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Embroidery
Terms and Stitches

The art of ornamenting textiles with figured patterns by means of a needle and thread of wool, silk, linen or metal.

Embroidery can be self-coloured (white embroidery) - where the decorative quality is provided entirely by the stitch - or coloured work, where the interest is two-dimensional, colour and form. Outline embroidery relies for its interest upon bold lines depicting the pattern and the stitches used are clear and decisive. Shaded embroidery has a pictorial quality, blending the colours in masses to give light and shadow. Many fine embroideries in this category are needlework pictures, copies or interpretations of paintings or worked from cartoons designed by well-known artists especially for the needlework interpreter. A third form is flat mass embroidery where the design is depicted in solid masses and lines. An outline is made to the shapes, which can be filled in by embroidered stitches or appliqu@ work. Colour plays an important part in embroidery but, from earliest times, metal thread has also been used to give richness and brilliance to the work. in the use of gold and silver in embroidery, the metal threads were usually laid on the surface of the textile only, in order to conserve such valuable material, and were secured by small stitches in another thread. Later, fine metal wire was wrapped around the embroidery threads themselves.

The art of embroidery originated in the East, in China and Japan, Arabia and Meso- potamia, and seems to date back to before 1200 BC. In China, silk embroidery had been practised from early times, though the most ancient actual examples date from the first century Be. The finest embroideries were of silk for both ground and pattern, but peasant workmanship was of silk and wool embroidered on a linen ground. Motifs and designs showed great variety and traditional patterns continued to be used for long periods. Convention dictated the use of motifs and these were only slowly modified. Characteristic were the mythical dragon, the phoenix and the uni- corn, also the symbolic motifs representing mountain ranges, waves of the sea, heavenly bodies and clouds in the sky. There were landscape scenes and motifs from nature - animals, birds, flowers, trees and fruits. Most typical were the magnolia and lotus blossom, the pomegranate, peach and the bamboo, the duck and the peacock, the deer and the elephant. The practice of embroidery in silk spread to Japan, where Chinese craftsmen were working in the early years of the first century AD. in both countries embroidery in gold and silver thread was also worked as well as the unusual technique of combining embroidery with weaving.

In the ancient civilizations essential needlework and decorative stitchery developed together, one evolving from the other. Garments needed mending and patching, and from this came ornamental stitching and more complex designs. Needlework was an early art form carried out by all classes of the community. Examples have come from Egyptian tombs and there are references in Hebrew literature, from Indian writings and, later, from the classical world of Homer, Ovid and Virgil.

Indian embroidery is thought to have developed contemporaneously with that in ancient Assyria and Babylon. From early times embroidery was worked in gold and silver thread, first as flat metal strips, later with metal wire twisted round threads. Beads and jewels were introduced into these embroideries which were worked on fine cotton materials. Characteristic motifs include the elephant, the peacock, the lotus and the mango. Some of the most beautiful embroideries have come from Kashmir, where the motifs and designs were most varied and colourful. Typical were patterns based on natural forms of flowers, fruits, butterflies and birds and these show a marked affinity with contemporary Persian and Chinese embroideries. Dominating many designs is the classic shawl motif (like the Scottish Paisley ver- sion) which, it is suggested, derived from the cypress cone or the almond in Kashmir.

As in India and Persia, gold and silver embroidery in Europe seems also to have ante-dated that in silk. Archaeological researches in the Crimea have revealed remains of robes dating from the third century Bc embroidered in metal thread (these are now in the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad). Many embroideries have been recovered from the tombs of ancient Egypt. These are often of coloured wool thread on linen and illustrate pictorial scenes as well as geometrical patterns. Here also there are examples of gold and silver embroideries, the threads made of thin beaten metal strips. The Jews learnt the art of embroidery from the Egyptians during their captivity and the skill also seems to have been introduced to Greece, via the Greek Islands, from Egypt. The influence of the Orient upon the embroideries and designs of Mediterranean countries was most marked. Both Greece and Rome imported costly embroidered fabrics as well as employing Asiatic embroiderers. Schools of needlework were set up and copies made of Oriental designs. In Imperial Rome there was continuous demand for rich fabrics embroidered all over with gold thread and jewels. With the collapse of Rome, Byzantium continued the tradition and the inspiration for designs was more eastern than before. Geometric patterns were employed, also natural motifs. Typical were designs based on flowers, trees and animals - especially lions, tigers, elephants, pea- cocks, eagles, unicorns and palms. Gold thread was widely employed and pearls and jewels incorporated into the embroidery. Further impetus was given to the use of eastern motifs by the advent of Moharnrnedanisrn in the seventh century. The Arab conquests in Sicily, Spain and north-west India introduced new themes to these areas.

