Page:Embroidery and Fancy Work.djvu/33

Rh FILLED IN EMBROIDERY. Under this head a number of stitches and various modes of treatment are included, but the stitch chiefly used is the one already described under the head of outline work, being merely a modification of stem stitch, the whole design, however, being covered with needle work appropriately colored and shaded. Much of this work is done in conventional designs, the coloring of which is also conventional, but for the beginner the semi-realistic or natural designs are much easier and as a rule more satisfactory. There are a variety of stitches that may be employed in this work, which I will briefly describe. Of these, one of the most important is feather stitch, which is the one generally employed in shading- flowers, etc. It consists of an alternate long and short stitch. The stitches must not, however, terminate in regular lines, as this would give a stiff appearance to the work. In working the petals of flowers, you must always work from the outer part of the petal toward the centre (Fig. 8), and so directing the stitches as to

Fig. 8.

follow the lines of the petals. It is a good plan to keep two or three needles threaded with the different shades, and work them in as required. It is often a good plan to work the whole of a leaf or petal in the shade that is predominant, making the stitches a little spreading, so