The process used to decorate fabrics with a needle and thread is embroidery definition. The styles and methods of embroidery differ greatly. With its varied stitches, this decorative stitching technique is worked separately from the weave of fabrics, allowing you to embroider any pattern, realistic or abstract, on any fabric you choose. Surface Embroidery allows you the greatest flexibility to use the vibrant threads and specialty fibers to make beautiful designs.
What is the purpose of embroidery?
Since time immemorial, embroidery has continued to thrill humans. Small handkerchiefs with embroidery patterns have been embellished with large bedspreads for elaborate wedding gowns.
Most of the time, embroidery is closely connected to a place’s culture and is in keeping with the customs there. There are areas where embroidery techniques are the prerogative of men, even though you may think of embroidery as a female pastime. It seems that ancient art shows no sign of dying out.
History of Embroidery
Embroidery has always been around, and that’s not an overstatement. And you should also thank the Greek goddess Athena for her embroidered legacy. In addition to weaving, she’s credited with handing it on. With such a high-and-mighty figure synonymous with embroidery, it should come as no surprise that art was associated with rich people. For example, in medieval England, specialized workshops and guilds manufactured clothing for high society families made from fine silks. But they were not only for the upper crust; in the UK, eastern Europe, South America, and East Asia, folk art movements catered to non-professionals.
How is Embroidery Used Today?
Over the past ten years, embroidery has undergone a renaissance. Some argue that its rise coincides with the late-august Great Recession, including author Rozsika Parker in her book The Subversive Stitch. The economic decline was helped by the urge to return to handmade products. DIYing what you couldn’t afford at this time was a big theme, and it continues today. Yet individual artists make highly collectible works that people love to show in their homes, beyond embroidery’s practicality as decoration.