In medieval Europe embroidery was considered to be an important art. Designs were made by well-known artists, particularly in Italy and France. These were drawn on paper and the lines pricked with a needle. When the paper was placed on the stretched material which was to be embroidered, powder was applied to the surface so that it passed through the holes to mark the material beneath. To make embroidery easier, the material was then stretched on a frame. Some frames were large, rectangular constructions but, for smaller projects, a circular tambour frame was used. The main subject of inspiration for embroidery was the Christian religion and a great deal of the work was for the Church. Furnishings in the castle and the home were also given embroidered decoration. In the later Middle Ages, when costume was richly decorated, embroidery was an important means of providing such ornamentation. Heraldic motifs were used a great deal, but so also were geometric and floral patterns. Most garments received embroidered decoration but belts and purses especially so. These purses or pouches were attached to the belt for security. Those made in France were particularly decorative and were called bases.

The majority of embroideries in the early Middle Ages were worked on linen with wool or silk thread. Gold and silver work was only sparingly introduced. The outstanding example of the eleventh century is the Bayeux Tapestry, an embroidered hanging over 200 feet long, worked in coloured wools on a linen ground, and vividly illustrating scenes from the Norman Conquest. As a result of the Crusades, richer materials were imported into Europe and in the later Middle Ages there was greater variety in design, a richness of colour and an increase in the use of silk. This was especially so in Italy and in Spain, where the Saracenic influence was strong. In Sicily, the art of weaving silks and gold cloth had been developed in the twelfth century and the island's textile industry became famous for its silks, velvets and brocades. Embroidery in silks and precious metals developed at the same time. Typical were Saracenic cut cloths where two materials were used. The design was cut in one of these, then fastened on to the other by silk embroidery stitches. The Moorisli influence was very strong in the Iberian peninsula. Fabrics were rich and embroideries contained spangles after the Saracenic custom, as well as gold and silver threads in all-over designs. Fine quality embroideries were produced by the wealthy city states further north in Italy. Much of this was on linen, in open-work manner.

In the thirteenth and fourteenth cen- turies, English embroidery, opus anglicanurn, was the finest in Europe. The quality of the stitchery was so fine that the work was highly sought-after. Figure scenes and pictures of animals, birds and flowers were naturalistic and well-drawn. Silver thread and seed pearls were introduced into the embroideries and appliqu6 work was widely used. In the fourteenth century velvet grounds were favoured.

in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen- turies the quality of embroidery in Europe was very high, designs and colour were subtle and sophisticated and materials were richer. In the sixteenth century especially, secular embroidery reached a higher stan- dard and a greater richness in quality than before, and the craft of embroidery was highly esteemed. In France, particularly, the royal house lent energetic patronage under Catherine de' Medici and, later, Louis XIV. Cut work on white linen was developed, also drawn-work designs. In Italy, many embroideries copied the paintings of great artists, and artists created designs especially for the needleworker. Linen grounds were favoured with drawn and solid embroidery used upon them. Colours were subtly blended and beads introduced to give body to the work. English embroidery had lost its preeminence by the sixteenth century. Eliza- bethan work was very rich in colour and materials. Silk was widely used and seed pearls and metal threads were introduced. Much of the work was for garments and large motifs predominated, mainly of fruit and flowers.

