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Show I . Tapestry Twenty-Sixth in a Series of Articles on Needlework 1 I i The origin of tapestry goes back to nn- j tlqulty. It has lo every age been on. of I the favorite occupations of women. Pos- I slbly It was the most popular art In the I Middle Ages, when knighthood was In I flower. Then, while the gallant knight I was away waging bloody wars for the, I sake of Christianity or any other cause I that would permit him to fight, his beju- I tiful and tenderly reared lady would f- I mil In ai home In Hie dreary castle The lady of the Middle Ages had none of the varied pastimes considered con-sidered so nce?sary b the twentieth century cen-tury girl. There were very few novels In those days, and besides be-sides the mediaeval lady was not always skilled Ln the gentle and Interesting art Of r ading. She could I ,l e ... a.. I y 'ove lyrics which she I also learned lo recite, but It was hard I work and no plcisuie for her to peruse I 'he. printed page for long at a time. I As for outdoor sports for a lady that I was unheard of ln the days of chlvalrv. 'nc onIv prefer thing for her to do was I to look beautiful and be able to sing, re- I Ito. plav and embroider. She could not t have played tennis or golf if It had been I the fashion, because the sun would have j been very detrimental to her milky white I complexion and her dainty little hands H niiaht ha e been i ulned Therefore H was quite according to Mrvlc thai v.r favorite pastime should be hnd- work. And as there wac lots of tlm In those days before speed of any kino was Invented, what more natural than That she shoulJ Interest herself In tapestry, which If done on a large scale, lakes a great deal of time and patience! However, How-ever, tho result ia worth all the work of making It. Now, tapestry seems to be romlng -Tito vogue again, not for any of the reasons, for which It was popular in the Mi nis Ages, but just because we of the iw -n- tieth century are beginning to appreciate Us beauty. Although It lakes quite some lime to complete ;i piece of tapestry, the siit.h Itself Is erv simple. The material uted in the making of tap cstry is canvas, yarn or silk. Simple . -silt, b is thS ba.ls of all Ihe BtltChOS UStl In Ihis work The Stitches ur mi ! in one direction first and ihen, returning over the same row, the second -titvh Is eriniftrl aum, .i- 1 ' 'CI '11" first, as in I' Igure i Sometimes, however, the woo! used 'or the tapestry Is very UfTTi " hi avy, and It would 9fR!i 1,0 c'urnsy n ffr 11 " -. f . 1 1 ,r 335 "'l3 ' '''I'loycd. Th.ji on 'JLitfll fy the fir-t stii.-t, , f tt,.. rross la made, al-WB.ys al-WB.ys working from left to right, The half cross rtitch t I jgy 1 shown in Figure n in the following lessons there will be several Interesting and attractive deslcns for tapestry, put firot the elc-rrmoL. niujt be maclcred. i |