1. in_ernet_dli_2015_166538_2015_166538_English-Church-Needlework

PAGES MISSING IN THE BOOK

TEXT CUT IN THE BOOK

This book is with tight Binding

746 H17 (2)

Hall 8s 6d

English church needlework

Acc. No. 816347

2 4 6 4 2

746 H17 (2)

Keep Your Card in This Pocket

Books will be issued only on presentation of proper library cards.

Unless labeled otherwise, books may be retained for four weeks. Borrowers finding books marked, defaced or mutilated are expected to report same at library desk; otherwise the last borrower will be held responsible for all imperfections discovered.

The card holder is responsible for all books drawn on this card.

Penalty for over-due books 2c a day plus cost of notices.

Lost cards and change of residence must be reported promptly.

Public Library

Kansas City, Mo.

Keep Your Card in This Pocket

BERKOWITZ ENVELOPES CO., K. C., MO.

KANSAS CITY, MO PUBLIC LIBRARY

0 0001 4509016 3

DATE DUE

21FEm 94

30 Au 77

2SE 77

13DE 80

MAR '88

1 AP 38 15

15 Oc'38 22

25NO 38 21

SEP14 '42 FT

JAN30'44 LS

1003'44

AUG 7'46 LS

SEP 7 '48 LS

11 6 '50 no

OCT15'52 T-265

APR 97

English Church Needlework

Preface.

THE revival of Church Needlework, and its consequent use in most of the churches of our land—a revival largely brought about by the effect of the Oxford Movement, and one which has grown with our Church growth — have brought strongly to the fore, in this our twentieth century, the need of a plain, practical handbook. Art, education, and the capability of women to execute and plan what in earlier years they vaguely wished, has caused the imperative demand for handbooks upon all sorts of subjects, particularly those connected with religious art, wherein women, by their money and actual manual aid, have been of so much assistance.

It is the want of such a handbook that has induced me to republish some articles lately written or edited by me. They have now been revised and enlarged, and, with the addition of illustrations taken from actual examples, will, I trust, be of some service to those who are about to glorify God's House with the gifts of His bestowing.

The needlework of Englishwomen is already world-famed. May we not, in this new century, echo the words of Mrs. Dolby in her valuable book on Church

6 English Church Needlework.

Embroidery, written in the lást century, but now, alas! out of print?—

"Our exhibitions of ancient and modern art, our schools of design, our opportunities of travel, whereby we may seek and learn for ourselves, are all in our favour for the accomplishment of works of real artistic skill. And if we use our gifts well, we may enable those who come after us, not only to laud our industry, but to acknowledge conscientiously that the Church needlework of the latter half of the nineteenth century could not be improved upon."

MAUD R. HALL.

English Church Needlework.

The opus consumtum, or cut-work, is practically the French appliqué, and includes several sorts of decorative accompaniments to needlework. When anything—flower, figure, or fruit—is wrought by itself and then transferred to the fabric it is to ornament, it comes under the heading of cut-work. For better effect, the faces of figures, the outlines of fruit or flower, are done in embroidery or even painting, and instances are extant in which the cut-work is framed or edged in plain or gilt leather, after the fashion of the leading in a glass window.

Vasari claims for Sandro Botticelli the invention of this cut-work; but, accurate as this may be in regard to the work of Italy, there is, as Dr. Rock points out, a valuable piece of cut-work executed by French hands almost a century before Botticelli's time, thus proving that the art was well known many years before the birth of the Florentine painter.

Beautiful examples of foreign work may still be seen, but in this short history we must confine ourselves to what Englishwomen have done, and then go on to consider what Englishwomen may still do.

Dr. Rock says: "Our mediæval countrywomen were so quick at the needle that they could make their embroidery look as if it had been done in the loom—really woven. Not long ago, a shred of crimson cendal, figured in gold and silver thread with a knight on horseback, armed as if of the latter time of Edward I., was shown us. At the moment we took the mounted warrior to have been, not hand-worked, but woven, so flat, so even was every thread. Looking at it, however, through a glass, and turning it about, we found it to be unmistakably embroidered by the finger in such a way that the stitches for laying down upon the surface and not drawing through the gold threads and thus saving

14 English Church Needlework.

expense, were carried right into the canvas lining at the back of this thin silk."

Towards the close of the thirteenth century our country-women struck out a line of embroidery for themselves, and, mixing the old opus plumarium with the newer stitches, evolved a style that was as beautiful as it was novel. The fame of it soon spread abroad and won for it the admiring appellation of opus Anglicum, or English work. In what lay its exact peculiarity has puzzled many foreign archæological writers. "Il serait curieux de savoir quelle broderie ou quel tissu on designait sous le nom de opus Anglicum," said the Canon Voisin, while examining a cope of English work given to the Church at Tournai. In 1360, Cardinal Talaïrand, Bishop of Albano, makes mention in his will of some white vestments, elaborately ornamented with English embroideries ; and Ghini, Bishop of Tournai, bequeaths to that Cathedral an old English cope and a corporal of English work.

We are fortunate, as workers, to have access to such a unique and beautiful piece of English needlework as the Syon cope, in the South Kensington collection. Here, in the delineation of the human face, the stitches began in the centre of the cheek, and were worked in circular, not straight lines, into which, however, after the further side had been made, they fell, and were so carried on through the rest of the fleshes; in some instances, too, even throughout the figure, draperies and all. But this was done in a sort of chain stitch, and a newly practised mechanical appliance was brought into use. After the whole figure had thus been wrought with this kind of chain stitch in circles and straight lines, then, with a little thin iron rod ending in a small bulb or smooth knob slightly heated, were pressed

16 English Church Needlework.

"Accordingly, the same Lord Pope sent sacred and sealed briefs to nearly all the abbots of the Cistercian Order established in England, requesting them forthwith to have forwarded to him those embroideries in gold, which he preferred to all others, and with which he wished to adorn his chasuble and choral cope, as if these objects cost them nothing."

