The more interested we become in embroidery the more we find how much more there still is to be learned about it.

There may be embroiderers who are experts in one branch of the subject and yet who will do very unsatisfactory work in another. For instance, one girl may be very proficient in fancy stitches and yet may not do the simple stitches or vice versa. Few American girls excel in the satin-stitch, not because it is hard, but it must be perfectly accurate. The average German, Swiss or French child can do better satin-stitch at the age of twelve than the average American woman does. From the time the children in those countries can hold a needle in their hand they are taught to sew and embroider.

Satin-stitch is a stitch that is taken over and over across a space. Sometimes it is quite heavily padded and at a first glance gives the appearance of a piece of material heavily raised. Fine designs should, however, be slightly padded. There are three ways in which padding may be done. There is the running or uneven darning, the chain, or the filling-stitch. A great deal depends on the smoothness of the padding. The chain-stitch should only be used for coarse work. The padding should not cover the stamped outlines, for they are needed as a guide for the satin-stitch. The padding is usually worked in a heavier thread than the outer stitches. Darning cotton that comes in four strands is often used. One or two strands is sufficient.

The prettiest satin-stitch is taken straight across. The stitches should not be crowded, but should be worked so that when the embroidery is finished the stitches are hard to distinguish one from the other.

The Old English letter "E" (Figure 131) shows a good example of satin-stitch and outlining. The latter was used on the single lines. The entire letter may be carried out in satin-stitch by first running the single lines with uneven darning stitches and then covering these with fine satin-stitches. Make the padding stitches as close together as possible, or the satin-stitches will be uneven.

The letter "C" (Figure 132) offers an opportunity of combining two colours. After the satin-stitch has been done, a little back-stitch is worked through the centre of the heavily padded sections. This combination of stitches is pleasing when colour is used, as the satin-stitch is in one colour and the centre stitches in another. A great many of the regular sewing stitches can be used instead of the embroidery ones. For the very fine lines, back-stitching can be used, making the stitches finer than those used in ordinary sewing.

The letter "A" of Figure 133 shows a good combination of satin-stitch and back-stitching.

Satin-stitch can be worked straight across or on the slant. Most of the modern work is straight, though a great many Germans still prefer to slant their stitches. The work should be held toward you and the needle straight. The padding should be worked lengthwise on the design and the satin-stitch in the opposite direction.

The Chinese do beautiful embroidery, usually in satin-stitch which is not padded and the finest of silks are employed for the work.

Another way of marking is to make a row of French knots along the outline design. A single line script letter lends itself best to this kind of work.

For bath towels an outlined letter is better than a padded one. The letter on a school bag or a heavy Turkish towel should be very simple as the wear they get does not warrant the spending of too much time on them. If there is a monogram to be made it is prettier if the initials of the Christian name be light and the surname heavy.

We learned about outlining in the first chapter of embroidery stitches, but outlining in combination with outer stitches is a little surprise for you. We have the German to thank for most of the good combinations of stitches or letters. After the letter has been outlined in white, we will say, a thread of colour is taken. Starting from the upper left-hand side the needle is passed under the first stitch of the outlining, up through the second stitch and down again through the third, till every stitch has been taken up on the needle (Figure 135). The threaded needle should not pass through the material except at the beginning and end of each line (Figure 136).

Another manner in which a letter may be embroidered, especially an old English letter, is to work it solid in white and outline it in colour. The Van Dyke point is good also where a broad space is to be filled. It is sometimes called the bird's-eye stitch.

Start at the top and on the left side of the letter or space it is to fill. Insert the needle on the right side and take a stitch to the centre on a slant like a buttonhole stitch. Fasten to the material with a little short stitch. Bring needle out at the extreme left and repeat directions until the space is filled. Each stitch forms a V (note Figure 138).

Sometimes you will find a very elaborate letter, the outline of which has been worked in satin-stitch or French stemming. Little eyelets or satin-stitch dots are worked between the lines.

When two or more letters intertwine they are called a monogram. It is not every set of letters that will make good monograms. Letters that have a good swing should be selected so that though they intertwine each letter should stand forth clearly. It is permissible to use the surname initial a trifle larger than the Christian initial. When monograms are composed of three letters and one of the smaller letters is placed on either side of the larger one the effect is very pleasing. The smaller the letters, the finer the thread should be. No. 50 or 60 marking cotton can be used for letters one half-inch in size. A three-quarter inch letter should be carried out in No. 45 marking cotton. A one-inch letter requires No. 35 cotton, while the two-inch letters take No. 30 and so on. The larger the letter the coarser the cotton.

The beauty of a monogram is to have something original. Perhaps you want to work your bag. Take a tea cup and place on the material in the position you desire the monogram. Run a faint pencil line around the cup. Draw a block letter in the centre so that it touches the upper and lower edges of the circle. Your two Christian initials are then placed one on each side of the centre letter. Try to fit the letters so as to keep the circle perfect. It may be you will not really draw block letters, but so much the better, as the monogram will be more original. If it is impossible to make a complete circle with the letters, embroider the sections of the circle between the letters in stem-stitch. Stem-stitch, you will remember, is an outline-stitch covered with the over-and-over or small satin-stitch.

