t the claims of the art
do not demand any special pleading, for it is pleasant in the actual
working, and can produce an infinite variety of most interesting
results.

CHAPTER II

TOOLS, APPLIANCES, AND MATERIALS

Needles--Scissors--Thimbles--Frames--Stand and Frame
combined--Tambour Frame--Cord-making Appliance--Requisites for
Transferring Patterns--Pricker--Knife--Spindle--Piercer--Suitable
Materials for Embroidering upon--Threads of all Kinds--Stones,
Beads, &c.

Good workmanship takes a prominent, though not the first, place.
Technical excellence in needlework, as in all other artistic crafts, is
a question of the worker's perseverance and her ability in the use of
tools. In embroidery these are few and simple, and are as follows:--

_Needles._--For most purposes needles known as long-eyed sharps are
used. Tapestry needles, similar to these, but with blunt points, are
useful for canvas work and darned netting. For gold work a special
needle can be procured with sharp point and long wide eye. A bent needle
makes a crooked stitch; but needles if made of good steel should not
bend; they break if used unfairly. The eye should be cleanly cut, or it
roughens the thread. The needle must be just stout enough to prepare for
the thread an easy passage through the material.

_Scissors._--Three pairs may be necessary; for ordinary work a small
pair with fine sharp points, for gold work small ones with strong points
similar to nail scissors, and for cutting-out purposes a large pair with
one rounded and one sharp point.

_Thimbles._--Steel ones are said to be most serviceable, silver are most
usual; but whatever the material they must be neatly made in order not
to wear the thread.

_Frames._--A common type of frame is shown at fig. 1. It is made in
various sizes; the one here represented measures 18 inches across. It
consists of four pieces of wood, two rollers for the top and base and
two side pieces. Each of the rollers has a piece of webbing securely
nailed along it, and its extremities are pierced with holes to receive
the side pieces. These are formed of two long wooden screws, fitted with
movable nuts, which adjust the width of the frame and the tautness of
the stretched work. The piece of material that is stretched between is
the link that keeps the frame together, for the screw ends fit just
loosely in the holes of the rollers. The side pieces are sometimes made
of flat laths of wood pierced