Spanish embroidery of the sixteenth century had a considerable influence on the rest of western Europe. The so-called Spanish work, or blackwork, became widespread. Probably derived from Moorish craftsmanship, this was originally an embroidery on white linen of black silk outline in arabesques and scrolls formed by climbing plants and tendrils. Gold and red silk threads were introduced to give brilliance to the design. The method particularly lent itself to designs based upon woodcuts from the newly printed books of the period. The work was especially fashionable in England where it had been introduced at the time of Catherine of Aragon and, later, of Mary's marriage to Philip 11 of Spain. of especial richness and excellence of quality in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were the embroideries of Flanders and Burgundy. Designs were derived from the paintings of the time - those of the Van Eyck brothers, Van der Weyden, Rubens, Van Dyck and others. Much of the work was in silk and gold thread in colours carefully blended to resemble woven fabrics. With the coming of the eighteenth century there was a revival in the art of embroidery for practical purposes, and this included costume as well as furnishings for the home. In the seventeenth century there had been a stress, particularly in the fashionable stumpwork, to embroider pictures and portraits rather than articles to be worn and used. Embroidered designs and materials during the eighteenth century were a reflection of and subject to the same influences which determined design of garments and furniture. According to the period there was a vogue for Indian patterns, for chinoiserie, for rococo motifs, and for neo-classical and Egyptian themes. in the first half of the eighteenth century motifs, which were predominantly floral, were large and designs were carried out in flat solid form in satin and long and short stitches, sewn with silk thread in beautifully shaded colours. Gold and silver thread, spangles, beads and chenille were incorporated. The decoration was most usually applied to the edges of men's coats, the pocket flaps and cuffs, all over the waistcoats and the ladies' panier gowns. Crewelwork was used for many garments and quilting was especially fashionable, also drawn fabric stitches combined with Italian quilting. White quilting was particularly in use for babies' clothes. In the second half of the century, motifs were smaller, in sprigs and arabesques. In the 1780s the trend, as in the garments them- selves, was away from silks, satins and velvets towards wool and silk embroidery on light-coloured or white cottons and linen. Patchwork was in vogue. A slow decline in the quality of embroldery set in in the last quarter of the eighteenth century and this continued throughout the nineteenth, though there was a revival of interest in quality craftsmanship in the 1870s and 1880s resulting from the work and ideas of William Morris together with his colleagues and fellow artists. In the early nineteenth century clothes were ornamented at borders and hems with simple embroidery using classi- cal motifs in coloured silk and metal threads. BY the 1820s the chief interest in embroidery had moved to needle-painting and copies of most of the famous paintings and masters were being worked for wall decoration. Berlin woolwork (from Germany) was all the rage; cross stitch and tent stitch were chiefly used and decoration was also applied to useful articles such as slippers, gloves, bags and shawls. By midcentury designs were large and pre- dominantly floral, in bright or garish colours with beads lavishly incorporated. Whitework was also produced in quantity and this varied in quality and fineness from the Ayrshire christening robes to broderic anglaise and Mountmellick embroidery. Quilting was still widely worked, as were patchwork and smocking. Meanwhile, as in other fields of craftwork, the machine was beginning to compete with the handworker. A machine to embroider was produced as early as 1828, and soon after mid-century machines were producing quantities of whitework which were affecting the livelihood of the hand-embroiderer. Much of the developinent took place in Germany and Switzer- land, but after the introduction of Gr6bli's shuttle machine in 1865, which perfected the combination of the sewing machine's continuous thread techniques with the principle of the embroidery machine, the industrialization of embroidery spread to most of western Europe. When, in the early twentieth century, the lock-stitch and chain-stitch sewing machines were adapted for embroidery (see Sewing machine), machine work had taken over most of the rnarket and almost all embroidered garments were machine made. Parallel to the mainstream of embroidery developed in Europe there also evolved a peasant art form, much more nationalistic and regional, retaining its freshness and individuality over centuries in patterns which became traditional to a given area or race of people. Such embroidery has influenced the mainstream work from time to time, but it has mainly retained its separate identity and, in many areas, especially eastern and northern Europe, is still practised. German-speaking regions have evolved a peasant embroidery as well as the rich embroidery of the medieval opus teutonicum. In the country districts garments were embroidered on linen with wool and silk in harmonious and brilliant colours. Designs were varied, incorporating geometrical and plant motifs, interlacing scrolls, figure compositions and landscape scenes inspired by the Bible, mythology and legend or village life. The work was unsophisticated but vital and beautifully embroidered. Sometimes, as in the Orient, embroidery was combined with a woven pattern. German wool embroidery became famous, in rich colours and incorporating beads. It was from this inspiration that the Berlin woolwork, so fashionable in the nineteenth century, spread to the rest of Europe and the USA. Swiss linen embroidery was equally vigorous and of high quality. For many centuries the linen ground was dark, blue or brown, and the pattern was embroidered in white thread. There was a wide range of stitches and colour was later introduced to give emphasis and richness to the design. The embroidery of eastern Europe has always been more strongly influenced by the Orient, in particular that of Turkey and Persia. The peasant work was colourful and vigorous, a development of the popular art of the people and widely employed on garments for both sexes for festive occasions. Embroidery was chiefly used to decorate blouses and shirts, belts, sashes and braces, caps, shawls and kerchiefs, skirts and trousers. The work of Czechoslovakia and Alpine Austria shows con- siderable affinity with that of Germany and Switzerland. Hungarian embroideries are especially colourful and elaborate and leather is ornamented as well as linen. Red and black are most often used. Rumanian embroidery is particularly varied as the country has been subjected to influences from so many directions: from Byzantium and the Greek Orthodox Church, from Turkey and from Russia. Geometric patterns and stylized motifs were widely used and colours were strong and rich. Black and white work became popular after the quality of fast dyeing was improved. The cross stitch was in general use here as in most peasant embroideries. The cross stitch was especially to be seen in Scandinavian work. In the extreme north of Norway, and in Finland and Iceland, subjects were taken from local life - reindeer, lake and mountain scenes, the midnight sun - all conventionalized to make patterns for garments. National dyes from lichens, bark and plants were used to give soft colours. Both Norwegian and Swedish embroideries show designs like those of the carvings on the wooden stave churches, of interlaced ornament blended with animals and plants. White work was traditional to Denmark, such as Hedebo embroidery on hand-woven linen. Russian embroidery, due to the vastness of the country, varies greatly from one part to another, but in general there is an Oriental approach to the work and an extensive use of gold and silver threads. In the north the work resembles that of the Finns.