Nor was it only abroad that the embroidery was so prized. Mabilia of Bury St. Edmunds embroidered a chasuble for Henry III.; and Edward II. paid a hundred marks—a goodly sum in those days—to Rose, wife of John de Bureford, a citizen and mercer of London, for a choir-cope of her embroidery. The cope was to be sent to Rome as an offering to the Pope from the Queen. Even lands seem to have been bestowed as a reward for teaching this much-prized art, for Godric, the Sheriff of Buckinghamshire, "granted to Alind half a hide of land, so long as he should be sheriff, on condition that she should teach his daughter the art of embroidery."

It is interesting to note that, in spite of the sudden fall and decline of English needlework in the period occupied by the Wars of the Roses, the art was never really lost. Poor and thin, even coarse it became; yet, such as it was, it lived to become the nucleus of new and more perfect execution in the dawn of the seventeenth century. Raised work now became the style most affected, and a good specimen is to be found in one of the four copes still to be seen in the library at Durham, having, it is said, been wrought for, and presented to the Cathedral, by Charles I. The vestment is of red silk, well sprinkled with bodiless cherub-heads, crowned with rays and borne up by wings.

In these later days, and with the facilities offered for

study and instruction, perfection in the art of Church needlework can be attained. Much, too, can be and is done by those who, without making it their profession, have both time and taste for it. I have seen embroidery worked by amateurs equal in "design and execution" to any produced by the larger schools and warehouses, and I would suggest that in this way valuable help may be often given by those whom want of bodily strength, or other causes, prevent their giving more active assistance to Church and parish.

The main objects to keep in view are simplicity of design and extreme care in execution. Patience, in Church needlework more than in any other occupation, brings its own reward, and for interest and fascination embroidery has no peer.

English Church Needlework.

No 2 has the sacred monogram interwoven, and is made in several colours. No. 3 is a modern design, adapted from the Gothic by Martin Luther, the seeds of the pome-

1. The Mantle (anciently Cope) worn by Queen Victoria at her Coronation.

granate being introduced as symbolical of immortality. No. 4 is from an early Italian fourteenth century design. The harts are reposing on foliage, collared and chained to pillars, and gazing up to clouds, whence proceed drops of

c 2

English Church Needlework.

Cloth of gold is often used for appliqué, but should not be employed by the amateur for a small design, as it frays at the edges and is not easily adapted. Cloth of silver is also used, but it is liable to tarnish, and is therefore not so often employed. For both silver and gold cloth a black edging is best. Other colours take from rather than add to the rich effect.

A word or two as to gold thread. It will be found best in most instances to substitute for this gold-colour twist, and this not only on the score of expense and ease in working,

but for the lasting effect; for damp, gas, and other causes are fatal to the preservation of its brilliancy. The gold of former days must have been purer, or outward circumstances more propitious, for the metal still glistens upon work that has stood the vicissitudes of hundreds of years ; but our modern gold bullion is different, and our climate, to say nothing of certain dyes, has the effect of turning it to black.

5. Lilies and Tudor Roses.

The correct fringes for altar and other hangings are

6. Oriental Design.

English Church Needlework.

A fringe must never be sewn at the top of an altar cloth, instead of a super-frontal, for the origin of fringe was the ravelling out of the material itself, or rather the knotted ends of the woof of a woven material, which formed a graceful and practically useful finish to any drapery. It therefore loses all sense of use if it is put at the top of anything as a mere trimming. The same argument shows the correctness of using the chief colours of the ground and needlework, the fringe being supposed to be the untwisted threads of the whole cloth.

Where there is no super-frontal, and a finish is required, a thick silk cord is the proper thing to sew on the top edge. Good and suitable fringes are made of all silk, and are therefore very expensive.

II. On Designing.

FOR those who desire to excel, and have a laudable wish to endeavour to restore the character of our Church needlework to something nearer to the ancient renown I should advise the study of a simple and correctly drawn powdering, such as a fleur-de-lis or Tudor rose. If copied from ancient work, so much the better. After carefully examining the lines, the curves, and the turnover of the leaves, place a sheet of tracing-paper over the design and trace it carefully. Lay the tracing on a soft cushion or folded woollen cloth, fastening it securely with pins. Take a No. 8 sized sewing-needle—which, for greater convenience, may have the eye inserted in a cork—then, holding the needle upright, prick the lines of the pattern at regular distances, taking care that, although near each other, the prickings do not touch. Make a clear round prick, which can only be done by holding the needle as directed. The pricks should be as nearly as possible the same size. Having gone over the whole of the lines with the “pricker,” remove the pins and hold the pricked design up to the light, and observe if any part of the pattern has been left unpricked ; and remember that the correctness of the work chiefly depends on the accuracy of the pricking.

Next take a piece of flannel, a nail in width and a yard in length, and proceed to make a tight roll of it, fastening the edges, when rolled, with stitches.

English Church Needlework.

Then scrape some pipeclay into a saucer and add to it a small teaspoonful of powdered charcoal. Mix these powders together until they are of a smooth grey tint. Dip one end of the flannel roll into this, and having carefully pinned the tracing on the material to be embroidered, proceed to strike it evenly and briskly over the pierced design, taking care that the pounce passes every line. Now withdraw the pins very carefully, and gently raise the design from the material, taking care not to drag it, and if properly pounced the design will be found clearly traced on the material. If this should be white linen, it may now be marked out with a fine etching-pen, dipped in either blue or black ink. If there is too much pounce on the material, remove it by lightly tapping the back of the linen before etching in the design, which should now be carefully compared with the pattern, and any mistakes corrected with the pen.

For tracing silk, or velvet, different mediums are required. For white or light coloured silk, the pipeclay should be coloured with powdered indigo and the lines etched in with indigo, rubbed up with a little gum-water, and the pen filled by taking up the colour with a brush. On dark silk or velvet, the pouncing can be made with violet-powder dusted over the pricked lines. The etching should be done with flake white and gum-water. The work is now ready for framing.

