The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1903-04-29
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ART IN NsepLeWoRK.
Origin Of the chief stitches-some Fac,
aud Explanations.

muQ QhApthhnoonss
Embroidery begins with the needle
and the needle (thorn, FISH bone or
whatever II may have been been) came
into use as soon rs ever savages had
the wit to sew skins together to keep
themselves warm; and IL the stitches
made any sort Of pattern Gas COARSE
stitching naturally would this was
embroidery.
The term Is often vaguely used to
denote nil kinds OF ornapental needle
work, and some with which the needle
has nothing to do. This Is misleading.
though Il Is true that embroidery does
touch on the one side tapestry, which
may be described as kind OF embrod.
cry with the shuttle, and on the other.
lace, which is needework pure and
simple-construct "ln the air" rs the
italian name has II.
The term Is used In common parlance
TO express any kind Of superficial or
superfiuous .ornainentation. A poet Is
said to embroider the truth, but such
use Of the word hints at the real nature
of the work - establishment, enrich
ment. II added, there must first of NIL
be something It Is added to--the mate
rial, that Is to say on which the needle
work Is done. In weaving even tapes
try weaving) the pattern is got by the
Intervening of warp and weft: In lace.
too. II Is got out of the threads which
make the stun. In embroidery 1t Is
got by threads worked on a fabric first
OF ,all woven on loom. or It might be
netted. There is inevitably certain
overlapping of the crafts.
Embroidery Is merely an affair Of
stitching. and the first thing needful
, alike to the worker in 1t and the de-
signer for It is thorough acqualnt-
nnce with the stitches; not, of course
with every modification of stitch
which individual ingenuity may have
devised-it would need the space of an
encyclopedia to chronicle them ALL but
with the broadly marked variety of
stitches which have been employed to
best purposes In ornament.
They are derived, naturally, from the
stitches first used for quite practical
> and prosaic purposes, button hole
stitch. for example, to keep the edges
OF the stuff from fraying; herring bone
to strengthen and disguise n seam;
daraing to make good worn surface
and SO on. The difficulty of discussing
them is greatly increased by the hap
hazard way in which they are COM
monty named. A stitch is called
fGreek." Spanish. ""Mexican," "South
Kens!ngton" or what not according to
the country whence came the work in
which some one first found it. Each
name 1t after his or her discovery, or
call It perhaps vaguely Oriental, and
30 we have any number of names for
the same stitch, names which to diff
ferent people stand often for quite diff
ferent stitches.
When this confusion is complicated
by the invention of new name for
every conceivable stitch or combination
:. of thread strokes, or for each slightest
variation upon an old stitch, and even
for a stitch worked from left to right
instead Of from right to left, or for a
stitch worked rather longer than usual,
the task Of reducing them to order
seems rather hopeless. In the so-called
English work the stitches probably all
came from the East. Why not drop
titles and call stitches by the plainest
and least mistakable names? 1t will
be seen IL we reduce them to their na-
tive simplicity that they fall into fairly
marked groups or families, which can
be discussed each under its own head.
& Stitches may be grouped In all man.
per Of arbitrary ways-according to
their provenance, according to their ef-
fect, according to their use and so on.
The most natural way of grouping
them is according to their structure,
!, not with regard to whence they came
pr what they do, but according to what
they are. This way they are worked.
This is the plan that 1t is proposed here
to adopt. A survey of the stitches Is
A the necessary preliminary either to the
design or the execution OF needle work
How else suit the design to the stitch
the stitch to the design? In order to
do the one the artist must be quite al
home among the stitches; in order to
DO the other. the embroideress must
have sympathy enough with the de.
sign to choose the stitch or stitches
which will best render 1t.
This is not the moment to urge upon
the woman the study of design, but Ia
urge upon the designer the study OF
stitches.
Certain stitches answer certain pur.
moses and strictly only those.
~Ae effective worker designer or EN-.
brolderer) Is the one who works with
judgment-and you cannot Judge un,
less you know.
A stitch may be defined as the thread
left on the surface Of the cloth after
each ply Of the needle. And the simple
straight forward stitches of this kind
are not 80 many as one might suppose
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