PATTERN STITCHES

Southland Times, Issue 23888, 5 August 1939, Page 8 (Supplement)

PATTERN STITCHES

Stitches which may be used for definite patterns are always useful for decorative needlework, and one of the best is the fly stitch, shown at Fig. 1. It is a V-shaped loop fastened at the bottom with a short stitch. If you use it for a filling, it is advisable to work along a line, so that the first stage can be fol-

lowed by the second stage, which also forms the beginning of the next'stitch as shown at Fig. 2. A suitable use for the fly • stitch is shown at Fig. 3. A variation of the same stitch is shown at Fig. 4,

The stroke stitch (Fig. 5) has many uses, and is quite easily done. It is advisable to work to lines and spaces to make the strokes even. Another very effective stitch is shown at Fig. 6, and is known as the wheel stitch. This is actually a blanket stitch worked from a centrt hole. Some pleasing patterns car be worked by combining the strok< and the wheel stitch in a spray

motif, one forming the stem and the other the flower. Designs for Embroidery Sprays and small units are easily .worked put as you go along, but

when definite spaces such as squares, circles, and oblongs have to be filled some form of working out has to be done before the embroidery is begun. A simple arrangement for a square is shown at Fig. 1. Another effective one is shown at Fig. 2, one half shows how small units may be

■laced outside a large circle and the •ther half shows how sprays can be worked out from corners. A method or dividing up a square for various irrangements of the pattern is shown at Fig. 3. In this way several interesting shapes may be worked out.

Circular border patterns are usually planned as shown at Fig. 4, the width of the border in this case

being one-sixth of the diameter. One of the best methods of filling a circle is based on the spiral or volute pattern as shown at Fig. 5; another pattern is given at Fig. 6 and shows suggestions for patterns surrounding a square centre panel. The latter arrangement is often used and can be altered by using either

a hexagon or an octagon instead of a square. A good proportion for a rectangle is shown at Fig. 7, the construction is based on a square, plus the distance from the centre of one of the sides to a corner. By drawing lines from the points indicated at A and B, a number of proportionate spaces can be drawn inside the rectangle as indicated at Fig. 8.