In the best days of English embroidery, few of the most important parts of either figure or flower designs were worked on the material which was intended to form their background. They were usually traced on a thin, but strong, unbleached linen, stretched in a wooden frame, two layers of the linen being often used together. The work was done on this linen, and afterwards cut out and applied to the ground material.

English Church Needlework.

29

Before beginning a piece of work for a church, especially an ancient church, it is always desirable to be informed of its style of architecture, its date, and to know to whom it is dedicated. These particulars are of great importance in choosing designs for

1. Design by the Salisbury Diocesan School for Church Needlework.

the embroidery. For instance, if the church is of the fourteenth century, and dedicated to St. Andrew, powderings such as the lily (No. 1), taken from a fourteenth century encaustic tile, may by alternated with St. Andrew's crosses for the super-frontal,

30 English Church Needlework.

lectern, or pulpit hanging; the frontal of which the design is given (No. 2) has four different kinds of powderings of this date.

Illuminations are excellent as examples for colouring embroideries, and we can find many beautiful suggestions for super-frontals and orphreys in the lovely and carefully drawn borders of illuminated manuscripts of the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries. No doubt much of the Church work of these dates was designed by the same artists who decorated the beautiful MSS. Ancient painted glass is also a valuable

2. Altar Cloth.—Design by the Salisbury Diocesan School for Church Needlework.

assistance in supplying designs; and although the leading in the old windows sometimes distorts the objects it intersects, yet the diapers, the foliage, and the borders of really old painted glass are full of beautiful outlines and designs well suited to embroidery. As a rule, all needlework designs are better taken from drawings than from sculpture, as the latter requires more light and shade than the needle can give. Much shading should never be attempted in Church embroidery. Colour and outline are the two important points

English Church Needlework.

on which its merits should rest; and if these are secured, the results will almost always be satisfactory, even if perfection in the stitches employed has not been attained. There is still another source from which instruction may be obtained for embroidery for vestments, in the brasses and incised slabs of mediæval ecclesiastics. The vestments portrayed on these were no doubt those they had constantly worn, and the elaborate borders of the copes and chasubles, the exquisite patterns of the stoles and maniples, and even the cushions on which their heads rest, are all true copies of the very vestments and broideries in which they were accustomed to celebrate, or to make use of. And from such patterns as these we can copy and trace most exquisite and fitting designs for our own Church embroidery, and in this way obtain the beautiful patterns from which the embroideries, so celebrated in mediæval times, were worked. The works have long since disappeared, but in time we may see them re-produced.

The stitches in which these vestments were worked are often so clearly represented as to be easily identified.

36 English Church Needlework.

drawn too tight. With chain stitch, also, there are several

variations, all more or less effective. One of these is worked

with two threads of a different colour. They must both be in

the same needle, and the effect is very good for certain kinds

of work. Hold the darker shade under the thumb, keeping

the lighter well to the right, draw both threads through, and the

dark link is made. The lighter thread, which has disappeared,

will then come out at the left, ready to be held under the

thumb, and make in its turn a light link. There are many

variations of this stitch given in Mr. Lewis Day's valuable

book on 'Art in Needlework,' and though it deals more with

embroidery generally than with what is called

Church work, and has consequently many

stitches seldom now used, a careful study of

the book would be useful to any amateur about

to take up Church needlework. As already

stated, the stitches chiefly used in the embroidery

of the Middle Ages were couching, long and

short stitch, or opus plumarium, gothic or

chain stitch, and twist stitch, which was used

for scrolls. These stitches, of course, admitted of several

varieties in the method of working them. Couching was

used entirely to fasten materials, such as gold thread, silk,

or twist, on the surface of the material. The couching

stitches were taken either somewhat irregularly, or with such

perfect regularity as to produce a pattern of contrasting

colour, on a ground of gold thread or silk, which they

secured to the material on which they worked. Long and

short stitch, or opus plumarium, was used in the Middle

Ages as the general term for 'embroidery,' as we now

call it, and represents the principle on which all floss silk

embroidery is done. The stitch should be begun from the

7. Basket Stitch.

English Church Needlework.

top of the leaf or flower to be worked; the lightest shade should be used first, and the stitches placed irregularly as to length, some longer, some shorter, but not alternating too evenly. The next shade is then, as it were, stroked into the first, taking care never to cross another stitch, or to split the silk in working it.

A good idea of how the stitches should arrange themselves can be obtained by inserting the fingers of one hand between the fingers of the other, the fingers representing two shades of silk and lines of stitches.

IV. On Frontals.

THE earliest English altars were probably made of wood, and many of them were square and were adorned with movable frontals, and from these they received their decoration, as, whether of wood or stone, these altars were made without ornament of any sort. The frontals were often of thick plates of gold or silver, enriched with gems of great value, whilst less wealthy altars had silken frontals, embroidered with rich designs in gold and silver and silks of various hues.

On lower festivals less splendid coverings were used. These were often made of linen, beautified also with embroideries. The simple design, No i, taken from a thirteenth century MS., is of this class. Such a frontal for ferial use in many country churches is most suitable. Woollen materials were very seldom used in early times—silk, velvet, and linen being in much greater esteem. The colours in use in the early Anglo-Saxon times were those of the Levitical use—white, gold, red, blue and purple. These colours supplied the changes which were made for the different seasons and festivals, and always corresponded with the vestments worn by the celebrants. The burse and chalice veil on the altar also matched the vestments in colour and decoration.

According to the old English use of Sarum, all the altar frontals were removed on Maundy Thursday, and were not replaced until late on Holy Saturday, the altars remaining

2. Advent Frontal and Super-frontal.

43

English Church Needlework.

as they make worthy and beautiful antipendiums if the design is simply outlined in gold thread ; but this must always be done in

7. Frontal for Ordinary Occasions.

a frame and on well-stretched framing linen, on which the brocade must be carefully tacked before beginning the work. The stoles worn by the celebrant at the altar should always correspond with the frontal of the day, as should also the chalice veil and burse.

