reason is, that
the drawing of the various forms in the design may be made incorrect, in
this way: suppose an apple were woven in, apparently correctly, but the
wefts were not pressed down thoroughly, the weaving and packing down of
the wefts above it would be sure to press the part underneath closer
together, and the effect of this would be to make the round apple assume
a flattened oval shape, and cause similar changes throughout the work.

It has already been mentioned that wherever a change of colour occurs
vertically, that is, in the direction of the warp-threads, there results
of necessity a division or slit in the web; the slit, which may be of
any length, if noticeable, must be closed. This can be done whilst the
weaving is in progress by a method of interlocking the two wefts as they
meet, or else by stitching up at the back when the work is finished. The
latter way is called fine drawing, and must be very carefully done,
especially with large tapestries.

Both methods are used; the first takes longer, but is the most durable.
Old and worn tapestries will usually be seen to have given way where
this stitching up at the back has taken place. In small pieces of work,
however, there is not much likelihood of strain, so the oversewing at
the back answers fairly well. The two ways can be used in conjunction.
Supposing a border, owing to its being of a different colour, had to be
joined the entire length of the work, the interlocking stitches might be
made at intervals of about half an inch, and when the work was finished
the oversewing at the back might be taken the entire length.

[Illustration: Fig. 183.]

Fig. 183 is a diagram illustrating the way in which the wefts may be
interlocked whilst the weaving goes on. Examination of the drawing will
probably be sufficient explanation; however, interlocking is effected
thus: Commencing at the base, run a weft of the darker wool to and fro,
leaving it slack at the turning point. A half pass of the
lighter-coloured woof is then run through, it is threaded in an upward
direction through the slack loop of the darker wool, waits there whilst
another weft of the darker colour is worked, and then is threaded down
through the second loop that has been formed, and returns to the
starting-point. It then comes back again and is threaded upwards through
this same loop, and waits, as before, for another to be formed, and
returns back through it--and so on. If this is done proper