IX The Simplest Stitches in Embroidery — Chain Stitching, Outlining, Herring-Boning, Cross-Stitching, Soutache, Coronation Braiding
It would be hard indeed to say just how many stitches there are in embroidery, as so many are combinations of the others. The ones you will hear about are the simplest ones.
Some years ago I had a large class in embroidery in a mission school. Every seat was taken and many applicants were refused admittance. The supervisor came in one day and said that there was a little girl who was very anxious to join the class and that she knew how to sew. I did not have the heart to refuse her, so in marched little Nellie. She was just seven years old and said that she attended sewing school every Saturday at her church and that her teacher had taught her all about embroidery. I gave her a little stamped design and told her to chain-stitch it and let me see how well she could do it. About five minutes later I happened to turn around and there was little Nellie frantically waving her hand. “Teacher, teacher,” she said, “that is the only stitch the Lady didn’t show me.”
Now, as I am most anxious that nothing like that will happen to you, I will start with chain-stitching as the simplest stitch (Figure 95). It is also one of the oldest stitches in embroidery. Every museum that exhibits embroidered articles will have some elaborate designs carried out in fine chain-stitching. If the stitches are worked in filo silk or spool silk the effect is like machine work.
Draw a straight line on a piece of muslin and thread your needle with a piece of red cotton. No knots should be used in embroidery. Fasten the thread by taking three fine running stitches and one back stitch to insure firmness at the end of the line. Now with the needle in position at the beginning of the line, start by taking a straight stitch on the line. Bring the thread under and pull the needle through the material. You have made the first loop. Put your needle back into the last hole or as near as possible to it, take another stitch on the line, repeat until you come to the end of the design.
Take the same length stitch every time or you will not have a good-looking chain. If you will look at the links in your chain bracelet, you will see that every link is the same size as the others. Suppose you wanted to chain-stitch a square or a triangle: when you come to the corner do not try to make one continuous line, but carry the needle down through the material at the end of the loop to fasten the link and start the next row at right angles to it. Chain-stitching can be put to many uses. It is a pretty stitch to cover a single line in a conventional design. It is also the quickest kind of padding for large designs. When it is used as a padding, the rows are worked close to each other. If the work is to be raised very high, the chain-stitching may be placed in rows one on top of the other. You will, however, hear more about padding in a later chapter.
The next stitch we will talk about is the outlining, (Figure 96). Some people think it is simpler than chain-stitching. It was the first stitch I learned in embroidery, but it is not as pretty as chain-stitching. The first thing I did in fancy work when I was nine years old was a wonderful face cloth with a wild rose on the top, and under it my name and the motto, “Cleanliness is Next to Godliness,” worked in red cotton. After that I made face cloths for every member of the family.
Outlining makes one think of plain sewing. There are two kinds of outlining, rough (Figure 97) and smooth, the difference being in how the thread is thrown. To make the rough outline, fasten the thread as directed in chain-stitching and on the line take a stitch about an eighth of an inch. Then work from left to right. Let the thread fall under the needle and be sure to keep it this way. A smooth outline is made by throwing the thread over the needle instead of under it; this outline can be used as stems for flowers unless a more elaborate kind is desired.
Either chain-stitching or outlining is an excellent way to decorate bureau scarfs, pillow tops, or table covers.
Herring-boning is used for finishing seams on a flannel skirt, or it may be used above hems. The little flannel skirt you intend to make for Sally Ann this winter should be finished in this way. Here is a stitch for which we do not need guide lines, though while you are learning, the lines might be helpful. Draw two parallel lines a quarter of an inch apart. Take a stitch on the upper line, about an eighth of an inch long. Then make one on the lower line, letting the thread fall always to the right. When you have made a row between with the lines, try to work one without lines and see if you can keep the herring-boning straight (Figure 98).
A plain quilt or cover for the baby can be made very attractive, by working herring-boning around the edge. If the cover is woollen, use worsted or heavy silk for the stitchery, but if it is cotton material, a heavy lustre is recommended. The needle to use depends on the thread. A sewing needle will carry a round cotton thread such as D. M. C., Madonna, Utopia, Royal Society, or Peri lustre. A crewel needle, which is a needle with a long eye, will be required for silk or worsted. An easy way to thread a No. 2 or No. 4 crewel needle with worsted is to hold the needle in the left hand and double the thread at one end and run the needle through it. Hold the thread between the thumb and first finger of the right hand so that the thread is just visible. Gently pull the needle out with the left hand and run the doubled thread through the eye. It sounds a great deal harder than it actually is, but it will require very little practice.