8. The Frontal for Ascot Parish Church.

No. 8 is a simple yet effective design lately worked for Ascot Parish Church. The ground is of cream brocade em-

46 English Church Needlework.

broidered alternately with Tudor roses on tall stems and fleurs-de-lis. The colouring of the whole design is exquisitely

9. A White Frontal.

harmonious, the roses of a pink shade of terra-cotta, the fleurs-de-lis touched with puce tones, and the foliage of a tender green hue. On the super-frontal are jewelled crowns and sprays delicately worked, and the edge is finished with a pale green fringe.

No. 9 is another simple design for a white frontal. The

10. A Violet Altar Frontal.

groundwork is of brocade, from which the flowers, shaded from pink to red, stand out with beautiful effect. The leaves are of

English Church Needlework.

shaded green, and the fleurs-de-lis are worked in gold basket stitch.

The foundation of No. 10 is of purple Roman satin, on which are embroidered powderings of pomegranates in gold silk. In the centre is the sacred monogram in red, spangled and outlined with gold thread. The orphreys are of purple velvet. At the top of each orphrey is a bunch of thistles. In the centre of the orphreys is a solid cross of gold thread on

11. A Red Frontal.

a red velvet shield. The stole that has been worked to correspond will be found on p. 107 of the chapter on Stoles.

One of the most beautiful frontals yet seen, both for design and the manner in which it has been worked, is Miss Mary Gemmell's rendering of "I am the True Vine," as illustrated in No. 11.

It was worked for St. Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, upon a ground of fine red damask, the embroidery consisting

48 English Church Needlework.

of thick raised gold work for the grapes and stems, and shades of gold floss for the leaves. The result is very

12. An Easter Frontal.

splendid and satisfactory. But yet more beautiful was the same design, carried out in natural colours, upon a white silk background. The exqusite proportion of both leaves

13. A Modern Altar Cloth.

and fruit here showed to full advantage, and, worked as it was by master hands, the effect was magnificent.

English Church Needlework.

No. 13 is a specimen of a modern altar-cloth that will bear comparison with many of the gorgeous achievements of the Middle Ages.

An amateur, in the strict sense of the word, should not attempt the making up of such a work as this. The utmost that can be done effectually by a private individual is to prepare the various designs used for powderings, the central cross, and the orphreys, and to send them to be mounted by a professional. In few private houses can this part of the work be done satisfactorily, the large frame that is necessary being alone a great inconvenience.

The altar-cloth in question has as background the richest crimson silk velvet. The large cross in the centre is mainly worked in gold and

50 English Church Needlework.

gold-coloured threads, laid down in high relief in what is

known as "basket" couching.

To manage this, parallel lines of whipcord are laid down at

regular intervals over the foundation and held firmly

in position. Generally three, but sometimes four, lines of

purse-silk are then placed across these threads side by side and

close together, and are held down with stitches of the same

silk, brought up from the wrong side, carried over the

lines of purse-silk, and back again to the wrong side.

Usually a securing stitch is thus placed between every two

lines of cord ; and when the next set of purse-silk strands

is laid, the securing stitches must be placed between those

which held the first laid strands of silk.

The centre of the cross is particularly good in effect,

though extremly simple. A circle is worked there entirely

in white laid work, with a small blue cross resting upon

it. Bosses, too, are formed in various parts of the design,

English Church Needlework.

by working yellow floss silk over a small round padding, and over that again is arranged a network of fine gold thread. Spangles are judiciously intermingled, and are sewn on according to the old models — that is, sprinkled over the foundation itself as isolated ornaments, instead of being, as in so many modern instances, laid directly upon the embroidery.

The cloth is powdered with small crosses worked to correspond with the main central one, and these also have been appliqué after having been worked. Delicate sprays of gold surround the crosses, and for these two threads of gold are always laid at the same time. The gold used for Church embroidery must be the best that is procurable, and it is indispensable that it should not tarnish. Some of the gold thread is twisted over a silk foundation, some over cotton. As a general rule, the Chinese is perhaps preferable to any other, as being more evenly twisted and more durable.

16. An Effective Design for a Frontal.

The embroidery of the orphreys would form a pleasant task for anyone who does not care for the labour of working the whole of the cloth. In No. 13 they are embroidered upon a foundation of rich red silk damask, of a rather lighter shade of the same colour as the velvet. A conventional spike of the white lily forms a charming panel-like filling for these, and the sides are bordered with a band of flat gold

E 2

68 English Church Needlework.

tack on the other end, and work as before, remembering that the two designs must not be worked on the same side of the ribbon, or the marker will not lie rightly in the book.

When both ends are finished, detach the ribbon from the frame. Turn back four and a half inches of the plain end, below the work, over the untidy wrong side, leaving half an inch of plain ribbon below the design on the right side.

The ribbon must now be sewn together by the two edges to the depth of four and a half inches; it must be done with small stitches, using fine silk of the exact shade of the ribbon.

The raw edge of the turned up end is to be hemmed across above the design, the stitches to be invisible on the right side; for this purpose a very fine needle must be used.

A soft twist silk fringe of two inches is best to use, if the embroidery is of silk.

Twice the length of the two ends and three inches over for turnings will be required.

So that the sides should be perfectly neat and alike the fringe should be sewn along one side of the marker singly, then turned and sewn on the other.

The height of a design for a book-marker should not be more than three inches. On white ribbon, gold embroidery looks best; on violet, white; the other colours according to taste.

72 English Church Needlework.

the groundwork material, which must have been stretched in the frame. Tack it on very carefully, stitching all round the design. Then make an edge by laying a strand of rather thick black purse silk or filoselle, sewing it down with fine sewing silk at regular intervals. Red or yellow is sometimes preferred to black. Gold thread is also sometimes the best finish.

