Of course the artist always chooses her stitch; and she is free to alter it as occasion may demand; but a good workwoman (and the embroidress is a needlewoman first and an artist afterwards, perhaps) adopts in every case a method, and departs from it only for very good reason.
Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
![Loading indicator](/images/ajax-loader-bar.gif)
Last edited by Katharine Hadow
December 10, 2019 | History
At the turn of the 20th century, machine embroidery began to overtake hand work. Lewis F. Day and Mary Buckle look back on embroidery in history, not always flattering, and talk about the relationship between the embroiderer and the designer.
Check nearby libraries
Buy this book
![Loading indicator](/images/ajax-loader-bar.gif)
Previews available in: English
Showing 3 featured editions. View all 13 editions?
Edition | Availability |
---|---|
1 |
aaaa
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
2 |
bbbb
|
3 |
bbbb
Libraries near you:
WorldCat
|
Book Details
Edition Notes
Reprint of the 1900 ed. published by B. T. Batsford, London, in series: Text-books of ornamental design.
Classifications
The Physical Object
ID Numbers
Source records
Scriblio MARC recordamazon.com record
Library of Congress MARC record
Internet Archive item record
Excerpts
Page 36,
added by Katharine Hadow.
The effect of knotting in the mass is shown in Illustration 31, embroidered entirely in knots, contradicting, it might seem, what was said above about its unfitness for outline work. The lines, even the voided ones, are, here as sharp as could be; but then, it is not so many of us who work, knot by knot, with the marvellous precision of a Chinaman.
Page 78,
added by Katharine Hadow.
Darning has a homely sound, but it is useful for more than mending. In embroidery you no longer use it to replace threads worn away, but build up upon the scaffolding of a merely serviceable materal what may be a gorgeous design in silk
Page 106,
added by Katharine Hadow.
Embroidresses have a clever way of untwisting a cord before each stitch and twisting it again after stitching through it--between the strands, that is to say in which the stitching is lost. The device is rather too clever. It shows a cord with no means of visible attachment to the ground, which is not desirable, however much desired. There is no advantage in attaching cords to the surface of the silk so that they look as if they had been glued on to it. Conjuring tricks are highly amusing, but one does not think very highly of conjurers.
Page 124,
added by Katharine Hadow.
It's rather tart
(A)n Italian housing, which reminds one both in effect and in design of damascening, to which it is in some respects equivalent; only, instead of gold and silver wire beaten into black iron or steel, we have gold and silver thread sewn on to dark velvet. The design recalls also the French bookbindings of the period of Henri II.
Page 138,
added by Katharine Hadow.
Applique work is thought by some to be an inferior kind of embroidery, which is not.
Page 148,
added by Katharine Hadow.
You may see in 17th century church work the height to which relief can be carried, and the depth to which ecclesiastical taste can sink.
The Spaniards were, perhaps, the greatest sinners in this respect, seeking, as they did, richness at all cost; but it must be confessed that, in the 16th century at least, they produced most gorgeous results....
The Spaniards were, perhaps, the greatest sinners in this respect, seeking, as they did, richness at all cost; but it must be confessed that, in the 16th century at least, they produced most gorgeous results....
Page 166,
added by Katharine Hadow.
Again, a great deal of Oriental embroidery, and of peasant work everywhere, is merely the result of circumstances. Where money is scarce and time is of no account, it answers a woman's purpose to do for herself with her needle what might in some respects be even better done on a loom.
Page 226,
added by Katharine Hadow.
Embroidery was at one time the readiest, and practically the only, means of getting enrichment of certain kinds. To-day we get machine embroidery. As machinery is perfected, and learns to do what formerly could be done only by the needle, hand-workers get pushed aside and fall out of work. Their chance is, in keeping always in advance of the machine. There is this hope for them, that the monotony of machine-made things produces in the end a reaction in favour of handiwork...
Page 228,
added by Katharine Hadow.
People in many professions can relate to their jobs being automated.
Community Reviews (0)
Feedback?December 10, 2019 | Edited by Katharine Hadow | author, description |
November 23, 2012 | Edited by Anand Chitipothu | Reverted spam |
November 22, 2012 | Edited by 188.190.125.73 | Edited without comment. |
August 17, 2010 | Edited by WorkBot | merge works |
October 15, 2009 | Created by WorkBot | add works page |