The Art of Embroidery
Senior 1 · Fine Arts
The Art of Embroidery
Lesson 1 of 4
22 min
Look at the photograph below, taken in the United States in 1900. The young woman holds a round frame in one hand and a needle in the other. She is not sewing clothes together: she is drawing on cloth with thread. That is embroidery, and it is one of the oldest and most widespread arts in the world. Notice how close she holds the work, and that the cloth is stretched flat inside the frame.
Definition
Embroidery: the art of decorating cloth by stitching designs onto it with a needle and thread.
Example: a school badge, a name on a shirt, or a flower stitched in the corner of a handkerchief.
Definition
Ground fabric: the cloth that the embroidery is stitched on. Stitch: one complete movement of the needle and thread through the fabric, down and back up.
Stranded cotton (also called embroidery floss): embroidery thread made of six thin strands twisted loosely together, which can be separated to make finer or bolder lines.
In the Kuba kingdom, in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, men wove cloth from the fibre of the raffia palm, and women embroidered it. The Shoowa people became famous for cut-pile embroidery: they pushed raffia thread through the cloth with a needle and cut it very short on the front, so the design stands up like velvet.
Worked example
Reading an embroidery: Shoowa overskirt, late 1800s
Step 1. What you see. Two long panels covered in maze-like spirals, diamonds and zigzags, in cream, gold and dark brown. The pattern changes as you move along it.
Step 2. How it is made. The cloth was woven from raffia fibre. The design was then embroidered with raffia thread, cut close to the surface to make a soft pile, and the dark lines were stitched as outlines between the areas of colour. Every mark was made by hand, with a needle.
Step 3. What it means. Cloths like this were worn at important ceremonies and could be counted as family wealth. The patterns had names, and a woman who could invent new variations was admired for her skill. One way to read its message is as pride, status and the value of patient handwork.
| Item | What it is for | Low-cost or local option |
|---|---|---|
| Ground fabric | the surface you stitch on | plain cotton or calico, an old cotton shirt, a washed flour sack, plain parts of kitenge |
| Thread | makes the stitches | stranded cotton; ordinary sewing thread doubled; wool; split raffia or banana fibre for bold lines |
| Needles | carry the thread through the cloth | sold cheaply by tailors and in markets; keep them in a needle case |
| Hoop or frame | holds the fabric flat and tight | four sticks tied into a square frame, with the fabric laced to it with string |
| Small sharp scissors | cut thread cleanly | any sharp pair, kept only for thread |
| Pincushion | stores pins and needles safely | a small cloth bag stuffed tightly with fabric scraps |
| Marking tool | draws the design on the cloth | soft pencil on light cloth; tailor's chalk or a sliver of dry soap on dark cloth |
| Thimble | protects the finger that pushes the needle | a thick scrap of leather, wrapped round the finger |
Worked example: how far does one skein go?
A skein of stranded cotton is 8 m long and has 6 strands. Mutesi cuts it into working lengths of 40 cm and stitches with 2 strands at a time.
Lengths per skein:
Needlefuls per length: each 6-strand length splits into needlefuls of 2 strands.
Total: needlefuls of thread from one skein. Short lengths waste a little thread at the ends, but long ones tangle and wear thin, so 40 cm is a good compromise.
<em>Embroidery for Beginners: How to Use an Embroidery Hoop</em>, from Lia Griffith. Watch where the screw sits, how the fabric is pulled evenly round the edge, and how to tell when it is tight enough.
Warning
Needle safety
Warning
Scissors
Tip
“Firm cloth, tight hoop, short thread.” Most beginners' problems (puckering, knots and tangles) come from loose fabric or thread cut too long. Fix those three things before you blame your stitches.
Practice
Define embroidery and ground fabric.
Which needle would you choose for (a) stitching with split banana fibre; (b) fine lines in two strands of stranded cotton? Give a reason for each.
Why is plain cotton easier for a beginner than shiny, slippery satin cloth?
A skein is 8 m long. You cut it into 50 cm lengths and stitch with 3 strands. How many lengths, and how many needlefuls, do you get?
Put the hoop steps in order: tighten the screw; lay the fabric over the inner ring; separate the rings; press the outer ring down.
Set up a hoop (or a stick frame) with a square of cotton, and thread a needle with 2 strands. Tap the fabric: does it sound like a drum?
1. Embroidery is decorating cloth by stitching designs onto it with a needle and thread. The ground fabric is the cloth that the embroidery is stitched on.
2. (a) a chenille needle: its big eye takes thick fibre and its sharp point pierces the cloth; (b) an embroidery (crewel) needle: sharp, with an eye long enough for two strands.
3. Satin slides about, frays at the edges and shows every needle hole, while firm plain cotton stays still and holds stitches evenly.
4. lengths; each gives needlefuls, so needlefuls.
5. Separate the rings; lay the fabric over the inner ring; press the outer ring down; tighten the screw.
6. Practical. If the fabric sags or ripples, loosen the screw, pull the cloth evenly all round and tighten again.
Sources and credits