This plan of transferring the work is suitable for very large altar frontals, superfrontals, and banners, upon which the design is "powdered"—that is to say, a number of small sprays, emblems, monograms, or initials are placed at intervals upon the foundation ground.

There are, of course, less elaborate designs, and some which, while looking most intricate, owe much of their effect to the manufacture of the brocade on which they are executed. No. 5 illustrates this. Its grounding is of pale cream-coloured brocade, the stems being of green filoselle, edged with gold thread. The small leaves are particularly happily chosen as to colour, the base being green, shaded to a dead white at the points, the whole outlined with gold. The flowers of the central design are in shaded rose filoselle, heavily outlined in gold, the centres being light blue. The other flowers are also in rose pink, but the points are in deep blue, outlined with gold, and the lower leaves are dead green, shaded to white.

The design is well raised, and is most effective in every way. The whole is edged with a fringe of gold, blue, rose, and white.

VII. On Alms Bags.

THE alms bags used in all churches where the old-fashioned open plates are disused are really the simplest of all the articles to be worked. They should be made in all the different ecclesiastical colours, matching the frontals and hangings which are in use according to the season.

There is really not much variety in shape, and the large diagram shows the way to cut one out. Three pieces of the material are required, two are cut exactly the same size and they do not require a stiff lining, only sufficient to give a little substance to them when made up.

The third is for the outside pocket, which is to be embroidered with one of the designs given, and may be more or less elaborate according to taste, only remembering that the violet alms bags for use in Lent should have the simplest design, as it is only worked in white with a thread of red at the edge.

For Easter and great festivals the white alms bags may be worked in gold and other colours according to the design. The material suitable is either cloth, silk, brocade or velvet, and if it is found impossible to provide all the colours, a set worked on a

the front and allowing a space for the handle to slip through, or sew the pocket on to it.

For those unable to master the difficulties of embroidering designs on the material, it is possible to buy some suitable designs carefully worked and then to appliqué them on. This is done by carefully tacking the design all round the edge and then laying on a thread or double thread of Japanese gold, or filoselle as a finish.

Many designs embroidered in the great schools of work are obliged to be worked first and then appliqué. There are some very elaborate designs which it would be impossible to work on the rich background material, and of course this may be done for alms bags by those unable to undertake more elaborate work. Again, there are correct designs to be bought in cloth, which look very well when worked on the bags. The best way to cover the designs (when fixed on to the material in a frame) is to work them over with very close satin stitch, being careful not to sew through the felt, but to bring the needle up and put it in again close to the edge. When the satin stitch is finished it should look very bright, glossy and even, and the design must then be edged either with gold thread or purse silk.

VIII. On Altar Linen.

THE linen that is required for altar use in every church affords a good opportunity for working some of the most necessary adjuncts to the service of the sanctuary, and it can be undertaken by those who, being only very neat needlewomen, do not feel capable of undertaking the more elaborate embroidery that must be done on coloured materials, and with many shades of silk and golden thread.

It is hardly necessary to say that all altar linen must be worked upon the finest and best material that will bear frequent washing. Fine Irish linen, Scotch and French lawn or cambric are all suitable, and these different materials can be procured in several qualities. In choosing the material it is well to consider the design in view for working on it, as if the pattern be large and heavy in design it must not be worked on a material which is very light and thin.

The fine linen suitable for most purposes is procurable at the best Irish depôts or at any good linen warehouse, and varies in price from 3s. 6d. to 5s. a yard; it is to be had in widths of twenty-two or thirty-six inches, and at this price the quality will be most suitable, being not too heavy in make, and yet sufficiently so to carry a bold design.

A very fine French cambric would cost from 12s. to 14s. a yard, and would be used for making a chalice veil,

English Church Needlework.

which must be worked in a very delicate and appropriate design. The purificators, the pall, and corporals, as well as the cloth which is required to cover the credence table, should be cut from the same material as that which is chosen for the "fair linen," which is, of course, the largest and most important piece of the required set.

A complete set for altar use consists of the following articles:-The fair linen cloth, a cloth for the credence table, two corporals, four purificators, a pall, and a chalice veil. The fair linen must be exactly the width of the altar for which it is intended, and it must be long enough to fall down about half-way to the ground at each end. If, therefore, the altar be narrow, and the linen is wide, it can be cut with no waste of material, as, after taking off the required width for the fair linen, a strip is left that is quite wide enough to allow for the smaller articles to be cut from it.

1. Fair Linen. Worked in chain stitch.

Having made sure of the exact measurements, and cut off the necessary length, make a very neat hem, a quarter of an inch wide, down the whole length. The hem at each

2. Fair Linen. Satin stitch and outline stitch.

80 English Church Needlework.

end should be wider, not less than half an inch. These ends are usually embroidered in white only, though there is no objection to their being worked in red, and when well worked in a suitable design the effect is good. I have given several designs, but they must, of course, be chosen according to the size of the cloth, and they should always be symbolical or conventional. No. 3 is photographed from a very beautiful fair linen cloth executed by Messrs. Helbronner. The stems are worked in outline stitch, and the leaves, fruit, and passion flowers in raised satin stitch. No. 4 shows a somewhat similar design with a narrow border, and the correct make of fringe required. Nos. 1, 2, and 3 are outline designs more or less elaborate, and could be worked effectively in chain stitch. Three very good designs to be worked on the palls are also given.

The pattern must be traced or transferred on to the linen—and this embroidery is not stretched and worked in a frame, but is worked in the hand. If, however, such a pattern as No. 3 is being worked with a good deal of satin stitch in its design, it is advisable to have one of the small tambour frames sold at all work depôts. These frames are two thin wooden hoops which fit over each other, just allowing room to slip the piece of linen to be worked over the smallest hoop, which is then kept well stretched and tight by passing the other hoop on to it. Supposing the pattern No. 3 was in hand, with the outlined design enriched with the leaves, fruit, and corn to be worked in satin stitch, the hoops would be placed over that particular part of the work and, when finished, the hoops removed till again required. The frames cost from one to two shillings, and can be had in different sizes. These minute directions are given for the more elaborate designs, but it is quite

English Church Needlework.

admissible and suitable to work the whole pattern in chain stitch, using the very best embroidery cotton that can be got. The whole success of chain stitch embroidery consists in the perfect regularity of each stitch, and the fact that the cotton has been chosen with due regard to the texture of the material upon which it is to be worked. If the cotton be too thick it will look heavy. Arden's embroidery cotton or that made by Baylis & Co. may be thoroughly relied upon.

