workers in designs of different classes of art needlework who are very often at a loss for some object on which to exercise their skill, we pro

minds of many, and we might say, the great mass of our communities, to seek that which ranks with the beautiful in Nature, as well as those things which are the embodiment of the beautiful in themselves, so wrought by the aid of an artistic handicraft. Ornamentation and decoration have indeed become, as it were, the most prominent and vital subjects in our modern civilization. The palace and the cottage alike bear traces of the innovations which this taste for the beautiful and the artistic is making; the great advancement attained creating a constant demand for new designs and new subjects.

Embroidery and crocheting comprise the principal means pursued in the various processes of ornamentation and decoration, and any essays touching these subjects are scanned with much

pose to furnish through the columns of the MONTHLY some valuable suggestions for their consideration; also to designate such objects and designs as we shall deem fit subjects for the purpose, and which are not only beautiful when properly constructed, but highly ornamental and useful as well. Embroidery-work is deemed the most artistic, because requiring more skillful workmanship and more costly material. We shall, therefore, lead off with this branch of art needlework, simply referring to such crocheting as may properly become a part of any embroidery design.

The art of embroidery was originally derived, like many other of our arts and sciences, from the Spanish Moors, by whom it was introduced into Europe early in the Middle Ages. As applied to tapestry-hangings, it was at first used among

Christian nations for the decoration of churches and for employment on State occasions only, till

FIG. 2.-EMBROIDERED FOOTSTOOL.

Eleanor of Castile set the example of using it for domestic purposes, which was soon followed by the wealthier classes. Throughout the Middle Ages needlework embroidery, chiefly for hangings, but also for some other uses, formed the great occupation of ladies when not engaged in domestic or other duties; and the beauty of their work, together with the invention and design which they displayed in it, are such as might well raise the admiration and envy of the ladies of the present day. These old works have not merely the conventional prettiness which is generally the only, though not the invariable, characteristic of modern needlework, but have often real artistic beauty, and display not merely fancy, but even imagination, in the designs. In this respect, certainly, they have little in common with modern "fancy-work," which is apparently so-called in a sarcastic sense, from the utter absence of any fancy displayed in it. The modern lady, instead of exercising her own inventive powers, simply copies a pattern set before her, stitch by stitch, without the slightest idea of deviating from it if its forms are bad, or of developing any new forms of beauty for herself. Frequently even this mere copying and counting of stitches demands too much mental exertion, and she must either purchase her "fancy-work" ready begun, and the pattern laid out for her, or perhaps even with the ornamental group of flowers or other device already finished, and with nothing left to be done beyond filling in the background. The degeneracy in skill and taste from even the standard of those

qualities in their own grandmothers is in great measure to be attributed to the substitution of so limited a style of work as German wool. embroidery for the more beautiful and legitimate styles that preceded it. In Berlin wool-work, as it has been usually practiced for the last forty years, anything like real beauty or flow of fancy is an impossibility. That this absence of invention and good taste in their lighter occupations should continue among ladies is neither necessary nor desirable. An abundant fancy is a characteristic of the female brain, and ladies would be far happier and better in many ways if they would allow its free development. Few things could be better calculated to effect this than a return to the

graceful and beautiful occupation of their | female ancestors. There is, at the present time, much desire for this shown among the upper classes, and legitimate embroidery is again rapidly becoming a fashionable employment.

working, and of the stitches used in them, as well as of the materials required. We shall also give

FIG. 4.-EMBROIDERED PIANO-STOOL COVER.

a series of original designs; but we trust that our readers will not, after perusing the above remarks, content themselves with merely copying these, but will use them only as stepping-stones to embroidery-work in which patterns will be of their own devising.

The methods of embroidery practiced at different times and in different countries, as well as the various stitches employed in them, are almost endless. We have not, however, at the present time to deal with the antiquarian aspects of embroidery, but to speak of it as it may be applied to modern. practice.

Between ordinary German wool-work and legitimate embroidery there is an intermediate style, which has latterly been somewhat freely practiced. It is susceptible of far better effects than the former, and is by no means difficult. Over the ground of German wool,

wool-work loses its objectionable flatness, and gains great brilliancy. While on the subject of German wool-work, we would add that should the reader continue to practice it, in preference to better styles of embroidery, that though it is capable of being enriched as above, it is a method of work which is, artistically speaking, exceedingly limited, and really fitted for the production of flat patterns only, such as geometrical designs or conventional ornaments. In cross-stitch it is impossible to shade objects in such a manner as to give them any satisfactory resemblance to nature, and the representations of animals and flowers which have been attempted in it are as numerous as they have been lamentable failures, and ought merely to be preserved as examples of bad taste.

In appliqué, which is a very ancient and always a favorite method of embroidery, broad, flat masses of color are gained by fixing one fabric over another. For appliqué the materials chosen are usually velvet, silk, cloth, and cloth of gold or silver; when velvet is used, it should always be silk velvet. It may be employed for a variety of purposes, such as cushions, curtains, etc., and though shading cannot be attempted in it, it produces rich and fine effects in flat patterns.

worked in cross-stitch upon canvas, diapers are over-stitched in silk. Thus treated, the German

The ordinary method of preparing the material is by stretching some thin gray holland on a

common embroidery-frame and covering it evenly with paste. The paste used by shoemakers, and

FIG. 6.-LAMP-MAT WITH GAY EMBROIDERY.

to be bought from them, will do, but in the section which we shall devote to materials a recipe for proper embroidery paste will be given. The material must be laid upon the holland and smoothed till it adheres evenly. It will require about twenty-four hours to dry, and after being removed from the frame the designs which are to be formed in the material may be traced upon the back of the holland, and cut out with a sharp pair of scissors. The above preparation refers more especially to cloth, velvet, etc.; for silk, white lawn is preferable, as a black and white starch should be used with it instead of paste; and indeed for all white materials a white back-lining should be used. Different parts of the design may of course be formed in different colors, each to be prepared in the same way. Being cut out, they have to be laid upon the background, which is supposed to be of black or darkpurple or maroon cloth, and fastened to it around the edges with sewingsilk. There are two ordinary ways of edging the pieces laid on in appliqué; that which has the richest effect is bordering them with a moderately stiff cord, and sewing over this with silk. Gold-twist

the applied material with bright-colored silk in button-hole stitch. Considerable space must be left between the stitches to give them their full effect.

In ordinary flat embroidery, no applied materials, as of pieces of fabric, cord, or spangles, are used, nor is any part of the pattern raised by card-board, or other packing beneath it, and the design depends entirely for its effect upon the colored stitches used in it. This was the kind of work most in vogue in the days of our grandmothers, and it is, as it admits of shading, the most delicate and beautiful, if not the most striking, kind. The beautiful Eastern embroideryIndian, Chinese, and Japanese-is mostly of this class, and may, in arrangements of color, form good examples for imitation.

In raised embroidery the different substances are placed over the materials, to give the effect of relief to the stitches. An improved modern method of working is by taking card-board,—that known as thin mounting-board is good,-tracing upon it the design to be raised, and cutting it out, care being taken to leave sufficient points of attachment in the more delicate parts of the design. The pieces of card have then to be sewn

makes the most splendid bordering of this kind. The other is that which consists in working around

strongly in their places, upon the material which is to form the ground, with cotton, and the bits