Since ancient times, artwork has been an important way of expressing one’s feelings and lifestyle. Art and craft are a useful way of personality development, and it also promotes social integration. The art of embroidery is a creative style of decorating any fabric with the help of threads or decorations. It not only reflects the culture and crafting style of different regions but is an essential part of fashion designing as well. It can be widely seen on different clothing items, meant for both men and women. It is not limited to traditional dresses and handicrafts but extends to all clothes and accessories of daily life, including purses, hats, footwear, curtains and bedsheets. Let’s find out more about this artwork.
Significant Changes in Embroidery Since Past till Now
In the past, various modifications have been made in the embroidery patterns. Basically, it is the overall process of sewing threads, jewels and precious stones on a plain or simple fabric. In earlier times, people used to do this manually, while in the modern era, special machines have been made in which designs are fed and the finished piece is obtained within a few minutes. However, it too has certain limitations. Have a glimpse of the necessary changes which took place in this crafting style.
- Earlier, people used to wear clothes just with the purpose of covering the body. However, it had to be repaired and eventually developed different styles of stitching, including embroidered patterns. Slowly and gradually, it developed as an essential part of stitching used basically for decorative purposes.
- With the passage of time, embroidered clothes became the symbol of social status and one’s culture. Distinct cultures have their own embroidery styles, which include different colour combinations of fabrics and threads.
- With the industrial revolution, machine-made goods started flourishing and it greatly affected the middle-class families that sustained their living while producing handmade embroidered designs.
- Then came the digitized era in which most of the works starting from designing to the final processing hardly required any manual work. Machines are engaged in each and every step of production.
This is an art form worth admiring, but with the increased usage of machinery and less scope of growth, there are very fewer artists left in the industry.
Certain Tools Which Form the Base of Embroidery
Handmade designs basically do not require so many tools and heavy machines The basic embroidery tools are:
- Needles: Needles are the basic things required for embroidering patterns on fabric. The size and thickness of the needles largely affect the design and sewing pattern of the work. For example, tapestry needles have blunt points and are mostly required for darned netting. For gold stitches, sharp and pointed needles are used. Bent needles are also ideal to be used for making such designs.
- Threads: Threads come in exclusive colours, fibres, thickness, and weight. The combination of fabric and thread is the most essential part of the embroidery. Mostly, contrasting shades are used which means that if the colour of the fabric is bright, the thread is dark in colour and vice versa. Some common types of threads are silk, metallic-like gold and silver, satin or pearl cotton etc.
- Different accessories: Embroidered designs are not complete just with the selection of threads and needles. They even include a wide range of accessories, including beads, buttons, jewels, stones etc.
Neatness and elegance are the two vital points of this design that reveal a lot about the creativity of the designers. The embroidered design that you are choosing for a particular outfit should perfectly complement your personality and the occasion on which you are wearing it as well.