The Art of Embroidery
Senior 1 · Fine Arts
The Art of Embroidery
Lesson 2 of 4
25 min
In Bengal (today Bangladesh and eastern India), women made quilts called kantha from layers of worn-out saris and cloths. To hold the layers together they covered the whole quilt with rows of tiny running stitches, the simplest stitch there is, and then embroidered pictures on top. Look at the quilt below and try to see the thousands of small stitches in the white areas between the pictures.
Worked example
Reading an embroidery: a Bengali kantha
Step 1. What you see. A square quilt with a large lotus flower in a circle at the centre, surrounded by elephants, birds, fish, a horse and rider and many smaller flowers, inside a patterned border.
Step 2. How it is made. Old cloths were layered and joined by running stitch worked in rows across the whole surface. The pictures were then stitched on top with coloured thread, mostly in simple line stitches, so the same needle work both joins and decorates.
Step 3. What it means. Nothing is wasted: worn cloth is turned into a warm quilt and a gift, often for a wedding or a new baby. The lotus at the centre is an old symbol of purity and new life, and many viewers see the animals around it as a full, living world. One reading of the message is care: for the family, and for the materials themselves.
Definition
Running stitch: a line stitch made by passing the needle up and down through the fabric at even intervals, leaving gaps, so the line looks dashed. Use: outlines, quilting, gathering.
Definition
Backstitch: a line stitch in which each stitch goes back to meet the end of the one before, making a solid, unbroken line. Use: lettering, thin outlines, fine details.
Stem stitch: a line stitch in which each stitch overlaps half of the one before, with the thread kept on the same side, making a twisted, rope-like line. Use: stems, curved outlines.
Mark a line lightly on your fabric. In the diagrams, a blue number is where the needle comes up from the back; a red number is where it goes down.
Worked example: how many stitches, and how much thread?
Gatete outlines a leaf stem 12 cm long in running stitch, with stitches 4 mm long and gaps 2 mm long.
One stitch plus one gap is . The line is long, so
Thread used. In running stitch the thread goes along the front for each stitch and along the back for each gap, so it uses about the length of the line: about 12 cm. In backstitch the front is a solid 12 cm line, and on the back the thread travels two stitch lengths for every stitch, about . Backstitch therefore uses about
of thread, three times as much, plus about 10 cm for starting and finishing.
<em>Stem Stitch</em>, from Mary Corbet (Needle 'n Thread). Watch where the needle comes up each time, halfway back along the last stitch, and how she keeps the thread on the same side to make a smooth rope.
Warning
The most common mistake: pulling too tight. If you pull each stitch hard, the fabric bunches up, or puckers, and cannot be ironed flat. Pull until the stitch lies flat on the fabric, then stop. Check the tension of the hoop too: loose fabric puckers even with gentle stitches.
Needles: put your needle into the pincushion whenever you stop, even for a moment, and never leave it stuck in the hoop where someone can sit or lean on it.
Tip
“Running runs on, back goes back, stem keeps the thread below.” In an exam diagram, always number the needle positions and show which way you are working.
Practice
Which line stitch would you choose for (a) lettering a name; (b) the curved stem of a flower; (c) quilting two layers together? Give a reason for each.
Describe how to work backstitch, using the words “up”, “back” and “ahead”.
A line 9 cm long is worked in running stitch, with 5 mm stitches and 4 mm gaps. How many stitches are there?
Keza's stem stitch looks twisted one way in some places and the other way in others. What has she done wrong?
Why should you never carry the thread a long way across the back of light-coloured fabric?
On your practice cloth, stitch three straight lines 8 cm long, one in each stitch, then one curved line in stem stitch. Label them with a pencil.
1. (a) backstitch: a solid, thin line keeps letters clear; (b) stem stitch: its rope-like line follows curves smoothly; (c) running stitch: it passes through the layers quickly and evenly.
2. Come up one stitch length ahead along the line, go back down into the end of the last stitch, then come up one stitch length ahead again, so every stitch touches the one before.
3. One stitch plus one gap is , and stitches.
4. She has changed the side on which she holds the thread: sometimes above the needle, sometimes below. Keeping it on the same side all the time keeps the twist in one direction.
5. The long thread shows through light fabric as a shadow, and it can catch on things and pull the stitches. Finish off and start again instead.
6. Practical. Check that the stitches in each line are the same length and lie flat without puckering.
Sources and credits
