PATTERN AND DESIGN
TRANSFER SECTION
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NEEDLEWORK TO
BEAUTIFY THE HOME
: "y NCE upon a time nearly everything in the way of household
H y linen was hemstitched; now everything is scalloped and em-
Jf broidered.
" In old. times the embroidery occupied a central space
or. a border above the hemstitching. AH that is changed, and to-day
the smartly equipped housewife embroiders her linen above" scallops
and, if these are large, works a small figure or dot in the middle of.
each shell
It often happens that noother decoration than the scalloped bor
der, or. edge, is used, and this is fashionable, not. only upon table
centerpieces with their accompanying doylies for plates and finger
bowls and carving cloths, worked in the same pattern, but also upon
the upper border of sheets and edges of pillow cases. No matter how
small or of what style a scallop may be, it is always refined looking
and exhibits an air of newness that shows the housewife who pro
vides it to be up to date.
Scalloped edges impart a dressy appearance to a table for, after
all, what is prettier than the verisimilitude of the flutings of a shell?
The pretty outline of doylie and cent?rpiec edges upon the damask
of the tablecloth makes any table attractive in appearance and, since
most embroidered central designs are hidden by dishes and plates,
the scallop is the main thing, after all.
: There are three ways of working scallops, on household and table
linen : one is the buttonhole stitch, which is serviceable when an arti
cle has to be laundered very often; the other is with the regular A
padded embroidery edgingstitch, which has an appearance of button
holing but is much more closely done and is without the knot which
characterizes buttonhole stitch ; and , the third way to scallop is to
pad the edges of the articles to be embroidered and work them with
over and over stitch. '' .
, All these ways should, for the sake of greater strength along the
edge, be first outlined upon the outer and inner edges of the scallop
design. The outlining is done with a loose cotton floss in a long run
ning stitch, The stitches, whether they be long or short, should lie
evenly upon the stamped design and neither be pulled tightly nor al
lowed to sag loosely upon the material, since they insure the even
ness of the embroidery which crosses them. Buttonholing does not
require this outline, but if it is done with an ordinary thread, the
work wears and sets better. .. ,
In the case of embroidery stitch edging the outline threads are
filled in between the wider parts- of the scallop with long filling, ot
padding stitches and afterwards the scallops are crossed by closely ,
laid and very even stitches caught, on the edge, inside the thread, '
much like buttonholing, but without the knot. By finishing each stitch.
inside the turn of the thread, before another stitch is taken, the work
ing thread forms an outline edge of its own which strengthens the
work. -vPadding is .not always necessary between the outline stitches
unless one likes a raised scallop. The larger the scallop the prettier
it is when raised . m '--.'
: The third way to workf a Scalloped edge is Jike the other, in be
ginning with an outlined and padded edge. The padding is prettiest
when quite high , in this style of scallop, which -is the most attractive
of all, and much in vogue among the French and Japanese and there
fore, in fine and high class American goods. - : :
To work the smooth-edged scallop, cross the padding with fine
floss, working over and over the filled-in scallop, laying the stitches
very closely and drawing them firmly in place. The result is like
satin, so' smooth is the finish,' and, for this reason, French embroidery;
goes by the name of satinstitch. The small designs, floral or other
wise, are all; worked in exactly the same fashion, and, if the pattern
is large, ;tho outer portions ,of leaves and petals are outlined and
padded and then embroidered in satinstitch, also, only the stitches
are longer; Very long stitches are only desirable in silk and crewels,
'and such things as will n'everjje washed, for the reason that they have
.not the firmness of the short stitch and jianot keep their form as
well.
The most popular style this season for working bedroom sets is
to stamp a scalloped, design all around the table cover, bureau scarf.
pillow sham, and to stamp the same thing along the top of the sheet, 'a
edges of the pillow cases and all around the valance of the lawn f
r bedspread. It often happens that a woman has not time to work the f
"valance of her bedspread. In this case she. will hemstitch it or buj(
of the spread she will stamp with -the ' small designs shown in the
corners or, if she has time for more elaborate work, she will arrange
the pattern so as to stamp a regular or ah irregular garland effect
around Ihe upper and lower , ends of th spread, with just enough
embroidery at the sides to connect the head and foot designs.; It is
customary to work a design of some sort in the middle usually the
monogram of the person who owns the spread. Around this the
fashion varies as to whether a wreath, circle of scallops or some other
and more elaborate pattern of flower or scroll shall enrich the center.
One ofthe most charming conceits of the times is to have one's " jj.
individual flower worked mto the household linen. ' This; has been
a fad of some growth in many directions, and women embroider their
favorite flower upon Jheir hosiery, underwear, bedroom linen, and
such small articles of personal attire as can be decorated in this man
ner. It is even the fad to work one's monogram upon one side of
the front of articles of underwear. v1-- ; ;
This fancy extends throughout the house and some of the mono
grams upon spreads of heavy linen are immense, while pillow shams
often exhibit proportionately large monograms." '' : ; : ' , "
Initial letters and monograms upon towels may be of any de- -sired
size, but medium large ones are most popular. Raised embroi
dery is always more elegant and beautiful upon household linens than
any other sort, and pure white working materials are preferable to
colors. , .. r,v j 0:.,.i:t.:;::;i:-'"i.
Fringed towels are no longer as much in evidence as they were ..
in the long ago. Scalloped and hemstitched towels are replacing them
to a great extent, and embroidered designs and monograms in the
ends of towels are the rule, rather than the exception.4 i
Madeira embroidery is one of the most fashionable forms of
needlework upon table and household linens. . It is particularly smart
upon the table and most designs in small figures lend themselves to
this""form of work. For instance, where the foliage and flowers are
small, one has only to snip a hole down a leaf and punch one in a
flower wjth a stiletto and work these in a narrow embroidery or but- .
tonhole stitch along the edges instead of filling in the leaf, and em
broidering it with satinstitch. ' J ''
This is a season when brides set about supplying themselves with
household linen and, since a bride cannot embroider it all herself, think
howshe welcomes the assistance of a friend who is willing to perform
this pleasant task for her to the extent of at least one set of sheets
and their accompanying pillow slips and shams and dressing table
cover. . " ,V - : x .--:J.i.T .'fO r,-. -t;.;
- Double uses can be made of designs for household articles; they
may, if the design is small, be transferred to . wearing apparel, both
for grown jpeople and children. 1
At this season embroidery is in especial demand for Christmas,
gifts and one, can safely; give embroidered pieces to anyone at, the
holiday season with the certainty that they will receive a pleasant
welcoirie. - .. :'; ?- 'JT--r'HP'--'-r;''?'--
- If the article made for a friend is to supplement her dining room
equipment it is well to embroider buffet runners and centerpiece 'sets
with scalloped edges and a. simple design so that, if the mistress of
the house combines these pieces with some of her own there will be
little, if any, noticeable differencein the pattern. - - -r
It is a new fad of the winter to surround raised figures and mon
ograrris in the end of carving cloths and the sides or ends. of table"
cloths, with a medallion background made up of seeding. This me
dallion takes different shapes and its arrangement enriches the design.
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