Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-11-29

AA-S writer for TIE STAB. "But
SZ it has already progressed
90 far that in one sense
J !: !" J ] !: ! !:
/ America may be said to
kz have gone ahead Of Eu-
rope in this line of indus
&N try. We are not yet by
S$\ any means the equals of
IHnt the needle women Of the
old world in point of ex-
actitude and mechanical finish, but We have
got beyond them in point Of originality and
breadth of treatment. II is destined that this
country shall have new style purely its own
in this kind Of art production. This is being
arrived at by the development Of the conven-
tional in design through the application to it
OF the imagination. We are exhibiting most
Enthusiastically tendency toward the grotesque.
A single line in the drawing will lend gro
tesque aspect to q flower; but unless the imagi-
nation is brought into play needle work never
gets beyond the mere mechanical in the ex-
preston of form.
THE ART IN ITS INFANCY YET.
american needle work Of the future will
show q development in the direction of the
Japanesque to some extent, though no one can
tell how far it will go that way. The art in
this country is in its infancy. Twenty years
ago nothing worth mentioning was known of
the science Of embroidery. But at the time of
the centennial many beautiful specimens of
such work were brought over from abroad and
shown here. The women who saw them were
amazed, and from that time the industry
began to grow rapidly in the United States
Today native work with the needle. placed
side by side in the shops with the foreign, has
much the better and quicker sale. Purchasers
seem to prefer the broad and less mechanical
method of our designs, even although what we
produce is inferior in point of precision and
exactness. The foreign embroideresses appear
to have no notion of bold effects 1t will never
be possible for us to rival them in delicacy and
elaborateness of finish, because they are paid
80 little that to produce the same work over
here would cost ten times as much.
EMBROIDERY REQUIRES HARD STUDY.
Embroidery is really an art and is to be
learned by study like any other art. The no.
tions of most people who imagine that they I'M
derstand it by instinct are apt to be altogether
wild. They have no conception of the rules
which govern the putting of things together.
1t may be said, briefly, that there is design for
every fabric, stitch for each design and a
thread for its treatment, design and stitch and
thread all having distinct reference to the OBJ
ject ornamented For example. a lady will
come to mo and say: 4 want to have made an
embroidered piano cover that shall be as hand
some as possible / ask her what material she
very much. Then inquire what sort Of de-
sign she wants, and she doesn't know. Her
idea 10 that any pretty fabric artis-
tically worked with some conventional de-
sign would be satisfactory. SO have to find
out what sort of room her drawing room is,
of what kind and how handsome is the furni-
ture. and so on. With this to go upon can
choose the cloth. select an appropriate pattern,
determine the proper stitch, for which there
must be certain thread, and so turn out
xk.xA III
you see that it is q matter of rules and not of
mere instinct. Taste itself is q natural percep-
ton OF such rules governing the combination
of colors and shades and the like Between the
very stitch and use to which an object is to be
put there is a relation. The coarse stitch suit
able for wear on a chair seat would not be the
thing for a lambrequin.
There seems to be q tendency at present to
rather OverdO the embroidery business. Nearly
every household has it's artistic member who
knows it all about art and adOrns everything
with fancy stitching hand painting, and par
ticularly bows. think this covering of every
thing with ribbons, from the demiiohn to the
brOOmstick and the gridiron, has been carried
to excess. Many ladies really do good embroid-
cry work; but the mass Of what is brought to
me to buy is very bad.
LIBERTIES TAKEN WITH NATURES coLoRs
IA decided change in methods of embroidery
has been made of late. This consists in defib-
crate departure from tho shadings of nature.
For example, while the lines of flowers are pre-
served, 1t is no longer considered necessary to
pay any attention to making the tints CORE
spond. violet may be made pink, or leaves
may be Of impossible hues without infringing
the prOprieties The idea of this II that the
object in view is not so much to counterfeit
nature closely as to produce something pleasing
to the eye. In needle work you do not have to
have real peoples, daisies or roses. II you
make truthfulness your object you will SO ham
per yourself as not to produce the best results
Everything must be subordinated to harmony
as they grow together in a field, but
the same blossoms will very possibly not
harmonic on cloth. This is largely a
matter of background, which in nature is
green. The green of the fern on white linen is
harsh and unpleasing. Embroideresses are apt
to imagine that they must always match ex-
actly shade. Inever use the exact shade, I'M
less it is really more convenient to do so. If
am going to use pink rose, l select the shade
of pink which will harmonic best with the
ground the flower Is to go upon. The best
effects are arrived at where different tones of
the same color are used upon the same color.
Often colors which, thrown together, appear to
make the least attractive combination will. in
embroidery, produce the most artistic effect
AS examples OF flowers susceptible of very
easy treatment in the grotesque way, take the
chrysanthemum, the poppy and the dogwood.
SCHOOLS OF NEEDLE WORK.
'There are many schools of needle work all
over the United States, which are attended by
classes of women who pay for instruction. In
New York city is the Society of Decorative Art
and institutions Of like character are to be
found in Philadelphia, Boston and elsewhere.
Within the last few years the manufacture has
sprung up of special weayes Of fabrics for en-
broidery, which are made to suit all the differ
ent stitches and threads. There is nothing bet
ter and more appropriate than flowers for such
designs. Landscapes or other pictures will
never be a success in needle work. except for
curiOsities. The needle cannot initiate the
stroke of the brush or pencil.
Here are some lunch napkins 1 have been
they are q set representing in embroidery the
worked upon it in white silk so as not to dis
from the poet. This one has q spray of lilies
of the valley and the words, "A sweet society of
fair ones Darken not the mirth of the feast
accompanies spray Of ivy leaves. And SO it
is with the rest"
Written for the Evening Star.
Chrysanthemums.
Rugged wanderers ont in the cold,
Waving defiance to Autumn's blasts,
Tossing and shaking your straight rough hair,
Out mid the unquiet breezes there,
Like tattered remnants on swsying masts.
Red and yellow aud white and pink,
Smooth and jagged, quiet and gay;
What are you saving as You are pIayinp.