[Illustration: FIG. 137. NET TRACERY WITH BRAIDS. MATERIALS: Soutache D.M.C No. 2 in Bleu-Indigo 334 and Rouge-Turc 321.]
BROAD NET LACE TRACERY (fig. 138).—The pattern of this pretty lace must first be transferred to stout paper, or oil-cloth. All the leaves and stalks, and the button-holing round the open centres of the flowers, are worked in a pale green, the two bottom flowers in Turkey red, the star-shaped one in blue, the calyx in which the stalks unite, in dark red, and the little bells, in the lightest green.
[Illustration: FIG. 138. BROAD NET LACE TRACERY. MATERIALS: Coton à broder D.M.C No. 30, 35 or 40.—COLOURS: Rouge-Turc 321, Rouge-Cardinal 346, Bleu-Indigo 322, Gris-Tilleul 393 and Vert-Pistache 369.]
NET DARNING.—We conclude with some directions for darning net, a valuable art, by means of which many a curious piece of old needlework is preserved. Coarse and fine net are all darned in the same way.
Laying the first thread (fig. 139).—Tack the net which is to be darned, closely to the defective part, upon either oil-cloth or coloured paper and cut the edges straight to the thread; Your thread must be of exactly the same size, as that of which the net is made. It takes three rows of stitches to imitate the net ground; in the first place, as shown in fig. 139, cross-threads must be laid from side to side, carried as in darning, a little beyond the edges of the hole and so as to surround each mesh with a slanting stitch.
[Illustration: FIG. 139. NET DARNING. LAYING THE FIRST THREAD.]
LAYING THE SECOND THREAD (fig. 140).—Secondly, beginning from one corner, threads are laid diagonally across the first layer. The cross-threads of the foundation are encircled by a stitch, made from right to left, the needle is then carried under the next horizontal bar, and the first layer of threads is overcast with similar stitches.
[Illustration: FIG. 140. NET DARNING. LAYING THE SECOND THREAD.]
LAYING THE THIRD THREAD (fig. 141).—Thirdly, threads are carried across the second and first layers. They must start, far enough from the edge, for the second layer of threads to be overcast at the same time, so that there may be no loose threads left on the wrong side. In this third journey, every diagonal thread of the foundation is to be encircled with a stitch, taken upwards from below, the cut edges being strengthened in the same way. Then, to form the little cross in the fabric, the thread must be conducted by means of a second stitch, under the single horizontal thread, outwards, to the next-diagonal thread.