72 
KERAMIC STUDIO 
uted by Maud Robinson 
the colors are rich pomegranate red, and soft greens. The 
introduction of fruit on the sides shows a good distribu- 
tion of color. 
The trumpet flower is a very unusual and decorative 
motif for needle work, and serves to make a most original 
design for a table cloth or table center. Usually the design 
points to the corners, but in this case the designer has 
reversed the order of things. 
Most of this needlework is done by the art students at 
Newcomb College and is an evidence that their clever 
and artistic work is not confined to the making of pottery 
with which we are all familiar. This institution is making 
itself felt in the excellence of the work its pupils turn out. 
One of the most artistic pieces of needlework at the 
exhibition was the oblong cover with hemlock as the motif. 
The stiff straight stems, and the feathery flower, is charm- 
ing in its conception, and although extremely simple it 
can be seen that it emanated from the hands of an artist. 
The flower is worked in white silk, and shaded with gray, 
while one tone of green is used for the stems and outline. 
Somewhat of a novelty is the introduction of looped 
darning. One illustration shows a tree motif worked in 
this way. The background is a mottled gray towelling 
and instead of the darning being flat, every stitch is raised, 
giving it a very quaint and unusal appearance. Naturally 
it would not be so serviceable as flat darning. 
There are endless possibilities for the development 
of darned work and original designs can be worked out with 
the needle, which is after all true art, for with the fertile 
brain nimble fingers can often carry out quickly what the 
brain directs, giving individuality to the work that is im- 
possible when other people's designs are made use of. 
It is interesting to know that darning is the revival 
of the old Danish hand craft known as Gitteryl. Catherine 
de Medicis had her bed draped with hangings ornamented 
with this stitch. Altar cloths made in the sixteenth century 
are still preserved in England. There is a wealth of romance 
and historical association combined with the quaint me- 
diaeval simplicity of the work, which makes the revival 
very interesting. 
Another material that is much in favor for darning 
is a square mesh canvas which must be firmly and evenly 
woven. This can be bought with meshes of various sizes 
in white, and cream color. A soft square mesh net, sold 
for dress trimmings, is charming for making collar and cuff 
sets, one of the most practical uses to which this kind of 
work can be put to. 
When darning the canvas, a long, blunt crewel needle 
must be used, threaded with a heavy twisted mercerized 
cotton. Quite a number of stitches can be used in darning. 
The pattern may be darned, by counting the stitches, and 
if the design is geometrical, this is a good plan, as the figures 
will then be accurate. As it is impossible to draw a design 
on the net, a piece of cambric or heavy paper can be basted 
securely on, and the darning carefully done on this. Care 
must be taken that the threads lie smoothly and that they 
are pulled through evenly as the work will not lie flat after 
the paper or cambric is removed, if the work is too tightly 
drawn. 
Darning can be varied by working the pattern upwards, 
ve Wall Panel designed on Russian Crash by the Art Students of Newcomb College, exhibited at the National 
