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Embroidery
Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials with a needle and using thread or yarn. It can be used to make pictures, cushions and tablecloths but also many types of garments can have embroidery worked on over it. Embroidery is most often recommended for hats or caps and can look great on coats, blankets, shirts or dresses. With such a wide variety of thread or your colours, the effects are simply stunning. Other materials can also be incorporated such as pearls, beads and sequins or metal strips.
Embroidery is divided into two distinct groups- counted thread work and freestyle work. In freestyle embroidery the design is usually worked over a traced or ironed on transfer and that design can take on almost any form. In counted thread embroidery, there is no tracing or transfer but instead the design is used on an even weave fabric and the threads are counted on it.
There are a few basic techniques or stitches in embroidery, such as chain stitch, buttonhole or blanket stitch, running stitch, satin stitch, and cross stitch. These were used in very early embroidery work but still remain the fundamental techniques of hand embroidery today. Machine embroidery mimics hand embroidery, especially in the use of chain stitches.
The fabrics and yarns used in traditional embroidery vary from place to place. Silk, wool and linen have been used for thousands of years for both fabric and yarn, but today embroidery thread is manufactured in rayon and cotton, as well as in traditional wool, linen and silk. Ribbon embroidery uses narrow ribbon in silk or organza mixed with silk and is most common used to create floral motifs. Embroidery is a very soothing and therapeutic craft, but your eyesight needs to be top-notch!
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