art I speak for myself.

      My thanks are due to the authorities at South Kensington for allowing us to handle the treasures of the national collection, and to photograph them for illustration; to Mrs. Walter Crane, Miss Mabel Keighley, and Miss C. P. Shrewsbury, for permission to reproduce their handiwork; to Miss Argles, Mrs. Buxton Morrish, Colonel Green, R.E., and Messrs. Morris and Co., for the loan of work belonging to them; and to Miss Chart for working the cross-stitch sampler.

      I must also acknowledge the part my daughter has had in the production of this book: without her constant help it could never have been written.

      LEWIS F. DAY.

      January 1st, 1900.

DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

       Table of Contents

      1 TAPESTRY—to illustrate work on a warp not on a web. From Akhmin in Upper Egypt. Ancient Coptic. (In the Victoria and Albert Museum.)

      2 DRAWN-WORK ON FINE LINEN, embroidered with gold and colour. Oriental. (From the collection of Mrs. Lewis F. Day.)

      3 DARNING AND SATIN-STITCH on square mesh—The darning leaf, green, follows the lines of the stuff; outlined with yellow, veined with pink and white; stem, yellow, its foliation pink, outlined with white, and ribbed with blue and white. Italian. 17th century. (V. & A. M.)

      4 CROSS-STITCH UPON LINEN. Hungarian. Compare Illustration 45.

      5 CROSS-STITCH SAMPLER—A and B, solid; C, line work; D, stroke-stitch—called also Holbein-stitch; E, stroke and cross stitches combined.

      6 CANVAS-STITCH in coloured silk upon linen. The band Italian, the foliated diaper Oriental. (Mrs. L. F. D.)

      7 CANVAS-STITCH—Design comparatively free, but showing in its outline the influence of the rectangular lines of the weaving. Cretan. (Mrs. L. F. D.)

      8 CANVAS-STITCH SAMPLER—A, tent-stitch; B, half-cross-stitch; C, cushion-stitch; D, Moorish-stitch, so called; E, plait-stitch; F, couching on canvas.

      9 CUSHION AND SATIN-STITCHES UPON CANVAS—The Satin-stitches follow the lines of the stuff, and form a diaper built upon them. Compare Illustration 71.

      10 TWO VARIETIES OF CANVAS-STITCH, the pattern in the bare linen, the background worked—A, plait-stitch, the ornament outlined; B, stitches drawn tightly together so as to pull the threads of the linen apart, giving very much the effect of drawn-work. Compare Illustration 2. (Mrs. L. F. D.)

      11 CREWEL-STITCH SAMPLER—A and C, crewel-stitch; B and D, outline-stitch; E, back-stitch; F, spots; G and H, stem-stitch; J, crewel and outline-stitches in combination.

      12 BACK OF CREWEL-STITCH SAMPLER.

      13 CREWEL-WORK—the stem only worked in crewel-stitch. Embroidered in green, blue, and brown wools upon white cotton. Old English. (Coll. of Miss Argles.)

      14 CREWEL-WORK, in which crewel-stitch hardly occurs. Embroidered in coloured wools upon white cotton. Old English. (Coll. of J. M. Knapp, Esq.)

      15 CREWEL-STITCH IN TWISTED SILK. The scroll in green upon a brownish-purple ground; the smaller leafage upon the scroll in brighter green; the flowers and butterflies in blue and pink. Modern. (Mrs. L. F. Day.)

      16 CHAIN-STITCH AND KNOTS—Part of the same piece of work as Illustration 24. Indian. (V. & A. M.)

      17 CHAIN-STITCH SAMPLER—A, chain-stitch solid and in line; B, magic stitch; C, church chain; D, cable chain; E, Vandyke chain; F, Mountmellic chain; G, Mountmellic cable—all so called.

      18 BACK OF CHAIN-STITCH SAMPLER.

      19 CHAIN AND SURFACE STITCHES—the latter a kind of buttonholing, only occasionally worked into the stuff. Part of a lectern cover in white thread upon a thin, greyish white linen stuff. German, 14th century. (V. & A. M.)

      20 HERRINGBONE SAMPLER—A, B, C, varieties of herring-bone; D, a combination of A and C; E, fishbone; F, a close variety of A; G, tapestry stitch, so called.

      21 BACK OF HERRINGBONE SAMPLER.

      22 BUTTONHOLE SAMPLER—A, B, C, ordinary buttonhole and variations upon it; D, two rows of buttonhole worked slanting one into the other; E, crossed buttonhole; F, tailor's buttonhole; G, ladder (called also Cretan) stitch; H, herringbone buttonhole; J, buttonhole diaper.

      23 BACK OF BUTTONHOLE SAMPLER.

      24 BUTTONHOLE, CHAIN, AND KNOT STITCHES—chiefly in white floss silk on dark purple satin, with touches of crimson at the points from which the stitches radiate. The rings on the outer ground are not worked, but done in the dyeing of the satin. Part of the same piece of work as 16. Modern Indian from Surat. (V. & A. M.)

      25 FEATHER-STITCH SAMPLER—A to G, ordinary feather-stitch and its variations; G G, feather chain.

      26 BACK OF FEATHER-STITCH SAMPLER.

      27 ORIENTAL-STITCH SAMPLER—A to E, Oriental-stitch and its varieties; F, Oriental-stitch worked into buttonhole; G, not properly a form of Oriental-stitch, though bearing some resemblance to it.

      28 BACK OF ORIENTAL-STITCH SAMPLER.

      29 ROPE AND KNOT-STITCH SAMPLER—A, rope-stitch; B, open rope-stitch; C, what is called German knot-stitch; D, open German knot-stitch; E, Old English knot-stitch, so called; F, bullion-stitch; G, French knots.

      30 BACK OF ROPE AND KNOT-STITCH SAMPLER.

      31 A TOUR-DE-FORCE IN KNOTS—Worked entirely in the one stitch; the drawing lines expressed by voiding. In white and coloured silks upon a very dark blue ground. Chinese. (Mrs. L. F. D.)

      32 INTERLACING-STITCH SAMPLER—A, Interlaced crewel-stitch; B, interlaced back-stitch; C, back-stitch twice interlaced; D, interlaced chain-stitch; E, interlaced darning; F, interlaced herringbone; G, herringbone twice interlaced; H, an interlaced version of C in Illustration 20; J, interlaced Oriental-stitch; K, interlaced feather-stitch.

      33 BACK OF INTERLACING SAMPLER.

      34 SURFACE-STITCH SAMPLER—A, D, G, various surface stitches; B, surface buttonhole; H and C, surface darning; E, Japanese darning, as it is called; F, net passing; J, surface buttonhole over bars; K, surface buttonhole over slanting stitches.

      35 LACE OR SURFACE-STITCH AND SATIN-STITCH, much of it worn away. In straw-coloured floss upon pale blue silk. Part of a dress. French. Late 18th century. (Mrs. L. F. D.)

      36 SATIN-STITCH SAMPLER—Worked in floss, the stitch in various directions, to give different effects. Incidentally it shows various ways of breaking up