Artificial Flowers

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Me. Girardin, of Brussels, Europe, has patented a new manner of makii)g gold and silver embroideries as well as artificial flowers, which she thus explains :—\i'Lrr havingta- ken the drawing, it is i H'.Uited aiid rubbed over a piece of parchment !« wi : « I with ink, and the outlines are traced v.ir'.i black lead; you then take a piece of ur->ii.i formed with three twists, and ln>iw iviiti. it the outlines of the drawing, m ; ::hisk down with linen thread. When all tin? (fijiim have been followed, another piece i * ire, twisted in like manner and of the finest kind to be obtained, is passed tJ«'<>viji the eye of, a needle, which,is nivpiuf rut n.'= not to « ::! the wire. The parts of 'In: rawingto be i",iii'dare then followed by the needle, and attention must be paid to knot the beginning aoti end of each needleful, as. well as when thft wire happens to break. When the drawing has been followed all over the piece oflparchment, it is turned back to cut the threaa. that held the wire formirJltthe outlines. The work is then taken off ;ni-,i iIimivil of the shreds of thread by means of a small pair of pincers. For flowers the petals are then arranged one over another, and fastened with a wire of the same metal; a metal wire stronger than this last is placed in the calyx, and twisted to form the end. The work is then washed with soap and dried perfectly in box-wood saw-dust. It is afterwards taken out of the saw-dust, and the flower finished by fashioning it as required.

Scientific American Magazine Vol 8 Issue 12This article was published with the title “Artificial Flowers” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 8 No. 12 (), p. 89
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican12041852-89a

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