Let us define Embroidery first; it is the craft of creating intricate beautiful decorations by using a needle and a thread. Do you know that Embroidery was known as a skill marking a girl’s path into womanhood!
You will not believe that Primitive humans are the ones who discovered embroidery! By using plant fibers and animal sinew, they created threads, and then they used ivory and bones as needles to sew their clothing. While they repaired their clothes, they discovered the decorative possibilities of sewing and embroidery as an art.
There are multiple basic Embroidery techniques:
- Cross-stitch embroidery
- Crewel work
- Needlepoint
- Quilting
- Quillwork
The needle is the main stitching tool in embroidery, and comes in different sizes and types. The fabrics and yarns used in traditional embroidery include: Wool, linen, and silk. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. Today, embroidery threads are manufactured with more variety in cotton, rayon, and novelty yarns, traditional wool, linen and silk.
Embroidery origin started in Egypt, China, Near East, Palestine, Syria, Greek, and Babylonian societies. As Christianity was spreading across many countries, it witnessed many churches and high clergymen embroidered garments, wall decorative hangings, and tablecloths as a demonstration of their wealth. Ancient Egyptian tomb paintings and drawings show that clothes, couch covers, hangings, and tents were so decorated. Chinese examples are the imperial silk robes that were very famous of its beauty and neat embroidery technique. That’s why throughout history, embroidery was considered as a sign of wealth and high social level, it was much more than just decoration. Rich people would not only wear heavily-embroidered garments, but they would also decorate their homes with large embroidery everywhere.
Advances in technology allowed embroidery to be digitalized. Nowadays, much contemporary embroidery work is stitched with a computerized embroidery machine using patterns “digitized” with embroidery software. This development of machine embroidery and its mass production came during the Industrial Revolution in which users can use the embroidery software to digitize their digital embroidery designs and then transferred to the embroidery machine.
With more affordable materials available now for the production line, embroidery lost its exclusive high-level status and became something ordinary people could buy.
Nowadays, it’s easier to create your design by yourself and produce the desired item of clothing or decoration that you want. With software and automated machinery, you can have your design, even in bulk, in just a few days.
One more important advantage of Hand Embroidery that it helps in reducing stress and anxiety by keeping your hands busy and engaged. It also keeps your thoughts focused on the enjoyment and satisfaction of the task you are doing.