plain linen, and the background has certain threads in each
direction withdrawn at regular intervals, whereby the effect of the
squared net ground is obtained.

FOOTNOTES:

[5] No. 1564, 1902.

[6] For description of this method, see page 238.

[7] A piece belonging to Lord Falkland.

[8] Fig. 18 is a drawing from the border of the same example.

[9] No. 308, 1902.

CHAPTER X

METHODS OF WORK--(_continued_)

Drawn Thread Work--Hem Stitching--Simple Border Patterns--Darned
Thread Patterns--Corners--Cut or Open Work--Various Methods of
Refilling the Open Spaces.

This method of work is the acknowledged link between embroidery and
lace, and was possibly the origin of the latter. Drawn work is that in
which the threads of either the warp or the weft of the material are
withdrawn and those remaining worked into a pattern, by either
clustering together or working over them in some fashion. The cut or
open work, as it is sometimes called, is that in which both warp and
weft are in places cut away, and the open spaces thus formed are partly
refilled with a device of one kind or another.

The work is most often carried out in white thread on white linen, but
coloured threads may occasionally be introduced with advantage. It is a
durable method of work, and particularly suitable for the decoration of
various house-linens, things that must undergo daily wear and wash; its
rather unobtrusive character too makes it the more suitable for this
purpose. The work is used in conjunction with other kinds of embroidery,
perhaps making a neat finish to an edge, or lightening what would
otherwise be too heavy in appearance.

Drawn thread and cut work can be carried out with such detail and
fineness as to really become most delicate lace. In this chapter,
however, it is intended to be treated rather as an adjunct to other
embroidery, therefore only elementary work will be discussed. More
attention might with advantage be paid to the design of this kind of
work, for more might be done with it than sometimes is. For one thing,
there is very little variety in the patterns, and the result often seems
a spidery mass of incomprehensible threads with no very perceivable
plan; perhaps if more attention were paid to the proportion and massing
of the solid and open parts, a better result might be attained. Neatness
and simplicity are good qualities in the pattern, the method of work not
being suited to the expression of t