Embroidery

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:

It is a striking fact that in the development of embroidery ... there are no changes of materials or techniques which can be felt or interpreted as advances from a primitive to a later, more refined stage. On the other hand, we often find in early works a technical accomplishment and high standard of craftsmanship rarely attained in later times.

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). and continued to develop over subsequent dynasties, flourishing during the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing periods, when it became an established artistic and cultural practice. Related but distinct embroidery traditions also developed in region of Southeast Asia, such as Nonya beadwork associated with Peranakan communities. While influenced by Chinese techniques, this form reflected a unique cultural synthesis by incorporating local materials and traditions. 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 metres (230 feet) long and 50 centimetres (20 inches) 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:

His majesty [Akbar] pays much attention to various stuffs; hence Irani, Ottoman, and Mongolian articles of wear are in much abundance especially textiles embroidered in the patterns of Nakshi, Saadi, Chikhan, Ari, Zardozi, Wastli, Gota and Kohra. The imperial workshops in the towns of Lahore, Agra, Fatehpur, Ahmedabad, and Gujarat turn out many masterpieces of workmanship in fabrics, and the figures and patterns, knots and variety of fashions which now prevail astonish even the most experienced travelers. Taste for fine material has since become general, and the drapery of embroidered fabrics used at feasts surpasses every description.

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. However, this perception varied across historical contexts. In late Qing China, for example, the embroidery industry expanded significantly, with regional styles emerging and production becoming increasingly commercialized. During this time, men often worked as managing and designing roles, while the women were frequently confined to lower status, more seasonal labor. However, by the early twentieth century, large reform movements aimed to change this system by incorporating embroidery into women's education and vocational training. This helped establish embroidery as both a practical skill and form of artistic expression, expanding women's roles with the field.

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 freehand 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

In recent years, embroidery has increasingly been used as a form of art therapy, due to its ability to support emotional regulation and overall mental wellbeing. For example, embroidery can be adopted to different therapeutic needs, as it allows for both structure and open-ended approaches. While pattern-based work has been shown to provide a sense of stability and support emotional regulation, freestyle embroidery encourages relaxation and creative freedom, making it responsive to changing emotional states. Additionally, the practice of slow threading and repetitive motion ensues a calming process within a persons mind, allowing for reflection. As a historically rooted practice, embroidery invokes a grounding state, while providing space for introspection related to identity, memorabilia, and culture.