MT. MELLICK EMBROIDERY 



215 



she borrowed the finer stitches and designs 

 from the Huguenot designs. 



But if Mount Melliclv is not Irish in 

 origin, neither is it Huguenot. At any 

 rate, many of its stitches are not French. 

 The so-called French knot, while beauti- 

 fully worked in France, has been worked 

 in China for thousands of years. Then 

 there is the stitch with a kind of plait in 

 the center. The same stitch can be found 



worked in close, elaborate stitches or in 

 raised padded satin stitch. It is a heavy 

 embroidery, strong and durable, being 

 most generally worked on white satin 

 jeans with cotton of varied sizes. It is 

 frequently finished with, knitted fringe, 

 but the fringe is not essential; in fact, it 

 is not always elfective. 



Only floral designs are used in Mount 

 ]\Iellick, but they are varied. Passion 



THE CORNER OF A LUNCH CLOTH IN MOUNT MELLICK 



in the South Kensington Museum, where 

 it is claimed to be of Syrian origin, three 

 hundred years ago. The bullion knot is 

 known wherever gold is wrought. Other 

 stitches bear old German names. 



This beautiful relic of Middle Age fem- 

 inine art and love of beauty in hand work 

 is comparatively easy to learn. When 

 once learned it will be found susceptible 

 of many variations. Unlike most fancy 

 work, it is not hard on the eyes. It re- 

 quires no shading, as it is always worked 

 in white upon white cloth. It can be used 

 almost any place about the house, and is 

 especially suitable for toilet sets, doilies, 

 lambrequins, counterpanes, tea-cloths, etc. 

 Mount Mellick work has quite a distinc- 

 tive style, every leaf and flower being- 



flowers, blackberries, wild roses, and all 

 kinds of grasses and vines are especially 

 effective, and can be varied with delight- 

 ful effects. Its special beauty is its stitch- 

 ery, the design merely serving to show 

 the stitches off, and no one stitch is con- 

 fined to a certain use. Flowers and leaves 

 and vines may be worked in a hundred 

 ways, and the French knots and bullion 

 knots worked in where the artistic eye 

 shows they will improve the piece. Almost 

 every piece of Mount Mellick work bears 

 traces of the artist who has wrought it. 



How much more attractive our homes 

 when women will adorn them with ar- 

 tistic handicraft wrought by their own 

 firesides rather than with the too often 

 cheap products of the factory. 



