the
material. It may not always be desirable to do this winding round the
rollers; in that case fine glazed holland can be stretched in the frame,
and the part to be first embroidered fixed to it. When the first part of
the work is completed, the holland is cut out of the frame and fresh
pieces substituted as the work goes on. If it is not wished that the
stitches should be taken through both surfaces, as would here be the
case, it would be possible to cut the linen partly away underneath, and
use it only as a kind of inner frame for stretching the material on, in
a way somewhat like that already described (see fig. 9).

A backing to the material, however, is often a necessity--perhaps heavy
work may be put on it or the stuff itself is fragile; in such cases
there must be a backing of some kind. This usually consists of fine
holland or linen, which is first stretched in the frame and then has the
surface material securely stitched to it with overcast stitches, care
being taken that both materials are equally strained.

To frame velvet, sew it to the webbing by the selvedges or that way of
the material, since the pile with that arrangement is more manageable
when the embroidery is in progress.

[Illustration: Fig. 168.]

PART II

TAPESTRY WEAVING

CHAPTER XV

INTRODUCTION

Weaving, a most ancient art, naturally precedes embroidery, for this
necessitates an already existing ground stuff, which is generally some
kind of woven material. All varieties of weaving are done by one
little-varied method, that of the weft passing to and fro in and out of
the warp, and thus binding the whole into a fabric or web.

The kind of weaving which demands from the worker the greatest artistic
skill is that which produced the great masterpieces of Flanders, once
known as Arras, from the town of that name, and now commonly called
Gobelins tapestry, so named from the _Manufacture des Gobelins_ in
Paris, at which establishment, founded over three hundred years ago, it
is still produced.

It is this kind of weaving that is now to be discussed, but without the
least suggestion that the pupil should work upon a scale so large as is
usually followed, though there is no reason against doing so if it is
practicable. Tapestry weaving is so constantly associated with objects
of large size, such as wall hangings, that it is scarcely realised as an
art in this smaller way and as an alternative to embroidery. Yet it can
be wo