Embroidery Terms and Stitches

Anglo-Saxon work - an early embroidery where the design is outlined by stitches and filled in with silk couching.

Appenzell work - named after the Swiss canton where it originated. A very fine drawn-work on white lawn or linen, used as decoration for aprons and caps.

Appliqud (or applied) work - embroidery where a design is made by sewing (with different stitches) one piece of material on to another. This gives a bold, colourful effect. Inlaid appliqud work is where an identical design motif is cut from both ground and second fabric, then the material from the latter is sewn into the empty shape in the former.

Arrasene work - an embroidery using chenille cord.

Assisi embroidery - a traditional form named after the Italian city where it was, and is, practised. The design is left unmarked in the ground fabric and the background is covered with cross stitch, usually in blue or rust-brown. The design is boldly outlined in black or a dark colour in double running stitch. The ground is generally of natural colour and the embroidery is worked by counting threads.

Ayrshire work - a Scottish embroidery worked in white cotton or linen in tiny patterns of flowers with eyelets.

Back stitch - a single row of stitches worked to give a continuous or broken line.

Berlin work - a wool and bead embroidery worked on canvas with various stitches, but chiefly cross stitch, in bright, strong colours. Especially popular in the nineteenth century.

Blackwork - a form of embroidery practised especially in the sixteenth century, consisting of black silk stitchery on white linen; used mainly for shirts and lingerie. Sometimes the work was enhanced by the addition of red silk and gold threads. Widely used in Spain.

Braid stitch - a plaited type of edging stitch (see illustrations).

Brick stitch - a flat stitch of different lengths used for filling and shading.

Broderie anglaise - like Ayrshire embroidery, also called Madeira work since it originated on that island. Usually whitework, its design punctuated by cut out shapes and eyelets, the edges buttonholed or overcast. Very fashionable in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries for babies' and children's wear, collars and cuffs.

Buttonhole stitch - a looped stitch used for finishing cut or turned edges. There are several variations, such as the tailor's buttonhole stitch used for buttonholes and the open type, blanket stitch, still used to finish blanket edges (see illustrations).

Canvas work - stitches may be worked on single or double-mesh canvas and the back- ground is completely covered. The mesh varies in size and the threads in thickness to correspond (see petit point and gros Point). Stitches most commonly employed include Gobelin, Tent, Cross, Florentine, Brick, Web, Crosslet and Jacquard.