6. Pall. Worked in chain and satin stitch. 7. Pall. Worked in chain and satin stitch.

Attempts have been made to work the altar linen in silk, but it cannot be recommended. Good effects have been obtained by working the pattern with the best ingrained cotton, and if this is approved for the fair linen the whole set must be done alike in the same colour. Crimsons and blues are the most approved colours for linen embroidery. Green and lilac have been employed, but no good shades can be found in ingrain cotton, and in flax the best I have seen wash but badly. It is, therefore, better to avoid them.

84 English Church Needlework.

There are but few stitches that can ever be introduced into white embroidery; out-line stitch is generally used for the stems, and most people employ satin stitch or a modified crewel stitch for the other parts of the work.

I will now give some details as to the size and working of the other articles required for a complete set of altar linen.

The corporals are usually twenty-one inches in width and twenty-four in length, and the cross or small design is to be worked on them, but not in the true centre, as it must be in the middle of one half.

8. Pall.

Worked entirely in satin stitch.

These may be simply hemmed, hemstitched, embroidered on the hem, or edged with lace, according to taste.

The purificators must measure eleven to thirteen

9. Fair Linen.

Worked in stem and satin stitch.

88 English Church Needlework.

preparation, not with long stitches which will waver when worked upon, but with even, systematic surface darning. If this is persevered with until the pattern stands high above the linen, the result will be work which will look better and better each time it is washed. The secret of satin stitch is not rapidity, but exactness of execution.

I have seen fine buttonholing used for raised flowers, etc., but do not advise it. It is just as much trouble as satin stitch, and is apt to wash out of shape. Stems, as already stated, are usually worked in stem or crewel stitch, but for stouter branching there are one or two others worth mentioning, notably a couched outline, with interior left either blank or finely darned; also wide buttonholing for either edge, the centre being darned across the stitches of the buttonholing.

Leaves can be treated in many ways, and the good vine leaf patterns obtainable offer wide scope for both invention and adaptation. Leaves of entire satin stitch are apt to be heavy, but this can be obviated by leaving the veins unworked, and I have seen some beautiful leaves half satin stitch and half outline, the interior of the outlined half being filled in with fine back stitching. The effect was wonderfully good.

In working the five crosses on a fair linen cloth, care should be taken to make them exactly even. They are generally worked in satin stitch, often with a clear centre. They are, however, not obligatory, and many people omit them altogether.

Linen fringe is most usual for edging the ends of a fair linen cloth, but this, again, is a matter of taste. Lace is often used, and beautiful borders can be made by turning up a deep hem, and drawing the threads half an inch, or one or two inches deep, and working as in drawn-linen work. The hem

English Church Needlework.

can also be embroidered if preferred, or turned up and hem-stitched.

I do not propose to enter here upon the position of lace in Church needlework. The subject is far too large an one, and covers an extensive area, but those who can do such work, will find it much appreciated, and for chalice veils, many beautiful examples of lacework, quite suitable for imitation, may be found. I append examples of both chalice veil (11) and pall (12), the first having a border of Buckingham-shire pillow-case, worked in the design of the symbolical vine, the second in old Venetian Rose-point, of seventeenth century date.

91

92 English Church Needlework.

three-quarters of a yard square; oversew this (top and bottom) to the webbing, turn a little piece under on each side for the lacing, take a turn or two on each roller, put in the stretchers and pull as tight as possible; lace the holland with fine string on both sides till it is fully stretched. Take one half of the silk for the stole and fold it from the narrow end till close to where the working pattern begins, tightly tacking the folded silk to keep it secure while working. Now lay the folded stole on the holland, leaving room for the other half; it must be very smooth before it can be tacked on to the holland and the tacking must be done very closely. Do exactly the same with the other half, as by working both ends at the same time greater uniformity in working them can be ensured.

Whether working on fine cloth, which may be used for stoles, on silk, or on brocade, the elementary stages of the work are the same, but when cutting out a material with a pattern design the pattern cannot be reversed and the two pieces must be cut side by side, or one half of the pattern would be running up and the other half would be running down.

The minute directions given for stretching and preparing the work may seem tedious and tiresome, but the whole success of all such embroidery entirely depends on its most careful preparation. The design may be either traced or transferred. The work is then ready to be commenced, and though every fresh design must be worked out differently in shading and colouring, the principals are the same, as well as the stitches. The most simple design is No. 2, which is a cross to be worked in white (shaded) and red, with gold edge. The materials used must be of the best quality, and as constant annoyance arises through cheap needles, the best make should always be secured. Long eyes and sharp points are wanted for the filo floss, small wool needles for

94 English Church Needlework.

Having traced the design and decided upon the colours in which it is to be worked, it is important to have enough silks in hand of all the chosen shades, to avoid the difficulty of matching when half way in the work. A good eye for colour and an artistic appreciation of the harmony of shades is necessary, and anyone at the beginning of their apprenticeship in Church embroidery should study some of the best reproductions of antique needlework, which have been worked by skilled hands. Strong colours and decided contrasts must be avoided.

