No. 55 Louis XIV. Curtain-Lace
This is a very popular decoration for curtains and vestibule doors and is made of heavy écru or white net and braid. The design selected is generally a border with a corner piece, and sometimes a center piece. The specimen here given is simply a square of the net decorated as illustrated to convey an idea of this at present fashionable curtain lace. The design is first traced on tracing cloth that is then underlaid with brown paper to hold it stiffly in place. The net is then laid over this and smoothly basted down so that the tracing shows through plainly. Then écru or white Battenburg braid is used to follow the design, and is shaped into the leaves and flowers seen, rings being used for the centers of the blossoms and écru or white cord for the stems. The net is cut from under the rings at the centers of the large roses, and each opening is filled in with point de fillet and English wheels. The effect is very rich and the work is not difficult to do.
When a curtain is thus embroidered or decorated with braid, it is bordered the same as the square illustrated, or upon that principle, with rows and points of Battenburg braid. Ribbon is often used in this way for tidies, bureau scarfs and various other little household decorations, and in this event the flower and foliage tints may be carried out in the design.