Part 1

PRICE, TEN CENTS.

PRESS OF SPRINGFIELD PRINTING AND BINDING COMPANY, SPRINGFIELD, MASS.

CORTICELLI ... SPOOL SILK and BUTTONHOLE TWIST.

MADE EXPRESSLY FOR DRESSMAKING AND FAMILY SEWING.

It works EQUALLY WELL for hand or machine use.

Corticelli is the Smoothest, Strongest, and Best Sewing Silk made.

Both Spool Silk and Buttonhole Twist are made in colors to match all seasonable dress goods found in the market.

For Sixty Years

CORTICELLI SILK

has been the favorite with the leading dressmakers of this country.

THEY RECOMMEND AND USE IT.

NONOTUCK SILK COMPANY, Bridge Street, Florence, Mass.

CORTICELLI

HOME NEEDLEWORK

----1898----

A Manual of Art Needlework, Embroidery and Knitting.

_EDITED BY_

_=Mrs. L. Barton Wilson=, Of the Art Amateur and Art Interchange._

_=Mrs. Emma Haywood=, Of the Ladies' Home Journal and The Delineator._

_=Miss Alice C. Morse=, Formerly Designer for the New York Society of Decorative Art._

_=Miss Elizabeth Moore Hallowell=, Of the Art Interchange and the Ladies' Home Journal._

_=Mrs. Amalia Smith=, Head of the Needlework Department Nonotuck Silk Company._ (Formerly with the New York Society of Decorative Art.)

AND OTHER NEEDLEWORK AUTHORITIES.

* * * * *

PRICE 10 CENTS.

* * * * *

COPYRIGHTED AND PUBLISHED BY

_=The Nonotuck Silk Company=_,

FLORENCE, MASS., 1898.

All Rights Reserved.

_Introduction._

In the endeavor to make this book larger and better than any previous edition we have called to our aid some of the best needleworkers and designers in this country, and the result is that we have the choicest collection of embroidery designs for home decoration it has ever been our privilege to present.

We have been fortunate in securing the services of Mrs. Wilson, Mrs. Haywood, Miss Morse, Miss Hallowell, and Mrs. Smith. Their designs are always greatly admired, and undoubtedly many of our readers will prefer to embroider their patterns, taking advantage of this opportunity to study the treatment these well known authorities furnish for their special designs.

Special attention is called to the Corticelli Colored Plates, which are the only accurate reproductions of embroidery in natural colors ever published. Aside from their beauty they will be found of great value to every needleworker, as they show not only the correct shading of each flower, but also the length and direction of the stitches.

We show several very attractive designs for knitted fancy tops for golf and bicycle stockings, and the rules given are from practical patterns knit from wool and silk.

To many needleworkers this may be the first Corticelli instruction book they have seen. From such we invite the closest examination of our goods, feeling confident that intelligent women can in this way readily appreciate the superior quality of Corticelli Silk.

THE NONOTUCK SILK COMPANY.

_Fancy Work Books._

From 1887 to 1896 we published an illustrated instruction book in the use of silk called "Florence Home Needlework." The subjects treated in the different editions embrace every variety of useful and decorative needlework. There are ten different editions, each containing 96 pages, as follows:

_=1887 "Florence Home Needlework."=_

SUBJECTS.--Crochet silk bead-work, crocheted and knitted silk purses, ladies' silk mittens and stockings, baby's socks, men's silk half hose, lamp shades, lace edgings and insertions. 96 Illustrations.

_=1888 "Florence Home Needlework."=_

SUBJECTS.--Drawn-work; damask stitches; Italian, tapestry, outline, and cross-stitch embroidery; and crochet. 239 Illustrations.

_=1889 "Florence Home Needlework."=_

SUBJECTS.--Tatting, netting, and embroidery. Also rules for knitting ladies' fancy silk mittens. 135 Illustrations.

_=1890 "Florence Home Needlework."=_

SUBJECTS.--Crochet and embroidery. Rules for four-in-hand scarfs (six engravings). 90 Illustrations.

