EMBROIDERY

'Embroidery' is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with designs stitched in strands of thread or yarn using a needle. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. Sewing machines can be used to create machine embroidery.

Contents

Types of embroidery

History

Gallery

Further reading

Types of embroidery

Embroidery is classified according to its use of the underlying foundation fabric. One classification system divides embroidery styles according to the relationship of stitch placement to the fabric:

★ In free embroidery, designs are applied without regard to the weave of the underlying fabric. Examples include crewel and traditional Chinese embroidery.

★ In counted-thread embroidery, patterns are created by making stitches over a pre-determined number of threads in the foundation fabric. Counted-thread embroidery is more easily worked on an even-weave foundation fabric such as embroidery canvas, aida cloth, or specially woven cotton and linen fabrics although non-evenweave linen is used as well. Examples include needlepoint and cross-stitch.
A second division classifies embroidery according to whether the design is stitched ''on top of'' or ''through'' the foundation fabric:

★ In 'Surface embroidery', patterns are worked on top of the foundation fabric using decorative stitches and laid threads. Surface embroidery encompasses most free embroidery as well as some forms of counted-thread embroidery (such as cross-stitch).

★ In 'Canvas work', threads are stitched through a fabric mesh to create a dense pattern that completely covers the foundation fabric. All canvas work is not counted-thread embroidery. There are printed and hand painted canvases where the painted or printed image is meant to serve as a color guide. Stitches are sometimes of the stitcher's choosing.
An important distinction between canvas work and surface embroidery is that surface work requires the use of an embroidery hoop or frame to stretch the material and ensure even stitching tension that prevents pattern distortion. Canvas work tends to follow very symmetrical counted stitching patterns with designs developing from repetition of one or only a few similar stitches in a variety of thread hues. Most forms of surface embroidery, by contrast, are distinguished by a wide range of different stitching patterns used in a single piece of work.

History

The origins of embroidery are lost in time, but examples survive from ancient Egypt, Iron Age Northern Europe and Song Dynasty China.
Elaborately embroidered clothing, religious objects, and household items have been a mark of wealth and status in many cultures including ancient Persia, India, Byzantium, medieval England (''Opus Anglicanum'' or "English work"), and Baroque Europe.
Hand embroidery is a traditional art form passed from generation to generation in many cultures, including northern Vietnam, Mexico, and eastern Europe.
The Bayeux Tapestry is not a true tapestry; it is an elaborately embroidered wall hanging originally displayed at the Bayeux Cathedral, and now housed at a special museum in Bayeux, Normandy.

Gallery

Further reading

★ S.F.A. Caulfield and B.C. Saward, ''The Dictionary of Needlework'', 1885.

★ Virginia Churchill Bath, ''Needlework in America'', Viking Press, 1979 ISBN 0-670-50575-7

★ Readers Digest Complete Guide to Needlework, 1979, ISBN 0-89577-059-8.