EMBROIDERY, the art of working on an already existent material a decoration with needle and thread. Form and shading are ex pressed by means of stitches; and it is essential in embroidery that the stitches must be frankly visible. Stitches are never concealed, nor dis guised.
stitch is the thread left on the surface of the cloth after each ply of the needle. A piece of embroidery may be worked in one kind of stitch only, or a number of dif ferent stitches may occur in the one article. Embroidery stitches are ancient and have spe cial names: Canvas (including cross, tent and cushion), crewel (also out line and stem), chain (simple, twisted, cable, zigzag and checquered), button-hole, feather, rope, fern, herring-bone, back, satin, basket, brick, braid, interlocking, overcast, plait, rococo, running, split-stroke, tambour, coral, darning, insertion, snail-trail, leviathan, ladder (Creton), two-sided Italian, trellis, old English knot, German knot, French knot, Rumanian, Hol bein and many others.
Couching is the word used to define the method by which one thread is sewn down by another thread upon the material. Cord and braid, or a bundle of tiny threads, may also be °couched.° Couching is much used in gold thread embroidery. Geometrical open fillings of leaves and backgrounds are often composed of lines of threads thrown across and couched down at regular intervals. The basket-stitch, which imitates wicker-work, is much used for couching.
Laid-work is an elaborate kind of couching. The stitches are laid down loosely on the sur face of the material and then sewn down by cross lines of stitching. The Japanese use laid work more extensively than any other nation. The Chinese, on the other hand, prefer to sew through the material, and, as a rule, their deco ration is as beautifully embroidered on the wrong side of the material as on the right side.
°The Chinese and Japanese)) writes Mr. Townsend, °are remarkable for flat treatment of plant-forms and are supreme in effects pro duced with one or two shades, partly through their skill in placing the stitches. Constantly changing the direction of the stitches, they work for a pleasant play of light and shade acquired by the placing of the silk. They shade with the intention of showing where one shade ends and another begins. They are also fond of voiding, i.e., leaving the ground to show be tween the petals of flowers, similar to the use of 'ties' in stencilling." Raised-work is formed by a layer of padding placed on the material and worked over with threads. It was popular in the 14th century and
was carried to excess in the 18th century (par ticularly in England), when stump-work, in which figures were stuffed like dolls, was de veloped. Turkey-work, in imitation of Oriental rugs and carpets, appeared in the 16th century. It was worked in worsted and was used for table-covers, cushions and chair-seats. Eastern patterns were superseded by floral ones char acteristic of the Renaissance; and these, in turn, by 18th century designs. Turkey-work chair-seats were plentiful in American homes in the 17th and 18th centuries. Petit-point or tent stitch, is often used generically to describe the needlework that most nearly imitates tapestry. It enjoyed favor in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. Bargello, or Florentine, work is pro duced by the cushion-stitch on a canvas foun dation, a blunt needle being used. Sometimes the satin-stitch is employed in combination with the cushion; the one 'for the pattern and the other for the background. Zigzag patterns are characteristic. Bargello was much used in the 17th century. It has lately been revived and is now very fashionable. Delicate line-work and color in mass are sought for by the expert and artistic embroiderer, who also takes delight in producing effects in shading and a beautiful finish by a perfect control of the stitches. Occasionally the worker uses a frame on which the material to be embroidered is stretched. The tambour-frame, shaped like a sieve, or drumhead, said to have originated in China, gave its name to the tambour-stitch. Chinese embroidery, exquisite in design and work manship, has been unchanged for centuries. The devices and motives resemble those on porcelain vases and cloisonnee enamels. Noth ing more beautiful than the embroidery on the robes of mandarins and noble ladies has ever been produced. Sometimes to the dragons, phmnix, flowers, butterflies, pagodas, clouds and temples the embroiderer adds something from his own fantastic imagination. The treatment of flowers in Chinese embroidery, in color, form and technique, is alone worthy of special study. The most beautiful Japanese work is on cere monial robes on sashes for women and on the squares, called fukusa, used for covering fine presents. The best Japanese embroiderers live in Kioto. In the Mikado's collection at Nara there are specimens of Indian embroideries worked 1,203 years ago. India is said to have had some influence upon Japanese embroidery, though the chief source of inspiration was China.