_=1891 "Florence Home Needlework."=_

SUBJECTS.--Crochet, embroidery, bead-work, and macramé lace. Rules for ladies' silk slippers, men's ties (three new styles), belts, crocheted silk bags, and umbrella cases. 141 Illustrations.

_=1892 "Florence Home Needlework."=_

SUBJECTS.--Crochet and embroidery. Rules for Roman picture throw, easel scarf, Irish lace, plain sewing, crocheted wheels, cornucopias, belts, and garters. 160 Illustrations.

_=1893 "Florence Home Needlework."=_

SUBJECTS.--Corticelli darning or mosaic embroidery, drawn-work, crocheted lamp shades, pillow lace and its manufacture, and embroidery. 85 Illustrations.

_=1894 "Florence Home Needlework."=_

SUBJECTS.--Corticelli darning, knitting, and crochet. Designs for men's four-in-hand scarfs and ladies' linen set in mosaic embroidery. Also rules for baby's crocheted silk sack. 90 Illustrations.

_=1895 "Florence Home Needlework."=_

SUBJECTS.--Honiton work, lace embroidery, mosaic embroidery, men's ties and suspenders, college pillows. Rules for crocheted wheel, and three patterns in crocheted edgings. 66 Illustrations.

_=1896 "Florence Home Needlework."=_

SUBJECTS.--Tea cloths, centerpieces and doilies in popular designs, including Rose, Jewel, Delft, Empire, Festoon, Wild Flower and Fruit patterns. Also rules for knitting baby's shirt and cap and crocheting baby's bonnet. Over 60 Illustrations.

One Florence Home Needlework book will be mailed to any address on receipt of 6 cents; any 5 books for 25 cents, or the entire series will be sent for 50 cents. In ordering mention editions wanted by year. [Illustration] _There is no book for 1897._

NONOTUCK SILK COMPANY, BRIDGE STREET, FLORENCE, MASS.

The price of this book--"Corticelli Home Needlework for 1898"--is 10 cents.

_Hints Upon the Selection of Material._

Often the most difficult task for many women is choosing the proper shades of silk to embroider a certain stamped linen. Usually the dealer from whom you purchase your Corticelli Silk will advise you in regard to this, but when one lives in one of the smaller towns no store will be found which carries a good stock of embroidery materials from which to make a selection. In this case the best thing to do is to send six 2 cent stamps to the Nonotuck Silk Co., Bridge Street, Florence, Mass., for a Corticelli Color Card, showing over 325 different shades in which Corticelli Wash Silk is made. The card also shows samples of the various silks, as Filo Silk, Roman Floss, Persian Floss etc. The owner of a Color Card can order by number Corticelli Silk from her storekeeper, either by mail or in person. Few realize what a convenience this is.

Many do not understand the great difference in embroidery silks, and often inferior kinds are sold them by unscrupulous clerks. Corticelli Silk is smooth working, of high luster, and is free from imperfections in stock or finish, while the dyes used are remarkable for brilliancy and absolute fastness of color. Magnificent mills, modern machinery, and sixty years experience in manufacturing silk enable the Nonotuck Silk Company to produce as perfect embroidery silk and floss as can be made.

Many realize only too late that they should have been more careful in buying the right brand of Wash Silk. The old saying, "The best is always the cheapest," comes back to those who have had some disappointing experience with a patiently worked centerpiece or doily which failed to stand the final test--the test of washing. Corticelli Silk took the highest award at the Cotton States and International Exposition held at Atlanta, Ga., 1895, as well as first prize at the Chicago World's Fair, 1893, and at the California Midwinter Exposition, 1894. Besides this we call your attention to the large number of well known needlework authorities that recommend its use. These facts alone should induce you to give Corticelli a trial in case you have never done so.

For fine and delicate shading on any smooth closely woven material, especially linen, use Corticelli Filo Silk (sometimes called Filo Floss). Owing to its fine size and loose twist a skillful worker can blend the shades with the utmost nicety, so that flowers, leaves, fruits, or other objects are most faithfully reproduced.

