Embroidery

Classification

Embroidery can be classified according to what degree the design takes into account the nature of the base material and by the relationship of stitch placement to the fabric. The main categories are free or surface embroidery, counted-thread embroidery, and needlepoint or canvas work.

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

Counted-thread embroidery patterns are created by making stitches over a predetermined 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. Examples include cross-stitch and some forms of blackwork embroidery.

While similar to counted thread in regards to technique, in canvas work or needlepoint, threads are stitched through a fabric mesh to create a dense pattern that completely covers the foundation fabric. Examples of canvas work include bargello and Berlin wool work.

Embroidery can also be classified by the similarity of its appearance. In drawn thread work and cutwork, the foundation fabric is deformed or cut away to create holes that are then embellished with embroidery, often with thread in the same color as the foundation fabric. When created with white thread on white linen or cotton, this work is collectively referred to as whitework. However, whitework can either be counted or free. Hardanger embroidery is a counted embroidery and the designs are often geometric. Conversely, styles such as Broderie anglaise are similar to free embroidery, with floral or abstract designs that are not dependent on the weave of the fabric.

History

Origins

The process used to tailor, patch, mend and reinforce cloth fostered the development of sewing techniques, and the decorative possibilities of sewing led to the art of embroidery. Indeed, the remarkable stability of basic embroidery stitches has been noted:

The art of embroidery has been found worldwide and several early examples have been found. The earliest surviving embroidered cloth comes from Egypt. The Egyptians were skilled at embroidery, using appliqué decorations with leather and beads. Works in China have been dated to the Warring States period (5th–3rd century BC). In a garment from Migration period Sweden, roughly 300–700 AD, the edges of bands of trimming are reinforced with running stitch, back stitch, stem stitch, tailor's buttonhole stitch, and Whip stitch, but it is uncertain whether this work simply reinforced the seams or should be interpreted as decorative embroidery.

Historical applications and techniques

Depending on time, location and materials available, embroidery could be the domain of a few experts or a widespread, popular technique. This flexibility led to a variety of works, from the royal to the mundane. Examples of high status items include elaborately embroidered clothing, religious objects, and household items often were seen as a mark of wealth and status.

In medieval England, Opus Anglicanum, a technique used by professional workshops and guilds in medieval England, was used to embellish textiles used in church rituals. In 16th century England, some books, usually bibles or other religious texts, had embroidered bindings. The Bodleian Library in Oxford contains one presented to Queen Elizabeth I in 1583. It also owns a copy of The Epistles of Saint Paul, whose cover was reputedly embroidered by the Queen.

One of the oldest complete embroidered works still in existence is the Bayeux Tapestry, an embroidered cloth nearly 70 m long and 50 cm tall that depicts the events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, led by William, Duke of Normandy, challenging Harold II, King of England, and culminating in the Battle of Hastings. It is thought to date to the 11th century, within a few years of the battle.

In 18th-century England and its colonies, with the rise of the merchant class and the wider availability of luxury materials, rich embroideries began to appear in a secular context. These embroideries took the form of items displayed in private homes of well-to-do citizens, as opposed to a church or royal setting. Even so, the embroideries themselves may still have had religious themes. Samplers employing fine silks were produced by the daughters of wealthy families. Embroidery was a skill marking a girl's path into womanhood as well as conveying rank and social standing.

Embroidery was an important art and signified social status in the Medieval Islamic world as well. The 17th-century Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi called it the "craft of the two hands". In cities such as Damascus, Cairo and Istanbul, embroidery was visible on handkerchiefs, uniforms, flags, calligraphy, shoes, robes, tunics, horse trappings, slippers, sheaths, pouches, covers, and even on leather belts. Craftsmen embroidered items with gold and silver thread. Embroidery cottage industries, some employing over 800 people, grew to supply these items.

