The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-02-01
ART NEEDLE w OR K
LADY How ARD WIN CENT

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and shadings of nature with their needles.
They grasped the fact that needlework
could offer them new delight, inasmuch
as it was like painting with the needle in
place of the brush.
Many women who have not the gift of
intellect. are endowed with the blessing of
| clever fingers, that, with the incest skill,
can manipulate any kind of work from
elaborate silk embroidery to the recovering
of furniture. darning of old brocade or the
/ mending of old lace. And who shall say that
this manual cleverness is not gift as
much to be cultivated and appreciated, as
that of an intellectual brain. Many men
would think it preferable. and certainly
many women would be happier in the pos
session of a gift, within the scope of all
women's lives, rather than to be endowed
with mind, which scars above the prosaic
details of daily life. and which produces
1 woman restless and discontinued with her
ordinary home life.
1t is, however, very curious how rarely
you find a woman with really artistic
temperament a good needlewoman. She
can design, but not execute. She possesses
the theory. but not the practice which so
often carries with it the key to their char
| dStciSs lOI pcOpiC dic eOO OAtNh
vague and impractical full of ideas which
they are not able to carry into execution.
beautiful to talk to, but tiresome to deal
with. had nearly said, too, that the best
craftswoman is the one who is practical,
methodical housewifely creature, a blank
from an intellectual point of view, not Civ
en- to know anything much of politics or
current literature; were not the same plain
4 af,,l IT,, IoiIx fo
Moreover. this article is indited with view
| to extol the virtues of needlework, and the
place it should occupy in every sensible
| woman's life.
Perhaps no kind of embroidery appeals
| more to the aesthetic and sentimental side
of our nature than church work. We en-
broider an altar frontal with the elevating
feeling that our work is being specially
consecrated to God, and for all time will be
dedicated to His service. And this kind of
embroidery has grown now to such fine
art, that it resembles nothing so much as
the Illuminating, seen in old missals. There
is the same delicate blending of color in an
indefinite design, forming a mosaic of col
ors, which are all woven together, with
outlines of gold thread.
I have just lately been seeing very
1 tOuCHiHS lcSliiuODy Ol the ldlc queen > III
terest in needlework, in a. beautiful altar
cloth ordered by her, through Lady Mayo,
from the Dublin School of Art, for the pri-
vate chapel at Windsor. Alas that she new
er lived to see the order completed. The
royal arms and those of the prince consott
are embroidered on either side, and be-
tween them is the figure of st. George and
the dragon. The face of the saint is so deli
1 nc
painted whilst the horse is designed in
cloth of silver. The armor of st. George is
so finely shaded that the steely sheen of
polished armor is faithfully represented,
and the gold scroll work is a marvel of
even execution.
How many hundreds of different stitches
there are, and to any one taking up the
study of needlework. it is interesting and
practical to have kind of sampler handy.
on which to work any new stitches that one
can pick up from friends. How many diff
ferent lines of work we have seen flourish,
become the rage and then sink into OBJ
livion. At ole time we all did drawn thread
, work; at another we took to Morris tap
estry work, which consisted in covering in
, the whole pattern by darning in silks on a
coarse canvas The latest craze has been
| fOunQ III TlDDOn WOfk, very udiHly IL
the fashioning of little pink rosebuds or
sprays of lilac, by gathering up the colored
ribbons so closely shaded as to produce the
effect of a natural calyx. We have all, in
turn. 1 think, fallen victims to this deli
cious work.
THE REVIVAL OF LACE MAKING. ETC.
Then there is the revival of lace making
!, on pillows, which we fancy greatly on ac-
4
held in place by colored pins. Some even
have taken to weaving, but this is, per-
haps, a more mechanical art, requiring
heavy expenditure on loom, and more of
, space in erecting it in a room. Lastly we
might mention the more homely, if useful
, wool waistcoats and the many colored silk
| ties which we ALL in turn, knit for our men,
kind. And for those incapable fingered
women, and they are not few! remains al
ways that refuge for the destitute, the
knitting of socks or comforters and WOOL
!, ems in general.
Personally, am great admirer o. work
| done with flax thread. 1t produces an eff
feet equal to silk. and owing to the coarse
| ness OF the thread (there are three Sizes. a
? pattern can be produced very quickly, and
with greater effect Their gradations of any
: Color are ALSO ptTltCt. Il WdS SlEuCk ny a
, | new kind of work 1 saw the other day. 1t
! consisted of bold design of leaves and
, | flowers, made by cutting out the leaves
and petals in colored Irish linen, of blue
and green, and buttonholing them on to
? any kind of material The effect was strik-
ing and novel-and the work gives scope
; for good deal of ingenuity in designing
and arranging.
ROYALTY AND NEEDLEWORK.
Princess Christian has done a great work
) in encouraging the Royal School of Art at
/ South Kensington. which teaches all kinds
| of embroidery as special branch of edu-
cation and as means for women, prop
erly taught, to earn their livelihood. Most
{ / of the elaborate heraldic designs, worn on
I the white satin kirtles of the peeresss
coronation robes were worked here, and as
{ this was the only way official orders al
lowed individual taste to be displayed,
: many launched out into elaborate designs
( But their greatest triumph. and as show
r ing what can be done in modern days in
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