To continue practical directions. This design must be raised by what is technically called padding; but first take very fine white cotton and with small stitches follow most carefully the lines of the pattern traced. Now do the padding, which is done with very white, thick, and soft cotton sold for the purpose, taking care that the stitches go the reverse way to the embroidery afterwards worked over. Always begin from the outside, bring the needle up close to the end of preceding stitch, so that there is very little cotton at the back, and work this padding very evenly, and cover the design before beginning to work the silk. Having a smooth and even surface with this thick cotton, begin to work the first shade of white filo floss, taking three strands of the filo, and working from the outer edge in "long" and "short" stitch, as heretofore described. The second shade of silk should be worked, with only two strands of filo floss, very carefully dovetailing the stitches into the first shade, where spaces are left; this shade may be worked to the very centre of the cross, working the darkest shade over it judiciously. Before finishing the cross with its gold edging, the circle must be worked in red filo silk; this is to be done in satin stitch, having previously done the padding as before described.

English Church Needl

floss, or, if preferred, with a double gold thre

stitched down. Having finished this, take t

frame by carefully cutting round the par

embroidered design, and prepare to moun

necessary to do this on a large table.

Having procured the holland sold for in

lining, lay it on the table, and cut out

exact size of the original paper pattern, c

allowing the trifle required for joining at

neck. Then lay the embroidered stole, f

wards, and, placing the holland interlin

tack it most carefully as far as

it the neck (already seamed), doing

a time. Having thus tacked the lin

hly, turn the edges of the silk over

and tack down. Everything mus

cked before a stitch of sewing is

upon this depends the correct finis

k lining of a violet stole should be

very thin quality specially sold for

may be got in all shades. The li

cut the size of the silk, and jo

ume angle. Lay the silk lining or

and tack through to the silk right uj

nost carefully. Take fine violet se

slip-stitch the silk lining to the f

stitches must be seen; the i

reatly prevents this. At the two

the silk and lining, and sew nes

e fringe. Twenty-four inches of frin

the ole five inches wide, and it should be

nex olet and white for this stole, and there

The fringe is of green silk overlaid with Japanese gold thread.

No. 11 is also in green, of a large-patterned brocade, the cross being bordered above and below with a solid gold scroll-work. The cross is heavily edged with gold, inside which is a firm line of red. The remaining space is filled in with delicate blue feather stitch, while the centre is gold, filled in with red.

The fringe is a heavy one of crimson, red, blue and green.

In the hands of an experienced worker the result would also be beautiful if the grounding were made of white satin, and the scroll executed in gold upon a field of rose-colour, the feather stitching being worked in pale green.

No. 12 is a most original and beautiful design, white silk, and gained the first prize at the Spitalfields Silk Exhibition. The figures are taken from two well-known pictures, and the tracing work adapted from some mediæval illumina-

14. An Easter Stole.

English Church Needlework.

needle, and with none of the painted work used in modern Bruges work.

No. 13 is a good design for a Christmas stole, and is in white damask, the figures being either worked entirely in gold and silver, or in natural colours, with wings heavily outlined in gold.

The design can be carried out in appliqué, painting, or fine embroidery.

Nos. 16 and 17 are executed in white damask silk. The designs of both are good in every detail, and might be used for other groundings than white.

In No. 17 the design of leaves and berries linking the medallions is worked in natural colours, the berries being purple.

The ends hold exquisitely worked figures of angels, carried out in very artistic colouring. In the one with the angel blowing the trumpet the drapery is worked in green, the wings are mauve shading into blue, the hair is red surmounted by a halo in crimson gold. The background is entirely covered with gold worked in diaper pattern, which has an extremely rich effect.

The scroll is in white with the lettering in black. The whole is surmounted by a canopy of which the background is dull green, and the scroll and powderings in gold and blue. The second angel has draperies of blue, showing long undersleeves worked in white, and at the neck a deep collar worked in gold. The wings are of flame-

18. A Penitential Stole.

108 English Church Needlework.

colour, whilst the background and canopy, etc., are in the same rich gold and green as are those in the corresponding design.

No. 17 is also worked in natural colours, the rich shades of the pomegranates and their leaves having a very beautiful effect.

No. 18, a penitential stole, is, of course, of purple. At the top are thistles—the emblem of sin. “Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth” (the earth under the curse of sin). The thistles are worked in shades of heliotrope, with grey-green leaves. The words “Jesu Merci” are in red. Below are five small flowers in red, representing the five wounds of our Lord, surrounded by circles of thorns in gold silk. Below this is a thistle crowned—on a red cross—the colour of redemption) representing sin overcome by the power of the Cross. The whole is heavily outlined in gold thread.

No. 19 gives only a faint idea of the portions still existing of the stole of St. Cuthbert, as found in his tomb in 1827. The grounding is of a rich reddish purple, and the embroidery, now faded and tarnished with the vicissitudes of 1,140 years, still indicates what its original beauty must have been.

Jewelled stoles are sometimes worked, and are very effective if judiciously done. They should be embroidered with only just enough colour to throw into relief the gold setting in which the jewels are placed.

A beautiful stole was shown at the Art Exhibition of the Church Congress of 1888, representing St. John the Evangelist at one end, and St. Aquinas at the other. St. John is represented with the Holy Spirit as a dove descending on him, and throwing rays of light on the Blessed

110 English Church Needlework. Blessed Trinity. A companion, Domenico Casate, beheld him, while in fervent prayer, raised from the ground, while a voice from the crucifix cried, 'Thou hast written well of Me, Thomas. What recompence dost thou desire?' And the saint answered, 'No other than Thyself, O Lord.'

X. On Banners.

THE use of banners in festal processions is of very ancient origin.

In early English ritual two banners were used in procession on Ascension Day, with the quaint device of the lion and the dragon; and Bede relates that when St. Augustine came to England to begin his mission, he and his priests carried a silver cross and a banner while they sang the Litany. On the banner was a figure of Our Lord. Similar banners are now used in churches for festivals, and when the various guilds connected with the parish are represented in the procession.

So the gift of a handsome banner is often among the offerings made to a church; and if the building be dedicated to one of the saints, an emblematic design is chosen for the banner. For guilds it is best to select what is most appropriate to the intention of the particular society it represents.

