Brae

“ Summer has fled from the Norland hills. The songbirds have gone—the martin, and woodlark, and robin; the wild flowers have faded—the blue geraniums, the pink-eyed diapensias, the daisies, and the purple wild thyme; only the green of the creeping saxifrage bedecks the rocks, and hardy sea-pinks and ferns still grow in the glades and by the brook-sides. But autumn winds sigh mournfully through the leafless birch trees and drooping willows, and rustle the withered leaves of the wild myrtle on the braesides.
With a sigh Meta turns away from the window. ”

“ She was silent. She had not looked at me while she spoke.
"May I lift your braid?" I asked her. "What a lovely braid—how very beautiful it is!"
"My friend has kissed it," she said, and pushed back my hand.
"Forgive me," I said then, and my heart pounded more and more. "May I not look at your ring—it shines so golden and is also so very beautiful. I should like to look at it and admire it for your sake." ”

“ Sometimes a contrasting color is used for the small stitches, as black mercerized embroidery cotton to catch down a light blue heavier cotton. This combination would be effective on a linen dress.
Fig. (7) The position of the needle in couching
Braiding: Flat black silk, military braid is used on woolens. Stitch the braid on as shown in Fig. 8. Soutache braid is often stitched on in a plaid design at the lower edge of a skirt. (See Fig. 9.) ”

“ Braid is always a favourite style of ornamentation with the high-class ladies' tailor; and, when nicely done and the braid of good quality, it needs nothing else to stamp the garment as a high-class production. Braid is generally arranged on symmetrical designs, that is, the one side is an exact repetition of the other, only in reverse. When the ladies' tailor has to braid a skirt, he either has to get a ready prepared design that can be transferred to the material with a hot iron, or has to design one himself, which, if he has any idea of drawing, is a very easy operation. ”

“ Pull out that frill a little more—so; here, let me tie your sash; now for your slippers. I’m going to braid your hair in two thick braids, and tie them half-way up with big white bows—no, don’t pull out a single curl over your forehead—just have the soft part. ”

“ A braid was long enough to reach from the thigh around under the foot and up again to the other side of the thigh. A husker would try the newly made braid with his foot as he held the ends in his hands. Unless this was done a weak place in the string might escape notice and the braid break, and all the others would then laugh.
“Small ears were tossed into one place. ”

“ Another cross-stitch design
A very simple thing to do is to braid a dress for yourself. Now that all the large pattern houses are carrying transfer patterns you can get a design [107] for braiding very cheap. A little girl I know braided a dress for herself and one for her mother last summer. She used light blue chambray and braided it with white. There are several kinds of braid, but the easiest to use is soutache, whether it is cotton or silk. It is a flat braid and varies in width from one to three eighths of an inch. ”

“ The girls very frequently use the braids to make circular or other shaped mats. They also braid rags and make rugs of them. Hay, grass, clover stems, or varied colored strings are braided and from these are made necklaces, watch chains, bracelets, or rings; corn husks and silks are braided and used for doll's hair. The boys use the braided cord, grass, straw, leather, or willow bark, for harness, whips, fish nets, swings, to make bows or as belts for machines. Boys have a greater interest in saving string and when they find a cord of any kind it usually finds its way into their pockets. ”

“ French braid, whether made of linen or of cotton, is laid on the pattern with stitches taken across it, from one edge to the other. This mode of putting on braid prevents it from stretching, as, from the nature of the plait, it would otherwise do. In forming angles, each edge should be sewn down to the paper, and then the braid turned over. Circles are made by laying the braid on the design, and forming it into the proper shape with the fingers, before tacking it down. ”

“ The clothing of both men and women is ordinarily more or less ornamented. Braids and strips of cloth of various colors are used and wrought upon the garments into odd and sometimes quite tasteful shapes. The upper parts of the shirts of the women are usually embroidered with yellow, red, and brown braids. Sometimes as many as five of these braids lie side by side, parallel with the upper edge of the garment or dropping into a sharp angle between the shoulders. ”

“ I took them off with all the coolness of an old hand, and then I placed him on my knee and removed his blouse. This was a delightful experience, but I think I remained wonderfully calm until I came somewhat too suddenly to his little braces, which agitated me profoundly. ”

“ These are not so often used in tailoring, still we do occasionally see garments braided without any apparent design—a sort of higgledy-piggledy arrangement, but in the midst of this disorder, these must be order introduced, if it is to become ornament: thus the outline of the braiding must be clearly defined, either by a border limiting its outline. In nature we frequently find a fine disorder which produces a beautiful effect, but the charm which nature throws over her works by careless foliage of trees, the dasies in the field, the stars in the heavens, cannot be reproduced in costume. ”

“ Slashings of this reign, though in fashion, had commenced to go out; and those retained were of a large character, mostly from the neck or shoulder to the breast. The favoured sleeves were cut into straps to the elbow or wrist, and were often edged with braid, either side meeting together and lining the forearm, the body being treated in the same way. The open-fronted sleeve was set with buttons [144] and loops or long braided buttonholes with frayed or knotted ends, though these were not generally fastened. ”

“ Then commence as at first, braid one way, then the other, till you have it as long as required. Braid it over wood or brass wire the size and length you wish your chain; when braided take off your weights, tie the ends fast, and boil and dry them; take out the mold and put a cord through with some cotton wrapped around it so that it will be soft and pliable. This is called the Snake Chain Braid.
[15]
Take sixteen strands, eighty hairs in a strand, and place them on the table like pattern. ”

“ Select any article you may wish to make, and by referring to the patterns, you can easily find the style and directions whereby to braid it. We might have given twice the number of patterns, or even more, but any person can, after a little experience, readily invent new and different styles of braids, and by so doing, each can satisfy their own peculiar taste. ”

