Embroidery - the luxurious art of needlecraft (part 1)

Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In this way, it has been practised for decades.

The origin of embroidery can be dated back to Cro-Magnon days or 30,000 BC. During a recent archaeological find, fossilised remains of heavily hand-stitched and decorated clothing, boots and a hat were found.

In Siberia, around 5000 and 6000 B.C. elaborately drilled shells stitched with decorative designs onto animal hides were discovered. Chinese thread embroidery dates back to 3500 B.C. where pictures depict embroidery of clothing with silk thread, precious stones and pearls. Examples of surviving Chinese chain stitch embroidery worked in silk thread have also been found and dated to the Warring States period (5th-3rd century BC).

Embroidery and most other fibre and needlework arts are believed to originate in the Orient and Middle East. Primitive humankind quickly found that the stitches used to join animal skins together could also be used for embellishment. Recorded history, sculptures, paintings and vases depicting inhabitants of various ancient civilisations show people wearing thread-embroidered clothing.

Baroque Embroidery

During the 1100's, smaller seed pearls were sewn on vellum to decorate religious items and from the 1200's through 1300's beads were embroidered onto clothing. By 1500 A.D., embroideries had become more lavish in Europe, as well as other areas of the world. From this period through the 1700's elaborate thread and bead embroidery gained popularity. Bead embroidery could be found on layette baskets, court dress, home furnishings and many other items.

English Embroidery

Elaborately embroidered clothing, religious objects, and household items have been a mark of wealth and status in many cultures including ancient Persia, India, China, Japan, Byzantium, and medieval and Baroque Europe. Traditional folk techniques were passed from generation to generation in cultures as diverse as northern Vietnam, Mexico, and eastern Europe. Professional workshops and guilds arose in medieval England. The output of these workshops, called Opus Anglicanum or "English work," was famous throughout Europe. The manufacture of machine-made embroideries in St. Gallen in eastern Switzerland flourished in the latter half of the 19th century.

Berlin Woolwork

The process used to tailor, patch, mend and reinforce cloth later fostered the development of sewing techniques, and the decorative possibilities of sewing led to the art of embroidery. Elaborate freehand stitched thread embroidery began to dwindle with the machine age of the 1800's when Art needlework and Berlin wool-work appeared on the scene. Berlin wool-work, canvas thread embroidery, was popular through the 1870's only to be replaced in popularity by counted cross-stitch of the 1880's, using square meshed canvas with stitch-by-stitch thread designs. With the introduction of printed patterns in colour, the need for counting each stitch was pass in many instances. Although elaborate freehand thread embroidery was waning in popularity, bead embroidery was beginning its heyday along with the new needlework stitches of the 1800's.

Ribbon Embroidery

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.

Surface embroidery techniques such as chain stitch and couching or laid-work are the most economical of expensive yarns; couching is generally used for gold work. 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.

Canvas embroidery

Much contemporary embroidery work is stitched with a computerised embroidery machine using patterns "digitised" 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 linens, draperies, and decorator fabrics that mimic the elaborate hand embroidery of the past. Many people are choosing embroidered logos placed on shirts and jackets to promote their company. Yes, embroidery has come a long way, both in style, technique and use. It also appears to maintain its intrigue as its popularity continues to grow with it.

Types of Embroidery by Region

Although embroidery is based on common techniques, several different types have developed over the centuries. Many of them originated in specific regions. The table below shows a sampling of embroidery types from different parts of the world.

In many regions, hand-embroidered items marked the high status of their owners. In the Middle East, the upper classes prised and purchased fine embroidery. Imperial workshops in locations such as Agra created glorious embroidered art for medieval rulers. Handkerchiefs, clothing, shoes, horse harnesses, belts and other items decorated with Persian embroidery conferred both status and beauty on its owner.

Persian Embroidery

Persia, India, the Orient and European countries all considered embroidery to be a mark of distinction. Medieval embroidery guilds developed in England that produced English work embroidery for appreciative buyers throughout Europe.

Embroidery Stitches

Embroidery consists of several basic stitches that define the needle art. Various backing fabrics ad threads may change the look and style of the piece, but virtually all types of embroidery utilise at least one of the stitches shown in the table below:

Thread-Defined Embroidery Types

The thread used in embroidery sometimes defines its type. Needle artists have used fibers ranging from silk to wool in their projects, but twisted cotton floss is probably the most prevalent in contemporary embroidery.

Silk Embroidery

Chinese embroidery is characterised by its fine, beautifully shaded silk threads. Judging by actual remnants found in the Hubei province, Chinese artisans have been embroidering with silk since the fifth century BC. Indian floss silk embroidery, stitched on backgrounds of black or white netting, is another example of silk work. Needle workers can stitch other types of fine embroidery using silk floss whenever they wish to produce a smooth, shiny texture and rich coloration in their projects.

Silk Ribbon Embroidery

Using narrow silk ribbon for embroidery produces a unique look. Florals and leaves have a three-dimensional appearance that embroidery floss cannot equal. Ornate embroidery styles such as Victorian often call for silk ribbon.

Wool Embroidery Types

Embroidery types rooted in folk art traditions are often worked in wool threads. Berlin embroidery and crewel embroidery, also known as Kensington embroidery, both derive their signature look from the use of wool threads. Bargello, a type of geometric embroidery, features wool stitches on canvas.

Cotton Embroidery Types

Artisans produce many types of embroidery with cotton embroidery floss, including white work, black work, counted cross stitch, Dresden, and Swiss.

Specialty Embroidery Fibers

Some types of decorative needle work use specialty fibers that are essential to their genre. For example, Arrasene embroidery, popular during the Victorian era, relied on fine, chenille-type Arrasene threads made from silk or wool fibers. Gold metallic threads give gold work embroidery its richly-deserved name.

Medium-Defined Embroidery Types
Types of Embroidery by Description

The media upon which artisans embroider designs sometimes determine embroidery types. For instance, some sewers decorating tea towels and household linens practice huckaback embroidery. Huckaback is an absorbent, durable fabric with a raised weave that accommodates delicate, geometric stitched designs. Net embroidery, with decorative designs stitched on netting, is another example of a medium determining the name of the style.

Some broad embroidery categories have descriptive names, and so do some very specific categories. They may be named according to the technique, era, or appearance of the needlework.

Crazy Work

This decorative stitching that embellishes randomly-pieced crazy quilts is named for the seemingly unplanned appearance of the stitch work. Embroidery follows the stitching lines of the fabric which branch off in crazy directions.

Cut Work

Named for the technique of cutting out small areas of the backing fabric and then embroidering around them, cut work consists primarily of buttonhole stitching with decorative back stitching and satin stitched accents. Other names for cut work include Roman or Venetian embroidery.

Jacobean Embroidery

This broad category encompasses the needlework common to the era of King James I's reign in the early 17th century. One of the forms of Jacobean embroidery was crewel work. Popular motifs of stylised forest landscapes with imaginary animals characterised the Jacobean style.

The diagram below shows types of embroidery, what they are named for, and some distinguishing characteristics of each. Some of these are also called by other names as shown.