Designs and Patterns for Embroiderers and Craftspeople

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Dover Books on Needlework

DANISH FLORAL CHARTED DESIGNS, Gerda Bengtsson. (0-486-23957-8)

RUSSIAN PUNCHNEEDLE EMBROIDERY, Gail Bird. (0-486-40262-2)

DECORATIVE ALPHABETS CHARTED DESIGNS, Barbara Christopher. (0-

486-25631-6)

BLACKWORK EMBROIDERY, Elizabeth Geddes and Moyra McNeill. (0-486-

23245-X)

VICTORIAN ALPHABETS, MONOGRAMS AND NAMES FOR

NEEDLEWORKERS FROM GODEY’S LADY’S BOOK, Rita Weiss. (0-486-
23072-4)

101 NEEDLEPOINT STITCHES AND HOW TO USE THEM: FULLY

ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS AND DIAGRAMS, Hope Hanley. (0-
486-25031-8)

DECORATIVE CHARTED DESIGNS: 114 MOTIFS, Julie Hasler. (0-486-

27691-0)
TREASURY OF SMOCKING DESIGNS, Allyne S. Holland. (0-486-24991-3)

WHITE WORK: TECHNIQUES AND 188 DESIGNS, Edited by Carter Houck.

(0-486-23695-1)

VICTORIAN FANCY STITCHERY: TECHNIQUES AND DESIGNS, Edited

by Flora Klickmann. (0-486-43271-8)

CELTIC ANIMALS CHARTED DESIGNS, Ina Kliffen. (0-486-29125-1)

BUTTERFLY CHARTED DESIGNS, Lindberg Press. (0-486-25639-1)

HEARTS AND FLOWERS CHARTED DESIGNS, Lindberg Press (ed.). (0-

486-25111-X)

PULLED THREAD EMBROIDERY, Moyra McNeill. (0-486-27857-3)

SHADOW WORK EMBROIDERY: WITH 108 IRON-ON TRANSFER

PATTERNS, J. Marsha Michler. (0-486-40289-4)

BRAZILIAN THREE-DIMENSIONAL EMBROIDERY: INSTRUCTIONS

AND 50 TRANSFER PATTERNS, Rosie Montague. (0-486-24384-2)
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF EMBROIDERY STITCHES, INCLUDING CREWEL,
Marion Nichols. (0-486-22929-7)

WILD ANIMALS CHARTED DESIGNS, Celeste Plowden. (0-486-25991-9)

CELTIC CHARTED DESIGNS, Co Spinhoven. (0-486-25411-9)

MOTHER GOOSE CHARTED DESIGNS, Kathleen Thorne-Thomsen. (0-486-

25483-6)

EARLY AMERICAN EMBROIDERY DESIGNS: AN 1815 MANUSCRIPT

ALBUM WITH OVER 190 PATTERNS, Elizabeth M. Townshend. (0-486-
24946-8)

CHARTED MONOGRAMS FOR NEEDLEPOINT AND CROSS-STITCH,

Edited by Rita Weiss. (0-486-23555-6)

See every Dover book in print at

www.doverpublications.com
Copyright © 1974 by Dover Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.

Designs and Patterns for Embroiderers and Craftspeople is a retitled (1992)

reprint of Designs and Patterns for Embroiderers and Craftsmen, a selection
from the Wm. Briggs and Company Ltd. Album of Transfer Patterns [n.d., circa
1900?] first published by Dover Publications, Inc., in 1974. This Dover edition
contains an introduction with instructions for transferring designs and a
description of embroidery stitches by Marion Nichols.

DOVER Pictorial Archive SERIES

This book belongs to the Dover Pictorial Archive Series. You may use the
designs and illustrations for graphics and crafts applications, free and without
special permission, provided that you include no more than ten in the same
publication or project. (For permission for additional use, please write to Dover
Publications, Inc., 31 East 2nd Street, Mineola, N.Y. 11501.)

However, republication or reproduction of any illustration by any other graphic

service, whether it be in a book or in any other design resource, is strictly
prohibited.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 73-93081

International Standard Book Number

9780486142258
Manufactured in the United States by Courier Corporation

23030922

www.doverpublications.com
INTRODUCTION

This collection of the fine turn-of-the-century embroidery designs has been

edited and published especially for the needleworker who is looking for
something more artistically valid than what is customarily available. Originally
intended to be used on table mats, dresser scarfs and “D’Oylies,” these designs
are eminently suitable as decorations on pillows, eyeglass cases, handbags, blue
jeans and dozens of other objects in constant use today. However, many of the
designs are so attractive and carefully worked out that they are very successful
simply as pictures to be framed and hung.

As rich and varied as this archive is, happily you are not limited simply to
choosing and executing a single design. In fact, one of the best features of the
collection is that the designs complement each other beautifully, and thereby
invite you to invent your own composition by combining elements from different
plates. What a boon for you needleworkers who have always wanted to try your
hand at an original design but have not quite been able to pull it off successfully!
Try again, using a floral motif from here, leaves or stem from there, a butterfly
or a bird from still another plate, and soon your own needle-painting will begin
to form. Add your personal color scheme and appropriate stitches from your
repertory, and you will have the satisfaction of creating a truly original design.
After you have created several compositions from this material, you may find
yourself in the enviable position of being able to design completely on your own,
even though you may never have dreamed this possible!

