Friday, March 2, 2012

The Timeless Art of Hand Embroidery

Icelandic Design's Greta Earflap Hat and Mittens
The origins of embroidery are unknown, but early examples survive from ancient Egypt, Iron Age Northern Europe and Zhou Dynasty China. Examples of surviving Chinese chain stitch embroidery worked in silk thread have been dated to the 5th century BC. 

Embroidery was a very important art in the Medieval Islam World, deemed (by the 17th century Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi ) "craft of the two hands". Because embroidery was a sign of high social status in Muslim societies it became a hugely popular art. Many craftsmen embroidered with thread made from gold and silver.

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 are 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.

Crewel Embroidery, or Crewelwork, is a decorative form of surface embroidery using wool and a variety of different embroidery stitches to follow a design outline applied to the fabric. The technique is at least a thousand years old. It was used in the Bayeux Tapestry, in Jacobean embroidery and in the Quaker tapestry.
An example of vintage wool Jacobean Crewelwork, and a few ways we used this type of hand embroidery for the 2012 line.
Designs range from the traditional to more contemporary patterns. The traditional design styles are often referred to as Jacobean embroidery featuring highly stylized floral and animal designs with flowing vines and leaves.

Many different embroidery stitches are used in crewelwork to create a textured and colorful effect. Unlike silk or cotton embroidery threads, crewel wool is thicker and creates a raised, dimensional feel to the work. Some of the techniques and stitches include:
Outlining stitches such as stem stitch, chain stitch and split stitch
Satin stitches to create flat, filled areas within a design
Couched stitches, where one thread is laid on the surface of the fabric and another thread is used to tie it down. Couching is often used to create a trellis effect within an area of the design.
Seed stitches, applied randomly in an area to give a lightly shaded effect
French knots are commonly used in floral and fruit motifs for additional texture
Laid and Couched Work
Long and Short "soft shading"
Some embroidery stitch tutorials. The variety is endless.
Embroidery can be classified according to whether the design is stitched on top of or through the foundation fabric, and by 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 and Japanese embroidery.

Cross-stitch is a type of counted-thread embroidery. Tea-cloth, Hungary, mid-20th century
Counted-thread embroidery patterns are created by making stitches over a predetermined number of threads in the foundation fabric.

An ancient example of cross-stitch, and an example of its use for Fall 2012.
In canvas work threads are stitched through a fabric mesh to create a dense pattern that completely covers the foundation fabric. Traditional canvas work such as bargello is a counted-thread technique. Since the 19th century, printed and hand painted canvases where the painted or printed image serves as color-guide have eliminated the need for counting threads. These are particularly suited to pictorial rather than geometric designs deriving from the Berlin wool work craze of the early 19th century. 

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. These techniques are the progenitors of needlelace. When created in white thread on white linen or cotton, this work is collectively referred to as whitework

The most striking fact in the development of embroidery over the centuries, is that 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. In fact, we often find in early works a technical accomplishment and high standard of craftsmanship rarely attained in these modern times.  This fact illustrates the danger of hand embroidery becoming a lost art, and the handicraft world would do well to do its best to preserve it (as we, here at Icelandic, continue to do every season).

18 comments:

  1. thanks for sharing the designs are really cute. i've just started to do embroidery and tips like this really helped a lot. thank you so much!

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  3. Creating designs for embroidery is an art that can be turned into a very lucrative business if you know how to use your talent the right way.
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  4. very nice embroidery and very good post. i will try this tips in my embroidery.
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  5. The blog is really informative and I love the designs these embroidery design makes the dress so beautiful i like to share it with my friends.I love to come back on a regular basis, please post more on the subject.

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  6. Wow, I could not stop myself when i saw your great design ans also I had never seen before of this type of design is very inseparable. I will wait for the your next design. Thanks and will be back............

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  7. This is an informative blog by which I have got that info which I really wanted to get. sewing kit

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  8. First time I have found your site and you make some beautiful stuff. Cant wait to see more.

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  9. Great post here. It is full of some great information. I am not very familiar with embroidery but want to learn more for my husbands business.

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  10. Wow! What talent ~ especially impressive in the years without our modern conveniences ! Thanks for sharing!

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  11. Nice Idea ..but i love your Embroidery and so eagerly awaiting your new project of embroidery.

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  12. First time I have found your site and you make some beautiful stuff. Cant wait to see more.

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  13. http://timepieceperfection.com
    Oh my gosh, those patterns are amazing. I want to own every piece. I love the jacket with the white stitching down the front and the hat is like the perfect winter fashion statement. I want to see if any stores around here have anything similar.

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  15. This wonderful post is in fact so interesting and comic, I really loved this. Thanks intended for sharing this information.
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  16. Your embroidery designs are too beautiful n loving. Especially the caps and cross-stitch design.

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