py ones. If the ground stuff is patterned, as in the case of a
damasked silk, it must be specially chosen to suit the work to be placed
upon it; small diaper patterns are frequently very good, since they
break up the surface pleasantly without being too evident.

Linen, which well answers all the usual requirements, is, for this
reason, very frequently chosen for a ground material. It can be procured
in great variety, the handmade linens being the best of all. Of kinds
besides the ordinary are twilled linens, of which one named Kirriemuir
twill is similar to the material used in the fine old embroidered
curtains. Some damask linens look very well as backgrounds for
embroidery; the pattern is sometimes a slightly raised diaper, which
forms a pleasantly broken surface. Loosely woven linens can be obtained
specially suitable for drawn thread work. In any case, if there is
dressing in the new material, it must be well boiled before the
embroidery is commenced: this makes it much softer for stitching
through. Coloured linens are rarely satisfactory, a certain kind of blue
being almost the only exception. The safest plan is to keep to pure
white, or to the unbleached varieties that have a slightly grey or warm
tone about them. Wools, silks, and flax threads all look well upon a
linen ground; it is not usually in good taste to embroider with poor
thread upon a rich ground material, and, upon the other hand, gold
thread and floss demand silk or velvet rather than linen, though any
rule of this kind may on occasion be broken.

Velvet and satin make excellent backgrounds for rich work; they should
not be used unless of good quality. The pile of the best velvet is
shorter than that of poorer kinds, and so is easier to manipulate, which
is a further reason for using the best. It is in any case a difficult
material, so much so that work is often carried out on linen and
afterwards applied to a velvet ground. The modern velvets, even the best
of them, are for quality or colour not comparable with the old ones.

Silk of different kinds is largely employed, since it makes a suitable
ground for many kinds of embroidery. Twilled and damasked silks are much
used; in the last-named kind, patterns must be carefully chosen to suit
the particular purpose. A thick ribbed silk is rarely satisfactory for
embroidery purposes.

For working with silk thread, an untwisted floss takes the first place,
but it needs some skill in manipulation. Filof