Corticelli Persian Floss is a silk of two strands, loosely twisted and of high luster, for work where two threads of Filo would ordinarily be required. Persian Floss is used extensively for the buttonhole edges of doilies and centerpieces, first padding the scallops with a few stitches as shown in Fig. VI _a_, page 17; or the buttonhole edge may be worked without padding as desired. Corticelli Filo Silk and Corticelli EE Embroidery Silk are also sometimes used for this work.

Corticelli Roman Floss is somewhat coarser than Corticelli Persian Floss and is intended for embroidering large designs on heavier material. Curtains, counterpanes, and cushions are worked with this thread, although for very bold designs Corticelli Rope Silk is preferable.

Corticelli Etching Silk, as its name implies, is for outline embroidery and etching. Corticelli Lace Embroidery Silk should be used for Honiton and lace work of similar nature. Corticelli EE Embroidery Silk is best suited for general fancy work and crazy patchwork. This silk is quite hard twisted and is therefore very durable.

_To Wash Embroidered Linens._[1]

By L. BARTON WILSON.

Avoid all risk of rust or stain by using an earthen wash bowl in preference to a tin or wooden tub. Wash by dipping in suds as hot as the hand can comfortably bear, made with "Ivory" or any other pure soap.

If there are any spots on the article wash them out first, before wetting the entire piece. Beyond this do not rub or fold, but plunge the linen up and down in the suds. If it is very much soiled or yellow, a half teaspoonful of borax may be added without the least danger to the silk. Carefully avoid washing powders and cheap soaps. When clean rinse by plunging up and down in several tepid waters or until the water remains perfectly clear. If the soap is not entirely removed by rinsing, the linen will yellow quickly.

Dry partially by laying between two soft cloths or towels for a few minutes. A new and very successful method for drying and pressing, especially small sized linens, is as follows: Lay them close and smooth on a marble slab or board. The woof and warp should be drawn perfectly straight and the stitches of the embroidery should be brought into position--that is, so they will lie as placed when worked. To dry a large article, place a sheet on the carpet and pin the piece through it to the carpet straight by the edges, stretching a little. The drying may be hastened by fanning or by holding a hot iron within half an inch of the surface. Doilies pinned to a board or frame may be dried in a minute by holding them in front of a register, and thus treated they should need no pressing with an iron.

Larger linens may be placed on a fine sheet, face downward, and "touched up" with a moderately hot iron; the marks of the pins may be removed by dampening and pressing. Imperfections in the linen's smoothness may be dampened but the silk should not be wet. The hem will likely need firm pressing; fringe should be brushed and lightly combed out; it will then likely need a little trimming.

All Corticelli Silk will remain fast in color if these directions for washing are followed, and the laundered embroidery will appear no different from that just finished. The peculiar luster, or bloom, of this beautiful silk will be retained if the new method of quick drying, under tension, is carried out.

To set embroidery for the first time, dampen the linen and silk on the wrong side and dry quickly before removing from the hoop. In all cases of fabrics that are not washable set embroidery by pasting on the reverse side.

_The Size of Needle to Use._

BY MLLE. G. CORSINI.

Many ladies who embroider frequently complain that wash silk does not work smoothly, that the silk snarls or ravels, making a bad-looking piece of work, without saying anything about trying one's patience.

"Now, what makes my silk snarl?" is heard only too often. They frequently assign the cause of the trouble to the silk, when, in reality it is the fault of the needle they are using.

Some teachers recommend the use of an ordinary sewing needle with a round eye, but I prefer the long eye or "Crewel" needle. If you want to do fine work, shading closely, and are using double (two threads of) Corticelli Filo Silk, use a No. 8 "Crewel" needle. For single (one thread of) Corticelli Filo Silk use a No. 9 or a No. 10 needle, depending on the material upon which you are working. Generally speaking, use a No. 10 needle, especially for bolting cloth, Chinese linen, or grass linen. Corticelli Persian Floss requires a No. 8 needle. In working Corticelli Etching Silk choose a No. 7 needle. For Corticelli Roman Floss use a No. 6 needle. Use a No. 3 or a No. 6 needle for Corticelli Rope Silk.

