The stencil above was used 
to give the design for this 
embroidery 
T hat the Western world is 
gradually beginning to see 
that some good can come out of 
the East, is noticeable in the 
growing appreciation of Japanese 
art. But it has taken the very re¬ 
cent years to find practical as 
weir as decorative uses for it. The 
stencils now form a new field for 
those interested in handicraft. 
For centuries the Japanese 
have printed their silks, linens 
and cotton goods, all fabrics in 
fact, with these carefully worked 
and intricate patterns. They cut 
them from heavy paper and use 
a variety of shellac so that they 
do not absorb the moisture of the 
color. The designs, ranging from 
hair-like fineness and maze-like 
intricacy to bold patterns of com¬ 
parative simplicity are cut by 
hand. Indeed it is difficult to 
understand the accuracy of the 
hand that guides a knife with such 
precision. Like all the arts of the 
Japanese people, however, it is 
the practice of centuries that has 
wrought such skill. The art of 
stencil cutting may well be called 
a fine art, though among these 
people with their highly developed 
artistic perception, the cutting of 
these paper patterns doubtlessly 
was considered little more than 
artisanship. 
Most of the stencils that one 
may gather to-day are old and 
have seen much service, but one 
occasionally finds some unused 
stencils. The rich brown tones 
of the old work, stained by the 
frequent application of inks and 
paints, seem most desirable, how¬ 
ever. 
Almost all the stencil patterns 
will be found to repeat — but the 
A NUMBER OF BEAUTIFULLY EXECUTED AND 
ATTRACTIVE DESIGNS THAT MAY BE HAD— 
USES TO WHICH THESE STENCILS MAY BE PUT 
IN FITTINGLY DECORATING THE HOME 
BY 11 I-: T TIE R II o n M e a d e 
Photographs by the .Author 
Stencils used as lampshades give striking effects when illu¬ 
minated. This one has a good companion piece in the 
butterfly tray 
A design may be carried out with a number of stencils used for 
different purposes. Here the butterfly pattern is repeated on 
the curtains, table-cover and the pictures 
Patterns stenciled on cloth 
may be embroidered for 
many articles 
amateur worker with them will 
be surprised at first to find them 
so narrow. All Japanese fabrics, 
at least those that they make for 
their own use, are narrow— 
scarcely over fifteen or sixteen 
inches wide. So much is now 
made for importation that one 
finds twenty-seven and thirty-six 
inch silks and cottons with Jap¬ 
anese designs, but these are 
made particularly for the foreign 
trade. 
When it comes to the use of 
the stencils, the person of small 
e.xperience should beware the 
fine and more intricate patterns 
and restrict himself to those in 
bold outlines and on extra heavy 
paper. The Japanese use a 
brush made of badger hair, a 
very primitive and unique affair, 
with a square, broad face. These 
brushes hold a great deal of color 
without having it too moist and 
are most satisfactory to work 
with. Bristle brushes are the best 
brushes to use when those made 
by the Japanese cannot be pro¬ 
cured. 
Besides using stencils for the 
purpose for which they were 
made—that of stenciling goods— 
there are numerous ways to em¬ 
ploy the paper patterns them¬ 
selves. Lamp and candle shades, 
trays of willow or mahogany, 
with stencils set in, pictures, 
lamp-screens, window transpa¬ 
rencies and even large windows 
may be made of them. 
A charming window made of 
many stencils of varying dc.sign 
carefully arranged and fitted to¬ 
gether is more suitable to use in 
a room where extreme simplicity 
of line and color has been kept. 
(21) 
