Embroidery and its techniques

Embroidery and its techniques are an art or handwork craft which is applied on the fabric for the decoration purpose and for some other reason embroidery could be used on other materials with needle and thread or yarn.

Embroidery may also integrate with some materials except thread / yarn such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills and sequins. Embroidery is most frequently suggested for caps, hats, coats, blankets, dresses, blouses, shirts, denim, stockings, fancy tops and golf shirts. Also embroidery can be used for applying one’s Logo and symbol on plain t-Shirts or casuals or sportswear.

Embroidery is presented with an extensive variety of thread or yarn color which also includes some other interesting colors like golden, silver and bronze.

A typical feature of embroidery is that the essential techniques or stitches of the initial works are chain stitch, buttonhole or blanket stitch, running stitch, satin stitch, cross stitch. But nowadays these are just fundamental techniques of hand embroidery.

In the most primitive stage, Machine embroidery arises during the Industrial Revolution imitate hand embroidery technique especially using chain stitches but the satin stitch and hemming stitches of machine works with the use of multiple threads were not resembled the elegance and appearance of hand work.

Categorization of Embroidery:

Embroidery can be categorized according to whether the design is applying on top of the fabric or through the groundwork fabric and via the connection of stitch placement to the fabric.

• In normal embroidery, designs are used without considering the weave of the original fabric.

For Example:

Crewel and Traditional work of Chinese and Japanese embroidery

Cross-stitch counted-thread embroidery, Tea-cloth, Hungary, mid-20th century.

• Counted-thread embroidery designs are produced by making stitches over a prearranged number of threads in the original fabric. Counted-thread embroidery is an easy work which can be applied in an even-weave original fabric such as embroidery canvas, Aida cloth [an open weave material] or specially woven cotton and linen fabrics even though non-even weave linen can also been used.

For Example:

Needlepoint and some forms of black-work embroidery.

Hardanger [traditionally worked with white thread on white even-weave cloth], a white-work technique. Contemporary.

• In canvas work, threads are stitched via fabric mesh to generate a opaque pattern that entirely covers the base or the original fabric. Traditional canvas work such as Bargello is a counted-thread technique.
• In drawn thread work and cutwork, the original fabric is misshapen or cut away to produce holes; after then it was embellished with embroidery, frequently with thread in the same color as the original fabric. These techniques are the direction of needle lace. When created in white thread on white linen or cotton or some other materials, this work is together referred to as white-work.