Harper's Queen Crewel Needles are the best, and I advise all needleworkers to insist upon having them.

By following the above instructions there will be no excuse for unsatisfactory working of Corticelli Silk.

NOTE.--If you cannot buy the needles you want in your city, send six cents to the Nonotuck Silk Company, Bridge Street, Florence, Mass., and they will send you four Queen Crewel needles each, of sizes 7, 9, and 10.

_Silk Required to Work a Piece of Given Size._

As a matter of fact no two needleworkers will use the same quantity of silk to work the same centerpiece or doily. One will require nearly or quite twice as much as another, perhaps, owing to the method of treatment or the way the shading is done. It is therefore almost impossible to advise customers just how much silk they will need.

In nearly all the instructions we have given the maximum quantity of silk required to embroider a 22 inch centerpiece. You may not need as much as the directions call for. Of course smaller sizes of linen will take less silk to work them, and the necessary quantity can readily be estimated.

If you are in doubt as to how much material you will want, you can order from your dealer one skein of some shades, and two of others, even if the instructions called for three or four skeins of a shade, and then order again when you find you will require more. However, it is always safer to buy at one time all the silk necessary for one piece, and we cannot too strongly recommend this plan.

_Points for Beginners._

Embroidery is very fascinating work, but to attain perfection one must study the subject. We have been fortunate in securing so well known an authority on Art Needlework as Mrs. L. Barton Wilson to furnish a chapter on Embroidery Stitches. This article, which even the experienced worker will be glad to read, is especially valuable to beginners, who will find no difficulty in making the different stitches by following the directions and examining the illustrations.

Beginners should read "Hints upon the Selection of Material," and "The Size of Needle to Use," as well as "To Wash Embroidered Linens." In shading flowers in which many colors are required, have a separate needle threaded with each shade; in fact, this is a good plan even if you are using only a few shades.

Choose a simple design to begin with, such as a Violet, a Buttercup, or a Daisy, and get a small size stamped linen, not over nine inches square. At the end of the instructions for each design we have printed the words (Easy), (Not Difficult), (Somewhat Difficult), or (Difficult), which show the degree of skill necessary to embroider each piece successfully.

No printed instructions can help a beginner as much as a lesson, or better still a course of lessons, under a good teacher. However, we have tried to make the instructions explicit, and we think further details will be unnecessary; still, should you find trouble in working any of the designs, or want to know where materials can be obtained, we will gladly answer questions and give you any desired information. A stamp should be enclosed for reply.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: Copyright, 1897, by Mrs. L. Barton Wilson. All rights reserved.]

_Embroidery Stitches.--Described and Illustrated._[2]

By L. BARTON WILSON.

The stitches used in modern embroidery are not productions of this age. They belong to the art of to-day through adaptation. They have a value because of their antiquity far above any value which new inventions in this line could possess. Their application has been tried without limit and the extent of expression and delineation through them is well known. The science of embroidery is established; its methods are perfected. The art is rich in its heritage.

With the revival of needlework has naturally come a demand for silks of such quality and durability as that possessed by the wonderful threads of centuries ago, which are found in a perfect state of preservation in many examples of old embroidery, and which seem even to grow more mellow and beautiful in color with age. What modern science has done to meet this demand is shown by the brilliancy and beauty of shading, and fastness of color, which such silks as the "Corticelli" are known to possess. This ought to be among the chief inspirations to best efforts in this line of decorative art.

The form of embroidery which is most truly artistic, and at the same time scientific, is that known as "Opus Plumarium"[3] or "Feather Stitch." (The so-called "seamstress feather stitch" should not be confounded with this.) The exceedingly beautiful 16th century examples of the embroidery still in existence prove what is its durability and how adequate the method. The "long and short" stitch, which is the constituent of the work, is widely used on linens. When this stitch is correctly laid the effect is very beautiful, and, like all primary things, its beauty lies in its simplicity and perfect adaptability. It is proposed to describe and illustrate the long and short stitch first, in order that in the light of a clear understanding of this first principle, the opus plumarium (which is considered the most difficult embroidery, but which is really an advanced use of this simple element) may become less formidable to amateurs.