When you went to kindergarten did you have little pierced cards on which you made designs in coloured silks or cottons? Well they had these at my school and we made book-marks, needle-books and all sorts of funny little things. If you remember the cross-stitching of the kindergarten days, regular cross-stitching will be a simple matter. The nicest material for this work is Java canvas, which is very coarse and stiff. It is ideal for book covers or napkin rings. The holes in the canvas are so large that working on it is almost like play. As Java canvas is rather expensive you will find a coarse scrim a good substitute. A lot of boys that I once knew took up this work very enthusiastically, so simple is it.
Do you know that you can make a gingham apron for mother and decorate it with cross-stitching that will last ever so long? Get a piece of gingham with squares about an eighth of an inch. Cross-stitch it in a shade darker than the gingham or in white or red. The stitches are taken on the diagonal as shown in the diagram (Figures 99 and 100). If there is a great deal of cross-stitching to be done, the quickest way is to make all the stitches that run in one direction first, and then come back and cross them. Perhaps mother has a small piece of cross-stitching that you can use as a model. Simple triangles are easy to make. Begin the lower row with an uneven number, such as seven, nine, eleven, or thirteen. The next row make two stitches less, dropping one from each end, and so on till you have one at the top.
Now suppose that you had a little linen or silk bag on which you would like to have a cross-stitch design, yet this material is not coarse enough for you to use as a guide for the cross-stitching. Do not think you cannot do it, for I will show you a way. Get a piece of scrim just as coarse as you can find, and baste it over the place you would like to cross-stitch. Work the design on it and when the cross-stitching is all finished pull out the scrim thread by thread. Sometimes you will have to snip the thread of the scrim if your needle accidentally gets caught in them. (Figures 101, 102, and 103.)
A very simple thing to do is to braid a dress for yourself. Now that all the large pattern houses are carrying transfer patterns you can get a design for braiding very cheap. A little girl I know braided a dress for herself and one for her mother last summer. She used light blue chambray and braided it with white. There are several kinds of braid, but the easiest to use is soutache, whether it is cotton or silk. It is a flat braid and varies in width from one to three eighths of an inch. First stamp your design on the material, or if you have not a transfer pattern you can draw a design on tissue paper, making it as long as required and then baste the paper in right position on your dress. Take a stiletto, which is a little tool somewhat like a nail that is used in embroidery for piercing holes, and punch a hole on the line. Push one end of your braid through this and fasten the end of it on the wrong side of your material. Thread your needle with sewing cotton or silk the colour of the braid and sew it down with little running stitches and an occasional back-stitch to fasten it firmly. When you come to the end of the line or of the braid, carry the end through as at the beginning and fasten.
Coronation braid is beautiful, but oh, so very much harder to sew on than flat braid. There are two ways that coronation braid may be sewed on. The one that I give preference to is stamping the design on the wrong side of the material and holding the braid on the right. A stiletto hole is made on the line and the end of the braid brought through to the back and fastened securely so there will be no likelihood of its slipping. Then, holding the braid with the left hand, connect it to the material from the wrong side with fine running stitches. The stamped line on the wrong side will serve as a guide for the stitches. You can feel every time the needle touches the braid. Now perhaps many of you are wondering what coronation braid is. It is a braid that looks like fat grains of rice all strung together. There are different sizes of the braid, varying from the quarter inch to the three quarters of an inch size.
The second way to sew it on is from the right side with little slip stitches. At the small end it would be wise to take a stitch over the braid to hold it firmly. Centre pieces, bureau-scarfs or even towel ends are handsome when decorated with coronation braid, and do you know it is a very easy matter to make designs for yourself, as there is nothing prettier than daisies or wild roses for coronation braid. If the petals are too fine to allow you to use the coronation braid, then you must use one grain for each petal, cutting off the grains as you require them.
Coronation braid comes in white, Delft blue, bright green, or red. The braid is supple enough to turn sharp corners.
The daisy, as I have stated before, is one of the principal designs used for coronation braid. Braid the flower with one piece of the braid. It is not necessary to cut the braid but at the beginning and the ending of the daisy. The very largest width of coronation braid will be required for the daisy. Two grains will be sufficient for a petal. Bring the narrow ends to the centre and connect them to the material. In the centre make a cluster of French knots. The effect produced is a daisy embroidered heavily and yet quite different from satin stitch. (Figure 105.)
A belt decoration with five or six coronation daisies is very attractive when used on a light summer dress. Sometimes the owner prefers to couch the braid down with blue cotton and to work the centre of the daisy in the same colour.
A row of daisies is improved by working a fagotting stitch which is explained in “Simple Lace Stitches,” between the petals. See that the braid is sewed on far enough apart that the lace stitches will not be crowded.
Coronation braid is also used with crochet stitches for the borders of centre pieces and towels.