Embroidery.

Embroidery is a method of decorating with the needle and thread an already existing structure, usually a woven foundation fabric. Fabric used for embroidery is called back­ing fabric. Common backing fabrics include cotton, linen, silk, and wool. Some people use card­board, bark, parchment and other materials. Embroidery threads range from thin strands to thick yarns. The most widely used threads include embroidery floss, linen, pearl cotton, and wool. Various sizes of sewing needles are used for embroidery. The size chosen depends on the kind of backing fabric and thread being used.

Embroidery can be done by hand or, since the nineteenth century, by machine. Un­like needlework, it excludes simple seaming and other basic stitchcraft, and also needleworked techniques such as knitting or crochet.

It is possible to confuse embroidery with cer­tain weaving techniques, particularly brocade, but embroidery yarns are worked into the fabric after it has come off the loom, whereas brocade yarns are placed there by a moving shuttle or bobbin during the weaving process. Tapestry and embroidery have also frequently been confused since the nineteenth century, mainly because the word 'tapestry' has been wrongly applied to canvas-work or counted-thread embroidery, which was originally done in imitation of true woven tapestry.

Since prehistoric times, most cultures have devel­oped their own embroidery styles. The earliest-surviving embroidery is Egyp­tian, from the tombs of Tuthmosis IV (c.1412-1364 bc) and Tutankhamun (1334-1325 bc), but its origins are presumably even older. People embroider clothing and use embroidered furnishings to decorate their homes and public buildings. Embroidered clothing ranges from simple undergarments to royal robes deco­rated with gold and silver threads. Embroidered furnish­ings include bed linens, chair covers, tablecloths, and wall hangings. Thousands of hours may be needed to richly embroider a garment or furnishing with millions of tiny stitches.

Many outstanding examples of early embroidery have been preserved. Among these is the Bayeux tapestry, embroidered in England in the late 1000's. Some 70 me­tres long and 50 centimetres wide, it depicts the Nor­man Conquest of England in 1066.

The main embroidery stitches, very generally speaking, may be classified as one of three types: flat stitches, loop stitches and knotted stitches. Stitches can be combined to make an unlimited variety of designs, including flowers, animals, people, and ab­stract patterns. With flat stitches the threads lie flat on the surface of the ground fabric, although the stitches may be side by side, overlapping or crossed. Among the innumerable variations of flat stitches are satin stitch, stem stitch, long-and-short stitch and couching. To forma loop stitch the thread is brought to the front of the fabric, loosely looped and returned to the back. Loop stitches may be open, as in buttonhole stitch, or closed, an example of which is chain stitch. Knotted stitches form knots of thread on the fabric surface and give textural effects to the embroidery. The French or the Pekin knots are the examples of knotted stitches.

Embroidery has been both a domestic craft and a professional activity. The former has, in most cultures, been carried out mainly by women, although some men have done em­broidery as a hobby. Professional work, however, has been practised by both sexes. Although some contemporary embroiderers work without a pattern, embroidery has tradi­tionally been carefully planned before stitching is begun. Designs might be drawn directly on to the ground or, more usually, transferred from a paper pattern. In counted-thread embroidery each small square on graph paper represents a stitch, so transferring the pattern to the fabric is unnecessary.