“ Her hair was black and glossy as a raven's wing; it descended in two large braids to the calves of her legs when she stood erect. Her eyes were as black as her hair, large and sparkling, but full of tenderness. ”

“ All the hair appertaining to the hinder part of the head, is braided together for its whole length, and ultimately blended with black ribbon; which continues the braid for many inches, or even for a foot or more, so as to render it doubtful, at a certain distance, whether the hair does not occupy the whole length. ”

“ The outlines of any design in Point Lace are made in braid of various sorts, in thread, or sometimes in linen. The braid used is either French linen or cotton braid, or that now known as Italian braid. French braid is a simple plait, more or less wide; Italian braid is, in fact, a pillow lace insertion, somewhat resembling a tape, but with edges like those seen in all other pillow lace. It enters very much into the composition of Venetian and other valuable Italian lace, whence the name Italian braid has been given to it. ”

“ How clean and trim, how ready for the day, she had felt, when her red braid was tied with a brown ribbon, and this little garment firmly buttoned down the back, and pressed with a great sweep of Ma's arms to crush the too stiffly starched skirt! ”

“ In every street you will see a dozen men squatting cross-legged in a little dark shop, busily plying the needle upon the narrow black braid, and applying tiny pieces of green cloth among the braid as additional ornament. ”

“ TO PLACE THE BRAID.--No. 442 shows the design traced upon paper or tracing cloth, and lightly tacked to a foundation of leather or toile cirée. Run on a straight line of braid for the lower edge, with fine stitches, working as shown from left to right. Take another piece of braid, or the other end of the same piece, and begin to lay the braid by "running" stitches in its centre, keeping it as smooth and even as possible. The outer edge presents no difficulty, but the inner edge will not lie evenly without being drawn in by a needle and thread, as follows:--Thread a No. ”

“ Thread your needle with sewing cotton or silk the colour of the braid and sew it down with little running stitches and an occasional back-stitch to fasten it firmly. When you come to the end of the line or of the braid, carry the end through as at the beginning and fasten. ”

“ They are made of brown crash, bound with red worsted braid. One end is pointed so as to turn [page 44] over and button down, or the top has strings over the braid to tie the mouth up. There should be three or four made at a time, as each holds but one pair of shoes; and you will find that mamma or your unmarried aunts will like them very much. ”

“ BRODERIE EN LACET is the term applied to the new kind of embroidery. The outlines are done with silk braid, in the ordinary braiding style, and then the flowers, leaves, &c., are filled in with point lace stitches, usually done in silk the color of the braid. In the design before us, a fine gold thread is laid on the outer edge of the braid, and some of the spots are also worked in this material. ”

“ Persons with very long, narrow heads may wear the hair knotted very low at the back of the neck. If the head be long, but not very narrow, the back hair may be drawn to one side, braided in a thick braid, and wound around the head. When the head is round, the hair should be formed in a braid in the middle of the back of the head. If the braid be made to resemble a basket, and a few curls permitted to fall from within it, the shape of the head is much improved. ”

“ But most braces, you may not be aware, slip down unpleasantly on the shoulder-blade, and so lead to an awkward habit of hitching them up by the sleeve-hole of the waistcoat at frequent intervals. Such a habit must be felt to be ungraceful. ”

“ Great care and patience must be exercised in covering a hat with straw braid. The lines which are to be emphasized should be carefully studied, as there are several methods used in laying the braid on the frames. (See illustration.)
The stitch used for sewing braid is always the same—a very short stitch on the right side, and a stitch one-quarter of an inch long on the wrong side. The thread must not be pulled too tight, or the position of the stitches may be seen; also always match the thread to the straw. ”

“ This being assured, arrange a braid or cross-bar of material round the outer part; tack it at the outer edge with bright-coloured wool on to the paper foundation, then adjust the bars and panels, allowing the ends of the braids to slip under the outer braid. Circles or squares of ribbon, velvet, or tinsel, placed in the most important parts and tied to the outer edges with lines of braid or ribbon, which, in turn, might be connected with open stitchery, fork-pin insertion (Fig. 73) , or some small beads, are very pretty. All give scope for individual taste and ingenuity in colour and material. ”

“ In this case, as when the clothes are supported entirely from the shoulders, the weight of the clothing drags the shoulders forward, and inclines to curvature of the spine. Moreover, the friction of the braces would hinder the development of the breasts in young girls, and chafe those delicate organs in adults. Men would stoop less, and have better-developed chests if they managed without braces; why then should women be urged to adopt these injurious articles of dress? ”

“ It is enough for women to protect [710] their locks, and bind up their hair simply along the neck with a plain hair-pin, nourishing chaste locks with simple care to true beauty. For meretricious plaiting of the hair, and putting it up in tresses, contribute to make them look ugly, cutting the hair and plucking off it those treacherous braidings; on account of which they do not touch their head, being afraid of disordering their hair. Sleep, too, comes on, not without fear lest they pull down without knowing the shape of the braid. ”

“ When dark hair is curled, the ringlets should never fall in heavy masses upon the shoulders. Open braids are very beautiful when made of dark hair; they are also becoming to light-haired persons. A simple and graceful mode of arranging the hair is to fold the front locks behind the ears, permitting the ends to fall in a couple of ringlets on either side behind. ”

“ A dress form consisting, essentially, of a central standard, one or more series of adjustable ribs, and corresponding series of braces or stretchers hinged to one or more runners or sliding blocks upon said standard, and having their outer ends connected with said ribs, whereby the dress form may be expanded and contracted, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. ”