In the 16th century, in the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar, his chronicler Abu al-Fazl ibn Mubarak wrote in the famous Ain-i-Akbari:

Embroidery was often perceived primarily as a domestic task performed by women, frequently viewed as a leisurely activity rather than recognized as a skilled craft. Women who lacked access to formal education or writing implements often used embroidery to document their lives through stitched narratives, effectively creating personal diaries through textile art, especially when literacy was limited.

Embroidery is also a folk art, using materials that were accessible to nonprofessionals. Examples include Hardanger embroidery from Norway; Merezhka from Ukraine; Mountmellick embroidery from Ireland; Nakshi kantha from Bangladesh and West Bengal; Achachi from Peru; and Brazilian embroidery. Many techniques had a practical use such as Sashiko from Japan, which was used as a way to reinforce clothing.

In marginalized communities, embroidery has also served as a tool of empowerment and expression. For example, in Inner Mongolia, embroidery initiatives arose in response to economic pressures intensified by climate change, including desertification, allowing women to express themselves and preserve cultural identities through traditional embroidery skills. Embroidery has also preserved the stories of marginalized groups, particularly women of color, whose experiences were historically underrepresented in written records. In South African communities, embroidered "story cloths" have captured and preserved critical perspectives and events otherwise missing from historical narratives.

21st century

Since the late 2010s, there has been a growth in the popularity of embroidering by hand. As a result of visual social media such as Pinterest and Instagram, artists can share their work more extensively, which has inspired younger generations to pick up needlework.

Contemporary embroidery artists believe hand embroidery has grown in popularity as a result of an increasing need for relaxation and digitally disconnecting practices. Many people are also using embroidery to creatively upcycle and repair clothing, to help counteract over-consumption and fashion industry waste.

Modern canvas work tends to follow symmetrical counted stitching patterns with designs emerging from the repetition of one or just a few similar stitches in a variety of hues. In contrast, many forms of surface embroidery make use of a wide range of stitching patterns in a single piece of work.

In literature

Embroidery portrays a large function of representation in many literary works. Hobbies in regards to stitching, dressmaking, or quilting have learned to be acquainted with women through the 18th to 19th century. Embroidery alters itself in literary contexts to perform as a symbol instead of a depiction of culture and rooted history. Novels by Jane Austen capture a depiction where women are riddled with silent productivity and installs certain societal norms within a specific gender.

In Greek mythology the goddess Athena is said to have passed down the art of embroidery (along with weaving) to humans, leading to the famed competition between herself and the mortal Arachne.

Traditional hand embroidery around the world

Materials and tools

Materials

The fabrics and yarns used in traditional embroidery vary from place to place. Wool, linen, and silk have been in use for thousands of years for both fabric and yarn. Today, embroidery thread is manufactured in cotton, rayon, and novelty yarns as well as in traditional wool, linen, and silk. Ribbon embroidery uses narrow ribbon in silk or silk/organza blend ribbon, most commonly to create floral motifs.

Canvas work techniques, in which large amounts of yarn are buried on the back of the work, use more materials but provide a sturdier and more substantial finished textile.

Tools

A sewing needle is the main stitching tool in embroidery, and comes in various sizes and types. The tips may be sharp or blunt, depending on the type of material the needle needs to be drawn through. Tapestry needles are blunt and larger than a chenille needle which is sharp and shorter than a standard embroidery needle.

In both canvas work and surface embroidery, an embroidery hoop or frame can be used to stretch the material and ensure even stitching tension that prevents pattern distortion. Frames can come in a square or rectangular shape and prevent the canvas from distorting. The two types of frames used are scroll and artist's stretcher bars.

Beeswax is often used to treat thread. It smooths and strengthens threads, especially silk and metallic threads.