A monogram of this sort is especially appropriate for a man's handkerchief. A twenty-five-cent piece, or a fifty-cent piece if it is a very large handkerchief, should be used for the circle. Seeding (Figure 139A) may be combined with satin-stitch in working monograms. Seeding is nothing more than a series of little back-stitches. A good effect is obtained by working one letter in satin-stitch and the other in seeding. It will be necessary to outline the outer edges of the seeded letter.

You have probably noticed the gold emblems and lettering on the sleeves of army officers' regimentals. They are generally worked in bullion, though sometimes gold thread is used. Bullion comes in gold and silver and at the first glance looks like the Oriental gold or silver threads. The difference is, however, that bullion is tubular, while the threads are usually composed of two or three strands twisted together or over and over a thread of red cotton. The red cotton makes a strong foundation for the gold threads and, by the way, do you know that all silk that comes on spools has a fine thread of cotton running through the centre? The purer the silk the less cotton is used, but the latter is very necessary, as the threads will not stand very much strain if they are all silk.

Now let us get back to emblems in bullion. It is necessary in bullion work to have a fine cardboard foundation which is called "the cartoon." Trace your design on the cardboard and then cut the design out. Baste the cartoon to the background, which may be of any material you desire. Broadcloths, silks, satins, and velvets are the materials usually selected for the work. Thread a fine needle with a piece of silk. Fasten the thread on the wrong side of the material and bring the needle up through the right side. Let us suppose that you are working the block letter A. Start from the apex of the letter. Cut a piece of the bullion just the size of a very small bead. Slip the needle through the cut piece of bullion and span the point of the letter. Continue in this manner till the cardboard is closely covered with the bullion. Each piece of bullion is cut to fit the space it is to cover.

In working a five pointed star, start and pad each section lengthwise, if it is to be embroidered in silk or cotton. For bullion work the cartoon is always necessary.

Work each section of the star from the point to the centre. Work from left to right, so that each section that is worked is to the left.

Papier-machÉ letters can be bought that may be used as a padding. They are very satisfactory for anything that is not to be laundered, but continual washings flatten the papier-machÉ, while if the padding is made of cotton it lasts as long as the background.

Handkerchiefs for yourself can be daintily marked in very fine feather-stitching in D. M. C. marking cotton No. 80. Remember to keep the stitches in a pretty slant.

There are numerous places that a letter or monogram can be used. A girl I know who is at a boarding school has marked all her bed linen and towels. For each pair of sheets and two pillow cases she uses a different style letter or monogram so that her linen is in sets.

Cross-stitching is appropriate for bath towels, although face towels are often very attractive worked in this stitch.

The question often arises as to which is the right place to put a letter or monogram on a table cloth, napkin, pillow case, or sheet, and though you may not be interested in any of these articles at present, it is well to know these little points when helping to mark the household linens.

Napkins are usually marked with the letter in the direct centre when folded. Of course, like many other things, there are fads for changing the position. One extreme style is to mark the letter in the direct centre of the napkin. This style necessitates folding the napkin in a fancy shape so that the embroidery will be seen at its best advantage.

There are two good ways to mark a table cloth. One is to place the lettering midway between one corner of the table and the hem. When the cloth is on the table the letter is below the top. The second and newer way is to have the letter on the top of the table on a line with the plates. If two sets of letters or monograms are used place them at diagonal corners.

On sheets the letters should be placed two and a half inches above the hem. The letter is worked so that when the sheet is folded back the base of the letter is toward the foot of the bed.

Pillow cases or towels are marked in the centre of one side, two inches above the hem.

Again let me impress upon you not to embroider white washable material in silk, thinking that because silks are more expensive they are better. Silks are apt to discolour in laundering. Cottons are now manufactured that have a high gloss like silk and yet they never discolour.

Another pretty and new way to mark letters on lawn or fine linen handkerchiefs is one that gives the effect of Bermuda fagotting and yet it is only hemming with a large needle (Figure 140). Draw the letter in pencil on the handkerchief. Thread a large tapestry or chenille needle with a piece of No. 200 linen thread. Cotton thread may be used but it is very apt to break. Tie one end of the thread to the eye of the needle so that it does not slip out. Thread another needle with a strand of No. 8 marking cotton and pass it to the back at the beginning of the letter. Unthread the needle, allowing a half inch to extend out of the back. Let the No. 8 cotton follow the lines of the letter and take a stitch into the material with the large needle. Work from right to left, holding the No. 8 cotton from you. Pull the fine thread tight around the stitch you have taken. Now pass your needle around the same group of threads of the material, holding the stitch over the heavy cotton. Work around the entire outside of the letter, then turn and work the inner line. Stitch again through the hole already made, taking up the same group of threads. Sometimes this style is called ladder-stitch, as the heavy cotton gives the effect of the side of the ladder and the groups of threads represent the rungs. Any design that is uniformly narrow can be carried out in ladder-stitch.