VI A Lesson in Stencilling
What is stencilling? Let us see. Stencilling is a branch of painting. Have you heard the story of the Baltimore belle in the time of the Revolution who was most anxious to go to the first big ball that was to be given after the war? The town had been divested of all the beautiful silks and satins that the great ladies were accustomed to wear. Our country had stopped importing these costly materials because there was no occasion to use them and no money to pay for them.
An invitation had been sent to one of Baltimore’s fairest daughters who was intending to go with her cousin. What were they to wear? Both needed the festive garments. At last, after a careful canvass of the town, the young man managed to borrow a pair of satin breeches and a flowered coat and all the other articles necessary to make a fine dandy of those days, except the silk stockings.
The girl succeeded in finding a piece of white lawn of the coarsest kind that was sufficient to make a frock. In no way discouraged this clever young lady, who luckily could paint beautifully, started and painted little sprays of rose buds on the fifteen or twenty yards required for the gown. This made a very dainty and pretty frock.
Poor George, her cousin, was in despair in not being able to borrow or buy a pair of silk stockings, but clever Miss Betty hit on the plan of painting his legs with a thick coat of white and then decorating them with clocks on each side, so that no one at the dance even suspected that he didn’t have on silk stockings.
Miss Betty’s dress was voted to be the most charming dress of the evening.
Ever since I have heard this story I have wished that Miss Betty had known how to stencil. What a lot of time she would have saved! I am sure you will agree with me when you know how to stencil.
Have you noticed the flat gay decorations above the moulding in some houses? Well those are stencilled. A painter will cut out a design from a thin steel background; he lays this on the wall and paints over the open spaces in the design. It is the only true way in which he can keep his pattern. All free-hand designs are bound to show a difference in outline.
Stencilling for home decoration is used on curtains (Figure 82), portières, rugs, couch covers, table covers, lunch sets, pillow tops, (Figure 83), bags, counterpanes, as well as for dresses, parasols, wraps, scarfs, and in fact almost every conceivable object that allows the use of decoration.
You can get a stencil board from any artist supply shop, but the one you can make at home is cheaper even if it is not quite as durable.
In many of the schools, stencilling in its simplest form is taught in the kindergarten. The children are taught to fold a heavy piece of drawing paper lengthwise and draw half a design so that the centre of it is on the fold of the paper. The design is then cut away, leaving the background intact. This method is good for very simple motives. Sometimes when we do not wish our design to be so set, we will draw it without creasing the paper.
The stencil board that you can buy is very hard for little fingers to cut, besides being expensive.
To make a stencil pattern, draw a design such as a bunch of violets. Let every petal be separated from the other and where the stems should intersect leave a little space between. These little spaces or bridges are what keep the background together. Of course, as a usual thing, if you buy a stencil outfit, one pattern or more already cut comes with it. In many of the large shops stencil patterns can be bought separately, but if one has any idea of drawing it is an easy matter to make a pattern.
The design can be traced and cut on a piece of heavy manilla paper: a coat or two of shellac makes the paper stiffer and somewhat waterproof. The advantage of using drawing paper is this, that it may be cut with a pair of scissors, while a stencil board requires a sharp penknife and lots of finger strength to cut the pattern. White shellac is the best to use, as it dries quickly. It can be bought from any paint store.
The pattern now cut (Figure 84), you are ready to do a piece of real stencilling. Let us choose the cheapest thing we can get for our first attempt. A piece of cheese cloth for a sash-curtain appeals to me. Put in the hem so that the stencil will be sure to be straight. Lay a large piece of blotting paper over the board or table on which you are going to work. Place the cheese cloth on top of that. Try your stencil pattern and measure how many times you can repeat it. It is better to plan a pattern with a small space between each motif so that you will not have half or part of the design left over. Stick a pin where the centre of each motif should be.
Lay the stencil pattern in position and thumbtack it down to the cheese cloth and blotting paper. Turpentine and oil are the most satisfactory for stencilling, though there are several patent mixtures sold that are good. The paint can be mixed with the turpentine till it is the consistency of a thick cream or the brush can be dipped into the turpentine and then into the paint. In either case the brush must be wiped quite dry, as the process is more of a rubbing in one than painting. Bristle brushes of four different sizes should be in your stencil outfit. They come round and flat, (Figure 85). The frontispiece shows a child stencilling with the round brush.
Dip the brush into the mixture and be sure you wipe it off on a soft rag before painting in the design. If the brush is too wet the result is a blurred stencil.
Use a different brush for every colour. When the first motif is stencilled, move the pattern and place it over the next pin. If you want to reverse the pattern, clean it thoroughly with naptha on both sides and let it dry for a couple of minutes before using again.
To make a stencilled piece washable it has to be steamed like printed dress goods. This can be accomplished in two ways: that is, by holding it over a steaming kettle, or by laying a wet cloth over the stencilling and pressing with a hot iron.
Needless to say, a piece stencilled in water colours should not be treated like this.
Water colours or crayons can be used when a piece is not desired to be washed. The latter works in as smoothly as paints.
Scrim, cheese cloth, linen, crash, burlap, monk’s cloth, and Arras cloth can be used for curtains or portières. The cost of them varies from seven cents to one dollar a yard.
Sometimes a small motif is taken and stencilled all over the material. This gives the effect of a printed pattern.
Five tubes of paint will produce almost any shade under the sun. They should be blue, yellow, red, black, and white. Blue and yellow make green; blue and red, purple; lavender, yellow and red make orange. A little black will soften the colours while white lightens the shade. Other combinations can be made by mixing three colours together. Enough of the paint should be mixed at one time to stencil the entire piece, as it is extremely difficult to mix a new batch of colour that will be the exact shade as the first. Ultramarine blue is the shade of the deep sea. Crimson lake is a bright red. Venetian red is a terra cotta. Emerald green is a blue green. Sap green is yellow green. Ivory or lamp black are the two blacks to be had in oil paints; the former is shiny while the latter is dull. Flake white is the term for white in oil paints.
Of course, you can buy ready mixed in tubes almost any shade you desire, but it is lots more fun to make your own colour combinations, as well as very much cheaper. Diamond dyes can be used for stencilling by letting one package of dye serve for one pint. The dyes will have to be boiled in the manner stated in their directions.
You will find that stencilling is the most delightful of the home crafts. Those who are not fond of needlework will find this a real wholesome pleasure.