Vintage Hankie With Cut Work and Net

I have always admired vintage handkerchiefs with exquisite laces, embroidery, colourful designs, lovely handiwork and wanted to make one for myself someday. In our Bengali community we have a tradition of displaying the trousseau of the bride in beautifully decorated baskets, and arranging a set of dainty handkerchiefs in different designs for my daughter’s wedding was a dream I had nurtured for a long time. So here I am sharing the steps to make a handkerchief with cutwork and net.

Supplies

• Piece of square cotton cloth, approximate size 10/11 inches

• A small piece of fine net/canvas

• Coloured silk threads or DMC /Anchor threads

• Needles

• Curved Scissors 

• Large scissors

• Pencil

• Eraser

• Iron

All these materials are easily available in thread and stationery shops

Step 1: Choosing a Design and Drawing It

• Choose a corner of the hankie and fold it diagonally to mark a triangular portion.

• Look for a design online or draw one of your own keeping in mind that some areas of the cloth will be cut off. You can also trace a design using tracing paper

• Draw a rough design and use an eraser to make necessary changes

• Draw design round the edges of the handkerchief too

Step 2: Fixing the Net

• Take the approximate size of the triangular portion of the cloth marked on the hankie, and cut off a part of the net.

• Fix this net below the design with running stitch so that it’s securely attached to the cloth

• The net is fixed with red colour thread to make it easily visible

• Make sure the net is slightly larger than the triangular portion marked off

Step 3: Start the Embroidery

• Decide on the colours to be used and start working on the design

• I used green for the leaves, orange for the flowers, and black for the curls

• Using two strands of each colour thread make buttonhole stitch/blanket stitch all along the design

• Work stem stitch to highlight the veins of the leaves and satin stitch to mark the center of the flowers and yellow french knots for pollen grains

• Complete the borders of the hankie in the same manner

• Try to keep the back of the embroidery as neat as the top

• Draw a double line so that the blanket stitch remains the same throughout, also make sure the stitches lie close to each other

Step 4: Exposing the Net

• Start cutting off the cloth carefully keeping close to the embroidery with the curved scissor displaying the net fixed underneath

• Make sure not to cut off the embroidery by mistake, then you are done!

Step 5: The Scalloped Border

• After laying bare the net in the design, start cutting off the cloth to make the scalloped border of the hankie

Step 6: The Completed Handkerchief

• Press the hankie and fold it so that the design is clearly visible

• Do try it out and gift it to your loved ones