Feather stitch should never be attempted on an unframed fabric. A certain degree of excellence may be attained in embroidery by working such fabrics as linen in the hand, but perfect stitch direction and proper tension cannot be secured unless the fabric is stretched.

Embroidery stitches hold a certain definite relation to each other and may therefore be classified into groups. A glance at the classification will give one a clear idea of the fundamental principles of the Art. A little study of it will furnish the key to the forms and styles of the embroideries of the different centuries and countries and so enable one fully to appreciate collections of antiques which are invaluable to the learner.

CLASSIFICATION OF EMBROIDERY STITCHES.

{ _a._ Simple Long and Short Stitch. I. Long and Short Stitches. { _b._ Feather Stitch. { _c._ Overlap Stitch. { _d._ Tapestry Stitch.

II. Satin Stitches. { _a._ Simple Satin Stitch. { _b._ French Laid Work.

{ _a._ Simple Couching Stitch. { _b._ Twisted Stitch. III. Couching Stitches. { _c._ Brick Couching Stitch. { _d._ Diaper Couching (Over Satin Stitch). { _e._ Other Elaborate Couching Stitches.

{ _a._ Kensington Outline Stitch. { _b._ Bulgarian Stitch. IV. Outline Stitches. { _c._ Split Stitch. { _d._ Stem Stitch. { _e._ Twisted Outline Stitch.

{ _a._ Simple French Knot. V. Wound Stitches. { _b._ French Knot, combined with Stem. { _c._ Bullion Stitch.

{ _a._ Simple Buttonhole Stitch. { _b._ Blanket Stitch. VI. Buttonhole Stitches. { _c._ Honeycomb Stitch. { _d._ Double Buttonhole Stitch. { _e._ Ladder Stitch. { _f._ Cat, Brier, or Seamstress Feather Stitch.

{ _a._ Common Chain Stitch. { _b._ Rope Stitch. { _c._ Single Reverse Chain Stitch. VII. Chain Stitches. { _d._ Double Reverse Chain Stitch. { _e._ Double Chain Stitch. { _f._ Cable Stitch. { _g._ Beading Stitch. { _h._ Bird's Eye Stitch.

{ _a._ Simple Darning Stitch. VIII. Darning Stitches. { _b._ Brick Darning Stitch. { _c._ Seed Stitch. { _d._ Queen Anne Stitch.

{ _a._ Herringbone Stitch. IX. Fancy Stitches. { _b._ Ismit Stitch. { _c._ Janina Stitch. { _d._ Border Stitch.

The above table will be found of great value to beginners, enabling them easily to master the scientific or theoretical as well as the practical part of this article.

"Long and short" stitch as commonly used on linens is a border work. That is, the forms of the design are not filled in entirely; the stitches are carried round the outline and such space as they do not cover within the form is allowed to remain in a low relief. This is known as "half work," sometimes as "half solid Kensington," while the solid "opus plumarium" is often called "Kensington." While it is true that the Kensington school revived this ancient embroidery it is doubtful if this is sufficient reason why it should give to it the name. The history of art will be better preserved if we adhere to the old terms. The effect of the contrasted surfaces, through the half work, of the ground material and the embroidery, is very pleasing, and such a method is more suitable on linen than solid embroidery. It is less conventional and therefore is in harmony with the fabric. On the other hand solid embroidery is rich in itself and should be used to decorate rich fabrics. This is not an _invariable_ rule but its restrictions are reasonable. Such exceptions as these may be noted,--tiny forms such as the fronds of maiden hair fern may be made solid to advantage, and the Bulgarian embroidery, fully described elsewhere in this book, is heavy and complete. Conversely, good effects are sometimes obtained with _heavy_ silks in half work on rich fabrics. The artistic principle involved in the "half work" is suggestiveness. If the design is good to start with, a great deal of spirit may be put into it by the simple border embroidery.

I. "LONG AND SHORT" STITCHES.