n passing the needle over the first stitch, put it in again
one or two threads in advance of the point where it came out, and draw
it out close to where the first stitch began.

The border, represented in fig. 875, is worked in great part in
Roumanian stitch.

[Illustration: FIG. 874. ROUMANIAN STITCH.]

The original, still very well preserved, notwithstanding its age, is
worked in silk of a brilliant red on a stiff stuff which has been
coloured by time and use.

Willems satin, Rhodes linen No. 2 and Algerian linen, make very suitable
foundations for this kind of embroidery and have that soft tint which is
almost indispensable to a satisfactory imitation of old needlework.

Any one of the shades of red named at the foot of the illustration, will
be found to be a good match for the original colours.

Roumanian stitch is used wherever the lines of the pattern are widest;
there where they narrow, in the indentures of the leaves and the twists
of the stalks, flat stitch is used instead.

By the repetition of the detached subject, this pattern may be made to
serve either for a stripe or for a grounding; if you use it for a
stripe, the centre flower of the principal subject with the stalks
lengthened, will look very well worked as a separate subject between the
large bouquets. Worked in a double row, base to base, on any stuff and
in any material, these large figures form a very handsome border which
makes an effective trimming for furniture and curtains.

PATTERN FOR PIQUE EMBROIDERY (fig. 876).--The stuff, called pique,
such as it is now manufactured, is simply an imitation of an old kind of
needlework, almost unknown in these days, but very popular in the
fifteenth and sixteenth century in Italy, for making coverlets and more
especially curtains and blinds; the latter being highly esteemed,
because without intercepting the light altogether, they tempered it
agreeably.

A similar kind of work was common in Bohemia until a recent date for the
making of caps. It is done on two layers of stuff, of different kinds,
the upper one fine and transparent, the lower, more substantial.

The pattern is drawn upon the fine stuff, because on that side the
different kinds of stitches are made.

[Illustration: FIG. 875. BORDER IN ROUMANIAN STITCH. MATERIALS: Coton a
broder D.M.C No. 16, Coton a repriser D.M.C No. 50, or Cordonnet 6 fils
D.M.C No. 20.[A] COLOURS: Rouge-Cardinal 346, Rouge-Grenat 358,
Brun-Caroubier 355, Rouge M