The Table of Contents of this volume is organized according to motif, size and
shape, and suggested uses. We emphasize “suggested” because we hope you will
feel free to use your own imagination in order to get the designs to work for you.
This is primarily a sourcebook of designs and design ideas, and so we do not
attempt to cover the fascinating intricacies of the craft itself, which are now well
described in numerous publications. However, we do want to explain how to
transfer designs to fabric as well as to illustrate several basic stitches and offer a
few suggestions on how to make the best use of them.

After you have chosen the design and decided upon its purpose, select and
prepare the background fabric. Choose a fabric that is compatible with the
design and suitable for the intended use. Pictures that are to be framed and hung
on a wall may never have to be washed or take hard wear, and so can be done on
delicate fabrics; but drapes or pillows will get soiled and so require sturdier
material. If you are not sure of the washability of a fabric, test a small piece
before you spend valuable time embroidering it. Remember that a test by gentle
handwashing in cold water with special soap does not necessarily mean that the
finished piece can be tossed into the washer with the family wash! After
determining suitability and/or washability, make sure the fabric is clean and
pressed. Avoid using materials from which you are unable to remove creases; a
crease which does not iron out before the embroidering will remain to infuriate
you later.

Next, cut the fabric to size, being careful to allow for seams, hems or the fold-
over necessary if you plan to mount the piece. Make sure the cuts are “on the
straight” of the fabric by pulling out a guide thread in each direction and then
cutting along these lines; do not depend upon a ruler line since the fabric may
have been pulled out of shape. If a piece is still out of square after cutting, take
the time to dampen and press it over again. You’ll be glad you did! If the fabric
ravels badly, it is wise to whip the edges by hand with an overcast stitch or run a
large zigzag machine stitch along the edges.

Once you have chosen a design and fabric for a project, follow these simple
steps to bring your work to a successful conclusion:
Step 1. Gather the materials needed for transferring and embroidering.

You will need:

Tracing paper

Large piece of cardboard (oak tag or tablet back)

Straight pins

Tracing wheel, dull pencil or other stylus

Ruler

Dressmaker’s carbon paper (in a color that contrasts with the color of the fabric)

Flat smooth surface (such as a table)

Background fabric

Threads (yarns) for embroidery

Embroidery tools (frame, needles, thimble, scissors, etc.)

BASIC EMBROIDERY STITCHES ARRANGED BY USES

Step 2. Make a tracing by putting a sheet of tracing paper over the design and
drawing over each line with a lead pencil. We do not advise tracing directly from
the book onto the fabric because the page might tear and render the designs on
the overleaf page unusable.

Step 3. Transfer the design. Place the cardboard on a flat surface; this not only
protects the surface of the table from scarring under the pressure of the tracing
wheel but also provides the firm padding under the fabric necessary to produce a
smooth line. Carefully position your tracing on the fabric and pin it at the four
corners. If the design is to be centered, use a ruler to determine the midpoint.

Before we proceed with the transfer process, let me say a word about carbon
papers. Do not use typewriter carbon; it will smudge and rub off on the fabric
and is almost impossible to remove. Dressmaker’s carbon, available at notions,
fabric and dime stores, comes in packs of assorted colors in strips about 7 x 20
inches. It has a hard waxy finish and is designed for our purpose.

Slip the carbon, color-side down, between the tracing and the fabric, temporarily
removing one of the corner pins if necessary. Do not pin the carbon in place.
With a hard, even pressure, trace a few lines with a tracing wheel or similar tool.
Raise one corner of the tracing and the carbon to check the impression. If the
results are too faint, apply more pressure; if too heavy, less pressure. Too heavy a
line is difficult to hide with embroidery and too light a line is hard to see, but
keep in mind that the transfer does have a tendency to fade a bit as it is handled
and so should be a little on the heavy side. After adjusting the impression, trace
the entire design and then remove the carbon and all but two pins. Carefully lift
one side of the tracing paper and check to make sure the design is intact on the
fabric before removing the pattern. Once removed it is almost impossible to
register the pattern to the fabric again.
If later on, during the embroidery process, the line becomes too faint, touch it up
with a waterproof felt-tip pen or a laundry marker. Test the pen! If it is not
waterproof it will run and ruin your embroidery; just the moisture from a steam
iron is enough to cause this. (A pencil can be used unless you are working with
light-colored yarns which the lead could discolor.)

That’s all there is to the basic method of transferring designs. You are now ready
to embroider. Keep in mind that the success of your embroidery depends, like a
good marriage, on the compatibility of its component parts—a happy wedding of
design, fabric, thread and stitches, and most of all, your loving efforts.
Table of Contents

Dover Books on Needlework

Title Page

Copyright Page

INTRODUCTION

Index of Motifs
Hawthorn
Ivy and Forget-Me-Not