Chain and cable stitches - descriptive terms for looped stitches (see illustrations).

Cording - used for bold outlining of embroidery designs. A heavy thread or cord is placed along the line to be delineated and this is held in place by oversewing.

Couching and laid work - a filling method for solid embroidery where the threads are laid on the design, then couched (tied down) at intervals by small stitches worked in a finer thread. Gold and silver embroidery was often couched in order to economize on the costly metal thread.

Crewel work - bold, decorative embroidery, also called Jacobean, worked in coloured wools in varied stitches and filled-in designs.

Cross stitch - one of the simplest and most effective stitches widely used in several variations of crossed threads especially in peasant embroideries.

Cut work - embroidery generally on white material with parts of the design cut away and edged with buttonhole stitch. Richelieu work (named after the French cardinal) was a seventeenth-century version where parts of the cut-out design were united by embroidered bars. in Italian cut work the cut- out portions were filled in with needlepoint work.

Drawn thread work - where certain warp br weft threads are drawn out and decorative stitches are used to secure and make a lacy design with the remaining threads.

Eyelet embroidery - floral designs with small circular cut-out or pierced holes finished by satin stitch or buttonholing (see also Ayrshire work and Broderie anglaise). ,

Feather, fern and J7y stitches - descriptive terms (see illustrations). ,

Florentine work - a canvas embroidery shaded in different colours by the use of vertical satin and brick stitches into zig-zag or diamond patterns. Also known as Hungarian point or flame stitch (punto fiamma), because of its resemblance to the tips of flames.

Gros point - a canvas embroidery worked on a larger mesh, generally in cross stitch.

Hardanger embroidery - a drawn thread embroidery named after the Norwegian fjord of that name. An ancient type of work carried out over the centuries in Persia and Asia in coloured silks on gauze. The Nor- wegian embroidery was generally of white cotton or linen, its design based on squares and diamonds, with a variety of stitches used to secure the drawn thread work.

Hedebo embroidery - a traditional Danish embroidery often with cut and drawn work. The name derives from the Danish word hede (heath), where the peasant embroiderers originally practised their craft.

Hem stitch - widely used in drawn thread work in most forms of peasant embroidery in Europe (see illustrations).

Herringbone stitch - a type of crossed thread stitch with a number of variations.

Knots - used as punctuation and emphasis in embroidery. Several types, notably French, bullion and Chinese knots.

Mountmellick embroidery - an Irish white embroidery of floral designs in cotton thread on a cotton ground.

Needle weaving - decorative embroidery in drawn thread work where coloured silks are woven in and out of the remaining threads by a darning stitch.

Opus anglicanum - work from the great period of English embroidery between the mid-thirteenth century and the end of the fourteenth.

Patchwork - pieces of varied materials in all colours, shapes and sizes sewn to a bleached calico base with decorative stitching.

Petit point - canvas embroidery worked on a small mesh, often in tent stitch (needle- point).

Quilting - two pieces of material with a layer of padding between are stitched or quilted together by a running or back stitch making a floral or geometrical design. In Italian or Florentine quilting a cord is threaded through a channel made in the design by two parallel rows of running stitches, giving a raised effect to the design.

Rumanian stitch - a filling stitch, like Cretan stitch (see illustrations).

Running stitch - the simplest of stitches, worked horizontally. The double running stitch, or Holbein stitch, produces a continuous line (see illustrations).

Satin stitch - a simple flat stitch for filling in. There are a number of variations in direction and length such as fishbone, long and short, brick and darning stitches.

Shadow embroidery - a design worked on the underside of a transparent fabric to give a shadow effect on the right side.

Smocking - a decorative stitching which holds together a material gathered into tiny pleats so providing shaping to a garment. Used chiefly on blouses and shirts. Traditional to most peasant em- broideries.

Stem stitch - an angled outline stitch.

Straight stitch - a filling stitch embroidered horizontally or vertically over counted threads.

Stump work - a form of raised or padded embroidery generally in white satin. Fashionable in the seventeenth century.

Tambour work - embroidery worked while held in a small circular frame. From the French tambour, drum.

Tent stitch - a canvas stitch used in petit point. Like a sloping satin stitch or half a cross stitch.

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2005 January 28