Machine embroidery

Mass-produced machine embroidery emerged in the early 20th century. As embroidery shifted from personalized craft to mechanical output during the Industrial Revolution, the craft developed into a structured industry centered on large-scale production. The first embroidery machine was the hand embroidery machine, invented in France in 1832 by Josué Heilmann. The next evolutionary step was the schiffli embroidery machine. The latter borrowed from the sewing machine and the Jacquard loom to fully automate its operation. The manufacture of machine-made embroideries in St. Gallen in eastern Switzerland flourished in the latter half of the 19th century. Both St. Gallen, Switzerland and Plauen, Germany were important centers for machine embroidery and embroidery machine development. Many Swiss and Germans immigrated to Hudson county, New Jersey in the early twentieth century and developed a machine embroidery industry there. Shiffli machines have continued to evolve and are still used for industrial scale embroidery.

Contemporary embroidery is stitched with a computerized embroidery machine using patterns digitized with embroidery software. In machine embroidery, different types of "fills" add texture and design to the finished work. Machine embroidery is used to add logos and monograms to business shirts or jackets, gifts, and team apparel as well as to decorate household items for the bed and bath and other linens, draperies, and decorator fabrics that mimic the elaborate hand embroidery of the past.

Machine embroidery is most typically done with rayon thread, although polyester thread can also be used. Cotton thread, on the other hand, is prone to breaking and is avoided.

There has also been a development in free hand machine embroidery, new machines have been designed that allow for the user to create free-motion embroidery which has its place in textile arts, quilting, dressmaking, home furnishings and more. Users can use the embroidery software to digitize the digital embroidery designs. These digitized design are then transferred to the embroidery machine with the help of a flash drive and then the embroidery machine embroiders the selected design onto the fabric.

Art therapy

The practice of slow threading and repetitive motion ensues a calming process within a persons mind. Therapists portray the process as getting to regulate certain emotions, allowing patients to reminisce on memory. As embroidery holds a rich history, this invokes a calming and grounding state where people learn to regulate emotions as they embroider. It is an activity where the mind is able to think on its own and encourages strong reflection on identity, memorabilia, and culture.

Gallery

File:Nakshi Kantha, Sonargaon Folk Art and Craft Museum.jpg|Nakshi Kantha from Sonargaon, Bangladesh Folk Arts and Crafts Foundation File:Kazakh rug chain stitch embroidery.jpg|Traditional embroidery in chain stitch on a Kazakh rug, contemporary. File:Cover, silk embroidery on cotton. Iran, Caucasus; 1st half of 18th century. Stored at The David Collection, inventarnummer 37-1969.jpg|Caucasian embroidery File:English cope.jpg|English cope, late 15th or early 16th century. Silk velvet embroidered with silk and gold threads, closely laid and couched. Contemporary Art Institute of Chicago textile collection. File:St. Galler Stickerei Muster c.jpg|Extremely fine underlay of St. Gallen Embroidery File:Turkish embroidery.jpg|Traditional Turkish embroidery. Izmir Ethnography Museum, Turkey. File:Croatian embroidery.jpg|Traditional Croatian embroidery. File:EMBROIDERED EGGS BY I FOROSTYUK.jpg|Decorated Easter eggs from the Luhansk region of Ukraine File:Ախալցխայի տարազ մանրամասն.jpg|Gold embroidery on a gognots (apron) of a 19th-century Armenian bridal dress from Akhaltsikhe File:Korean embroidery patterns.jpg|Brightly coloured Korean embroidery. File:Uzbekistan embroidery.jpg|Uzbekistan embroidery on a traditional women's parandja robe. File:Woman headdress Kalash.jpg|Woman wearing a traditional embroidered Kalash headdress, Pakistan. File:Bedouin bookmark.jpg|Bookmark of black fabric with multicolored Bedouin embroidery and tassel of embroidery floss File:Woman's Robe a l'anglaise with Petticoat LACMA M.66.31a-b (4 of 6).jpg|Chain-stitch embroidery from England File:Bulgarian embrodery from Sofia and Trun.jpg|Traditional Bulgarian Floral embroidery from Sofia and Trun. File:Pedro Bruno - A Pátria.jpg|A 1919 painting depicting the Brazilian flag being embroidered by a family. File:Funchal, Mesas de Natal com Bordado Madeira 3.jpg|Exhibition in Funchal about tablecloths made with Madeiran embroidery

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

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