Banners may be worked on any rich material of silken texture, or on very fine cloth. Serge is inadmissible, as, however well it may be worked, it never hangs satisfactorily. As a rule, the work is executed in a style that is beyond most amateurs but I will give directions for one that is of the simplest design, and yet is effective.

112 English Church Needlework.

It is worked on Roman satin, procurable fifty-two inches wide, at 4s. to 5s. per yard. For good proportion it should measure four feet by two feet nine inches, and therefore one yard and a quarter of the satin will cut the two pieces -one for the front, on which the design will be worked, the other for the 'backing.'

Having decided whether to work your own design, or buy one of the best already worked, stretch the satin on a frame and proceed, according to the directions given in Chap. II. (p. 26), to apply, or draw, and prepare the design. A bold pattern of pink lilies with crown is effective, or a cross with sacred initials; and it must be remembered that as the work will be viewed from a distance, the bolder the design, the better will be the effect.

When the work is finished and ready for mounting, there should be two strips of velvet or plush, five inches wide and lined with soft silk, to mount as orphreys.

The mounting, of course, requires great care, and some experience of heavy work. There must be no less than three linings, all of a heavy linen or holland fabric. Lay the embroidered front face downwards on a large table, and cut two pieces of lining the exact size. Then tack these into the pieces of satin, and stitch them carefully at the edges. A middle lining is still required, and this should be of a heavier linen. On no account use anything of the nature of buckram, or the banner will not hang well. The middle and heaviest lining must be fastened to the front or back with strong stitches, and then the parts can be sewn together. A cord must edge the whole banner, and the orphreys can be sewn on at the sides, so as to fall to the edge, and fastened at the bottom. A double cord and tassels are required for each corner, and the

I. The Banner of the Church Congress at Norwich.

English Church Needlework. 117

I have endeavoured to give specimens of banners both elaborate and simple in their working, and suitable for the many purposes for which banners are used.

4. A Christmas Banner.

No. 4 is a Christmas banner, worked for St. Michael's, Bussage.

For its central object it has a figure of the Holy Child,

English Church Needlework.

Wantage Sisters, who have also executed banners representing St. George(10), St. Hubert(11), and the Heavenly Jerusalem(12). The first is a magnificent piece of work. Both the attitude and the expression of the figure are admirable, and the colouring rich and harmonious. The groundwork is white, the orphreys being worked in red crosses and conventional roses. The dragon is a splendid monster, in blue, green, and gold. Perhaps the most wonderful effect is that of the Saint's armour, which is worked in silver and gold thread, pointed with black. The cloak is crimson, lined with purple, and the monograms are all gold.

The banner of St. Hubert has pale blue for its chief colouring, but the architecture is done in a pale dull red, and stands out boldly. The face of the Saint is so minutely worked that at first sight one is tempted to believe it to be the work of the brush instead of the needle.

The meaning of the "Heavenly Jerusalem" banner is more involved and mysterious, but the execution is wonderful. It is supposed to signify "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous fleeth unto it, and is safe." The orphreys represent the twelve manner of fruits.

Mr. C. E. Kemp's designs need no comment, but not one has been more admired than that possessed by St. Agnes', Kennington (13). Its real beauty cannot be transferred to paper. The foundation is of rose-coloured silk, upon which is laid a red velvet cross, and upon this is a marvellously beautiful representation of the Crucifixion. The cross upon which the Saviour rests is of gold, and is painted, as is the figure; the whole then appliqued to the groundwork. The orphreys are of pale green silk, worked with orange-red flowers. The letters are in dark blue cloth, appliqué.

130 English Church Needlework.

round the central figure, and groups of white lilies, the emblem of purity, are appliqué at intervals beyond this.

The groundwork of the banner is white brocaded satin, with a coloured lace running down each side. Beautiful shades of blue, green, and pink are finely blended in the design with a large amount of embroidery in gold and silver thread.

16. Medallion of an Agnus Dei Banner.

132 English Church Needlework.

part of the whole, from a distance—a result which is the crucial test of the value and beauty of all Church embroidery.

For a velvet cope, no better example can be taken than that of the Bishop of Lichfield. It is made of rich, red silk velvet, stamped, and the pattern outlined and worked up with gold thread. It is also powdered with shields of cloth of gold, containing the sacred monogram worked in gold, and surrounded with gold rays. The hood is of cloth of gold, embroidered with the Annunciation framed in gold tabernacle work. On the border over the hood are the arms of the See, and on either side figures of saints under tabernacle work. These saints are the Venerable Bede, St. Werburgh, St. Chad, St. Aidan, St. Paulinus, and St. Augustine of Canterbury.

1. Front of Cope.

A beautiful Easter cope is No 5, which was given to St. Andrew's, Worthing, by the congregation. The body of

2. Back of Cope.

136 English Church Needlework.

Dimensions must, of course, vary a little, but taken as a general rule, the cope that is five feet in length at the back should measure eleven feet along its straight edge. It should be laid out on a large table for work, and if carefully tacked will not be found difficult to make up. The inner lining of unbleached calico or coarse linen should be exactly the size of the silk or velvet, but the silk lining must be at least three quarters of an inch larger. This is tacked firmly over the edge on the right side, and then covered by the orphrey at the upper edge and the narrow border of needlework, lace or fringe at the lower edge.

The fringe of the Anglo-Saxon cope was frequently made of little bells of pure gold.

The method of turning the silk lining over upon the superior material should always be adopted when a border or fringe is used. It is not only neat and lasting, but economical, for the costlier stuff can be cut to its exact size, and thus save many an inch in the making of the garment or hanging.

4. The Hood of the Easter Cope.

The hood, originally meant as a real head-covering, became only an appendage before the close of the Anglo-Saxon period, and after the Normans came, was entirely abandoned for the flat piece of embroidery now designated the "hood of the cope." Upon it has generally been pictured subjects of holy events, marking the Festivals of the Church,

UNIVERSAL LIBRARY

140 912

UNIVERSAL LIBRARY