e finished the pouncing and taken off the paper, you proceed
to draw or rather paint in the pattern with water-colour paints:
Ackermann's are the best for the purpose; no others, as far as our
experience has proved, adhere so well to even the roughest fabrics or so
little affect the brilliancy of the embroidery thread. Four paints,
blue, black, yellow and white are sufficient for all purposes, whatever
the colour of the stuff may be.

On a smooth surface the tracing may be done with a pen but a small
sable-hair brush is preferable under all circumstances.

The rougher and more hairy the surface, the finer the brush ought to be,
in order that the colour may sink well in between the fibres.

Before beginning to paint in the pattern, gently blow away all the
superfluous powder from the surface. This process may be objected to as
being an old one which has been superseded by new inventions; a resinous
powder for instance, by the use of which patterns can be fixed, as soon
as they have been pounced, by passing a hot iron over the stuff, a sheet
of paper having first been laid upon it to protect it; or else a mixture
of gum and powder which can be dissolved on the stuff itself by the
steam of spirits-of-wine, and various other processes needless to
mention here, as some are only useful in tracing patterns on a large
scale, whilst others require a variety of appliances, not as a rule,
within the reach of those to whom needle-work is a simple recreation.

THE PREPARATION OF THE STUFFS AND THE SUBDIVISION OF THE
PATTERNS.--Long years of experience and practice have brought us in
contact with a good many designers, many of them artists in their way,
so long as it was only a question of putting their own compositions on
paper but who yet found themselves confronted by real difficulties the
moment they were called upon to transfer them to stuff.

We shall, as far as possible, point out to our readers the precautions
to be taken in tracing patterns and must for that purpose go back to one
of the first operations, namely that of pricking.

To begin with, the paper on which the pattern is should always be large
enough for there to be a clear margin of from 4 to 5 c/m. all round the
pattern, so that the pouncing instrument may never come in contact with
the stuff beneath.

In transferring patterns to stuff, no lines of division should ever be
made directly upon it either with lead, chalk or charcoal, as it is
hardly ever possibl